Client Perspectives of Holistic Defense: Strengthening Procedural Justice through Enhanced Client Trust

Abstract

Holistic defense, a client-centered model that relies on team-based operations, has emerged in recent years as an alternative to traditional public defense practices. There is some evidence that holistic defense improves client outcomes, yet no research to date has evaluated client perspectives of holistic defense among adult clients. In this study, we hypothesize a relationship between holistic defense and increased client trust, perceptions of procedural justice, and legal and extra-legal outcomes. We examine public defense from the client perspective through in-depth interviews (N = 36) coded deductively, comparing the experiences of clients of holistic defense (n = 20) with those of traditional public defense (n = 16). We find that distrust and cynicism are pervasive in both client samples, but the holistic defense model provides tangible ways to build trust with clients, bolster perceptions of procedural justice, enhance legal and extra-legal client outcomes, and increase client satisfaction. Prior research has demonstrated the importance of procedural justice in terms of client satisfaction, compliance with court decisions, and acceptance of legal authority. However, the public tends to distrust court actors, which erodes procedural justice. We demonstrate that, in addition to both legal and extra-legal client benefits, holistic defense has the capacity to build client trust and bolster perceptions of procedural justice.

Keywords:

• Courts
• procedural justice
• holistic defense
• public defense
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

The opinions and points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice or NCSC. We thank Richard Schauffler, Derek Kreager, Miranda Galvin, Erika Bailey, and Iman Said for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interests to disclose.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Kimberly M. Davidson, upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 The Trial Court Performance Standards were designed for use by state general jurisdiction trial courts to assess and improve their performance. The Strategic Plan for the Federal Judiciary (2015) similarly underscores the importance of public perspectives, stating, “The ability of courts to fulfill their mission and perform their functions is based on the public’s trust and confidence in the system” (Judicial Conference of the United States 2015, 17).

2 There is no official count of the current number of public defender offices practicing holistic defense in the United States. However, many holistic defense programs are members of the Community Oriented Defender Network (COD Network). Created in 2003, the COD Network has grown from eight public defender offices to more than 100 members in 2014, showing the rapid rise in interest in holistic defense. The COD Network is now managed by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.

3 In Hennepin County, the term “disposition advisor” is used instead of social worker, but the responsibilities of these team members match those of social workers in the holistic defense model. Given the wide use of the term social worker in holistic defense literature, we utilize the term social worker instead of disposition advisor.

4 The additional two factors are examining the prosecutor’s evidence and focusing on the client’s case during meetings.

5 The project plan was submitted to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) IRB panel through the Determination of Need and Request for IRB Review process. It was determined by the panel that this research was exempt from the government requirement for an IRB review.

6 Whites comprise 74% of the population in Hennepin and 67% in Ramsey, African Americans alone are 13.6% and 12.6%, Hispanics or Latino alone are 7% and 7.6%, and Asian alone are 7.5% and 15.3% of the population, respectively (US Census Bureau Quickfacts 2018). Additionally, the crime rates per 100,000 were nearly identical in 2015 at 3,351 in Hennepin and 3,356 in Ramsey.

7 We utilize the jail populations in this comparison because the demographics for all county residents represented by a public defender were not available to us. Data available at http://trends.vera.org/incarceration-rates.

8 Utilization-Focused Evaluation is an evaluation firm located in Minneapolis, MN. Research partners for this study hold advanced degrees in public policy, sociology, and evaluation studies.

9 Out of the scope of this study were the two additional components of community programs and systemic advocacy, though we do share some clients’ own perspectives on the system and how public defenders might be able to better advocate for and connect with their clients and the community.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice under Grant 2012-R2-CX-0011/NCSC.