Posted June 24, 2021

JusticeText is excited to announce our latest partnership with the Office of the Federal Public Defender in the District of Kansas .

The agency represents hundreds of individuals every year, providing representation to those too poor to afford legal counsel. Across their three offices in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita, the Kansas Federal Public Defender has 43 staff members working towards a unifying mission to have "fewer people in prison and more people going home." Attorneys, investigators, and legal support staff collectively work to represent, collaborate, and educate their clients to make this goal a reality.

Melody Brannon, the Federal Public Defender for Kansas at their Topeka Office, has been a staunch advocate for the health and well-being of incarcerated communities during the pandemic. In her article for The Topeka Capital-Journal, Brannon says, "No one is safer from this pandemic if the jail gates stay locked. This plague spreads nine times faster in jail than in the general public. [...] Release will protect the general public who rely on our public health care system."

We at JusticeText are proud to be supporting an agency so thoroughly committed to championing systemic reform within the criminal justice system.

Brannon has praised JusticeText for streamlining the way the office analyzes audiovisual discovery. The increasingly high volume of audio and video footage from the government was requiring hours of extremely time-consuming and resource-intense manual review.

"[I like the] speed with which we can review body cam and pole cam recordings...the transcription is such a quick turnaround," Brannon said. "It gives us the ability to do a word search and jump to that part of [the video] so quickly, and to be able to clip sections for presentations in the office. JusticeText is intuitive and easy to use. The notetaking functions are particularly useful.”

Now with JusticeText, the public defense office hopes to employ a more efficient process for reviewing high volumes of digital discovery files.

"We're going to have a standard way to review relevant discovery in a timely and efficient way, capture the most meaningful sections easily and in a way that lets us document our review and work immediately, and then share with others on the team. Also, the support and response time from the developers has been outstanding. And, perhaps most importantly, they understand our mission,” Brannon said.

JusticeText hopes this is the beginning of one of many partnerships at the federal level where we can work with attorneys to ensure that the administration of justice is both timely and cost-effective.