The Decarceration Initiative Receives the Emil Gumpert Award

Back Row (left to right): Brian Saccenti (Director, Decarceration Initiative), Melissa Rothstein (Project Manager, Decarceration Initiative), John A. Day (President, ACTL), Gordon Pack (Board Member, APDM), Zach Warren (Board Member, APDM). Front Row (left to right): Natasha Dartigue (Maryland State Public Defender), Alexandra Paradise (Board Chair, APDM), Johanna Leshner (Executive Director, APDM), Katy O'Donnell (Fellow, ACTL), Paul DeWolfe (Fellow, ACTL + Former Maryland State Public Defender).

On June 17, the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and the Association for the Public Defender of Maryland (APDM) gathered with partners, advocates, and supporters at the offices of Brown, Goldstein, & Levy to celebrate receiving the Emil Gumpert Award from the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). The award is the highest honor ACTL confers on a single organization each year.

The Emil Gumpert Award recognizes programs whose principal purpose is to maintain and improve the administration of justice. This year, American College of Trial Lawyers selected the Decarceration Initiative, a public-private partnership between OPD and APDM, for its work ensuring high-quality legal representation and release planning for people eligible for sentence review under Maryland's Juvenile Restoration Act (JuvRA) and Second Look Act (SLA). The award comes with a $150,000 grant from the Foundation of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Neither the JuvRA nor the SLA includes any funding for representation or an explicit right to counsel. That gap is exactly what the Decarceration Initiative exists to fill. As Public Defender Natasha Dartigue said at the ceremony: "A law without a lawyer is a right without a remedy."

ACTL President John Day, who was present for the ceremony, noted that the initiative's work fits squarely within ACTL's mission to strengthen the quality of trial advocacy and expand access to justice.

The $150,000 grant will support recruitment of private attorneys and help cover representation costs for solo practitioners and small firms who cannot afford to take these cases pro bono. It will also further OPD's role as the foremost leader in implementing Maryland's Second Look reforms.

We are deeply grateful to ACTL and the ACTL Foundation for this recognition, to Brown, Goldstein & Levy for a memorable evening, and to every partner, advocate, and supporter who has made this work possible.