Our Executive Director, Josh Stanton, has years of experience both as a respected white collar criminal defense attorney and as a trial lawyer in a state public defender office. Through the Defense of Dignity Center, Josh provides elite representation to indigent clients charged with crimes in the District of Columbia. If you or a loved one needs a lawyer, please contact us through the form below.

Reforming the criminal legal system begins with demanding that judges, prosecutors, and the public at large see people charged with crimes as human beings with inherent dignity. That is a prerequisite for treating those caught up in the criminal legal system with the respect and humanity they deserve—regardless of what they may have done.

We are committed to increasing public understandings of the shortcomings of the criminal legal system. The United States has approximately 4.2% of the world’s population, yet houses about 20% of the world’s prisoners. Despite that, the U.S. is less safe than most other developed nations. The system is not working. Through articles and public engagement, we explain how each piece of the criminal legal system is failing—from policing, to pretrial detention, to sentencing—and suggest research-based alternatives that would create a more equitable society.