Radical Acts of Justice

August 1, 2023
Brooklyn Law School professor and former public defender Simonson gives an overview of the guiding purpose, methods, and outcomes of grassroots movements challenging the criminal-justice status quo. Condemning the frequent courtroom use of the term "the People" to refer to prosecutors, she asks readers to consider who it excludes: namely, those who are accused of crimes and the groups mobilizing across the country to provide them with support. By focusing on members of these groups and the practical, concrete actions in which they are engaged, Simonson offers a different perspective on what it means to seek justice. Court watchers show up in court and track what they see. Bail funds provide bail and support services. Participatory defense supplies defendants with material support. The individuals driving these radical interventions are often directly impacted by the criminal-justice system. They believe in different paths to secure, safe communities. As Simonson tells their stories, she uses her experience and knowledge of the criminal-justice system to provide broader perspectives on, and context for, their work.

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September 18, 2023
Former New York City public defender Simonson debuts with an enlightening examination of how ordinary people are “resisting mass incarceration in their neighborhoods” using tactics such as bail funds, courtwatching, and participatory defense. Citing studies that show people who are “held in jail pretrial are more likely to be sentenced to prison time, and to serve longer prison sentences, than people who are released,” Simonson explains how community bail funds (usually collected from hundreds of small donations) “interrupt this process.” Regarding the practice of courtwatching, in which members of the community observe criminal proceedings at the courthouse and then “share their observations and analysis with the larger public,” Simonson notes that when courtwatchers enter the courtroom “as a visible collective” in order to “watch all” of the cases instead of one, they “disrupt the routine of forced, casual submission.” Participatory defense groups—community members who get together to work on a case, such as by helping “dissect discovery documents”—“demand entry into legal spaces that are designed to be exclusionary,” according to Simonson. Drawing on case studies and firsthand experience, Simonson persuasively shows how engaging in “collective work” enables communities to challenge a seemingly implacable system. This is a must-read for justice system reform advocates.