In The Media

The Houston Chronicle discusses the findings of Wren’s bombshell reports on the systemic failures of capital defense lawyers in the death penalty capital of the nation.

Imagine having so much money that you can promise million-dollar bribes to people who’d sign a petition “supporting” the First and Second Amendments. Well, billionaire Elon Musk actually did, flexing his considerable wealth to influence the election.

Now imagine how strong a movement needs to be to defeat political forces with that level of power and funding.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports on the Wren Collective’s findings. “Cuyahoga County is reconsidering allowing in-person visitation at its jail after an advocacy group called for the change.

The potential change follows a report from the Wren Collective, a criminal justice reform group comprised of public defenders, that criticized the county for not allowing in-person visitation for inmates’ loved ones and for allowing prosecutors to listen to recorded video calls without a warrant.”

The sheriff’s comments last week came in response to a report that called on the county to reinstate in-person visits for friends and family.

The report, released by the Wren Collective, said that the county’s shift to video-only visits strips people accused – but not convicted – of criminal charges of the opportunity to talk openly with family members about their criminal cases, including witnesses, evidence and potential plea deals. That’s because county prosecutors have access to listen to jail calls and watch videos recorded by a county contractor.

The Cuyahoga County Jail no longer allows in-person visits from friends or family members, one of many jails in the state that ended the practice with little public discussion.

This shift to video-only visitation strips people accused – but not convicted – of criminal charges of the opportunity to openly communicate with loved ones about evidence in their cases or to weigh important decisions about plea deals, according to a report by Wren Collective, a criminal justice reform policy group.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pardon of Daniel Perry last week is part of a larger, right-wing effort to wield the powers of the criminal justice process for their own political purposes, even if it means circumventing the democratic process.

News 5 in Cleveland highlights the impact of a Wren Collective report on the Cuyahoga Juvenile Court system. The report found that the Court steered kids’ cases to less qualified attorneys, leading to outrage from local leaders and calls for reform. “The Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) is concerned that some low-income juvenile offenders are not…

There are major problems with the machinery of this part of the judicial system, according to a new report called “Death by Design” from the Wren Collective, a criminal justice reform group.

Harris County, Texas, has executed more people than anywhere else in the country. In most Harris County cases ending in a death sentence over the previous 20 years, defense lawyers failed to find and present compelling evidence that could have kept their clients off of death row, according to a two-part report published on Monday by the Wren Collective, a group of former public defenders who do criminal justice research and policy.

A new report raises questions about whether children accused of crimes in Cuyahoga County are getting the best possible legal representation – and about whether the juvenile court’s system for assigning private attorneys is influenced by the preferences of judges.