The Wren Collective
Reimagining the Way Our Country Approaches the Criminal Legal System
The Wren Collective works to transform America’s approach to public safety, expose the weaponization of the legal system, and ensure every person has the chance to participate in civic society. For too long, those with power have exploited the criminal legal system to take away the rights of marginalized communities, people of color, immigrants, and increasingly, their political opponents.
Wren pushes for a world where everyone—not just those with money and power—can live healthy, safe, and dignified lives.
Read Our Recent Publications
Control, Punish, Surveil: The Multi-Front Attack on Reproductive Rights
The headlines keep circling back to Trump—but we’re missing the bigger picture. This week, we’re zooming in on recent attacks on reproductive care at every level. As we’ve emphasized throughout…
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Trump’s Longing for the Days of Jim Crow
The federal government no longer prohibits contractors from having segregated facilities. If you believe this statement is a typo from a bygone, shameful era, you are wrong. President Trump made…
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Democracy Under Attack
Wren’s twice-monthly newsletter highlighting the ways the state and federal governments are undermining democracy and making us less safe.
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Messaging for Fighting Back
Wren’s regular guidance on effective messaging against the authoritarian and anti-democratic developments spreading around the country.
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Contracted to Fail: How Flat-Fee Contracts Undermine the Right to Counsel in California
California was once the nation’s leader in public defense, home to the first ever public defender’s office, decades before Gideon v. Wainwright. Today, the state is in the midst of a…
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Gideon Turns 60: Advancing the Right to Counsel for Kids in Cuyahoga County
In “Gideon at Sixty: Advancing the Right to Counsel for Kids in Cuyahoga County,” Wren investigated juvenile defense in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Wren recommends that the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court appoint…
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The Resurgence of the Death Penalty
As recently as last year, the death penalty was in serious decline in the United States. Federal and state executions were at an all time low and public support for…
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In A Democracy, Dissent Is Not Terrorism
In this newsletter, we explore how the Trump administration and state leaders are criminalizing dissent by weaponizing the DOJ, ICE, and other law enforcement tools at their disposal. We highlight…
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The President’s Plan to Lock Everyone Up
Normally, our newsletters explore how states function as laboratories for authoritarian forms of government and the federal government’s utilization of those ideas in its own power grab. Today, we take…
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