Category: Uncategorized

The Power of Stories to Change the World

The Power of Stories to Change the World

Dear Friends: At Texas Defender Service, we believe in the power of stories to change the world. Since 2018 alone, TDS has used storytelling to save 41 lives. Coming into September, we have important news: Two more of our clients have received life instead of death sentences. We want to share the story of Joseph Tejeda, our […]

You’re Invited to Our 2023 Light of Justice Luncheon!

You’re Invited to Our 2023 Light of Justice Luncheon!

Dear Friends, Please join us for Texas Defender Service’s 2023 Light of Justice Luncheon, featuring Pulitzer-Prize winner James Forman Jr. as our keynote speaker and honoring Hogan Lovells. Sponsorships and tickets are on sale now! Our deadline for program recognition is coming up on Friday, September 15! The luncheon, co-chaired by Christopher D. Porter of Quinn Emanuel and Robert H. […]

Join Us to Mark Ten Years of Texas’s Groundbreaking “Junk Science Law”

Join Us to Mark Ten Years of Texas’s Groundbreaking “Junk Science Law”

Dear Supporters, At Texas Defender Service, we know first-hand that our criminal-legal system makes mistakes. Wrongful convictions are not rare occurrences; they are endemic to our injustice system. Studies estimate that about 4-6% of people who are incarcerated are innocent.  With almost two million people in our prisons and jails, that means that tens of thousands of incarcerated people were wrongfully […]

Championing Justice for All

Championing Justice for All

Dear Friends, At Texas Defender Service, we save lives and reunite families. We lead with love, with creativity, and with passion for justice and for people.  We make an incredible impact, but to continue that impact we need your support.  Our Light of Justice Luncheon, which will be held this year on October 19, 2023 from […]

Nourishing the Next Generation of Leaders

Nourishing the Next Generation of Leaders

Dear Supporters: Texas Defender Service’s internship program nourishes the next generation of leaders in the movement to end mass incarceration. Every summer, interns join us from law and social-work schools around the country, bravely facing the Texas heat to contribute to our fight for justice Hannah Topelberg, an intern from the University of Texas School of […]

A Win for Our Client with Intellectual Disability

A Win for Our Client with Intellectual Disability

Dear Supporters: After years of vigorous advocacy by Texas Defender Service and a pro bono team from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that our client Steven Long is constitutionally exempt from the death penalty because of his intellectual disability.  Steven Long’s is one of the 39 lives we have […]