Public defenders protest police violence
Demonstrators march Roxbury precinct to South Bay house of correction
Public defenders and other court workers gathered in Nubian Square on Monday evening to protest police violence and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, one of many such protests happening across the country this week.
Organized by public defenders Shayla Mombeleur, Christian Williams, Connor Barusch and Olivia Dubois (public defender social worker), the protest began near the Roxbury courthouse, where many of the protesters work. It ended in front of the South Bay House of Corrections, “because that’s where our clients are,” Williams said.
The lawyers organized with the intention of joining California public defenders as part of a nationwide initiative in support of Black Lives Matter movements two weeks after the death of George Floyd and days after the arrest of the officers who killed him. Williams said about 40 other cities were protesting in solidarity that day.
Among their demands, stated in a press release, the organizers are fighting against incarceration of black and brown people, who “unfairly make up the prison system,” and unfair court fees.
“We must fight against unconscionable court fees demanded of our community members who can least afford them,” Quincy public defender Rafael Feliciano said in the release.
Though they work for the courts, lawyers weren’t afraid to call on each aspect of the criminal legal system — some protesters carried signs reading “Defund DCF” (Department of Children and Families).
Dubois also called for more social workers of color, as she says the profession is “made up of majority white women,” who have the power to either empower families, or demolish them.
Officers stood in front of the doors of the Suffolk County House of Corrections and inmates banged on the windows as more than 200 protesters shouted, “Free them all!” and “We see you.”
Williams hopes the demonstration will be an eye-opener for his fellow lawyers as well as their clients.
“It is moving when you chant outside of the jail, and your clients come out and they bang on the windows and they write handwritten signs and they put them in the window and they say ‘We love you,’” he said.
Defendants’ families were also in attendance, including Sarema Monroe, whose fiance is being represented by Barusch.
“He fought really hard and advocated for my fiance … He invited me to this protest today and asked me to speak because I know how to get everyone to understand the pain that we feel as people of color,” said Monroe, who noted her fiance has about two years left in jail.
With help of public defenders’ offices in California, the local organizers were able to hand out free shirts bearing the phrase “Public Defenders Support Black Lives” and create signs with the names of individuals in Massachusetts who were killed by the police. While they chanted Floyd’s name, they also wore Brandon Payne’s name on their backs, a black man who was killed by Lynn police in 2012.
Mombeleur says she works with many black and brown clients and relates to them because she is black herself.
“In the courtroom, they can’t hide their color,” she said. “I see that through my profession and my own family. We are tired of mass incarceration, and we are tired of excessive bail. We’re going to the house of corrections where people like us are being held.”
