Litigating Racism: Incorporating Race into Legal Arguments.

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Litigating Racism is a workshop that educates participants on the intersection of race and the criminal legal system. Advocates will be given the historical context of racialized oppression in the American criminal legal system. Understanding the historical context of racism will frame the lens in which each participant should analyze each phase of the criminal legal process and each actor in the criminal legal system (i.e, prosecutor, police, probation officer). For example, participants will be educated on police militarization and the occupation of police forces in black and brown communities. This information will then help frame how defenders should review criminal complaints and argue for their client's release or when they argue motions during suppression hearings. Understanding the history of police occupation will help defenders reframe the narrative from "high crime neighborhood" to "highly policed community". This work shop does not only serve to educate and inform but also to teach practical skills. It is not enough to simply acknowledge racism in the context of the criminal legal system. Attorneys must argue that the system is racist. But how do you do that? This workshop examines how defenders can apply those principles in a practical way. Participants will learn how they can make arguments that incorporate race in their bail review hearings, suppression hearings, trial and sentencing.

Upon completion, participants will be able to issue spot and identify areas in a criminal complaint where the client's race can be incorporated into a bail review or other hearing.
Upon completion, participants will be able to redefine legal standards where courts have not included people of color in their interpretation. For example, the reasonable person standard.
Participants will be able to demonstrate practical skills needed in order to incorporate race into legal arguments starting from bail review to suppression hearings and all the way to sentencing.
Participants will be able to identify phases in a trial where they can incorporate race into their opening, cross, and closing.

Bethany Bonsu, Esq

Trial Attorney

Office of the Public Defender in Maryland

Bethany Bonsu is a zealous public defender who has been practicing criminal defense for four years. Ms. Bonsu started her legal career at the New York County Defender Services where she represented hundreds of adults facing misdemeanor charges in Manhattan. She has since been a public defender in D.C. at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where she represented juveniles faced with the most serious felonies and now Prince George's County Maryland representing adults charged with felonies. Prior to her time as a public defender, Ms. Bonsu was a law clerk at various national civil rights offices such as the ACLU, DOJ, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund to name a few. It was her time at those offices and her time at the New York County Defender Services, where Ms. Bonsu was taught how to incorporate race into legal arguments. Since becoming a public defender, Ms. Bonsu has incorporated race into nearly every aspect of her client's criminal case. Challenging issues such as police bias, excessive force, racial profiling and predatory police practices during interrogations. Ms. Bonsu received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University.