When public defense leaves the courthouse and enters the classroom, young people are empowered
More than 518 students across seven Philadelphia schools have participated in a Junior Defender Program that has sparked interest in law and public service.
Philly doesn’t need cops in schools or troops in our streets. It needs a justice system that invests in young people before they ever set foot in a courtroom.
For decades, the dominant law-and-order approach, a strategy recently escalated in cities by the Trump administration, insisted that safety could be achieved by flooding our neighborhoods with policing, prosecution, and punishment.
That approach failed. It criminalized children, hollowed out communities, and left whole neighborhoods defined not by opportunity, but by surveillance and incarceration.
The Junior Defender Program at the Defender Association of Philadelphia offers a different path. Launched in 2019, the program brings our attorneys directly into schools not to lecture, but to listen, to teach, and to build with students. Real safety is created when young people are given tools, knowledge, and voice.
With support from a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, staff and volunteers, and vital community partners, we’ve seen what happens when public defense leaves the courthouse and enters the classroom.
Over the past three years, more than 518 students across seven Philadelphia schools have participated. Students were ages 12-18, and in grades six through 12, for our in-school programming. Our initial focus was on schools located in Philly neighborhoods, where our data showed an increase in gun violence in the city when we launched in 2019-2020.
Students designed and implemented programs to support system-impacted youth — such as “A Kid’s Guide to Court Ordered Obligations” — and collective resistance projects like the Plead the Fit clothing brand that challenge punitive systems and create real solutions.
The principal of one of the participating schools, Wagner Middle School in West Oak Lane, praised the program for helping “burst the school-to-prison pipeline wide open.”
“This is the second year of collaboration with Defender Association of Philadelphia and Guy Lang. Our scholars learn advocacy skills and develop debate, discussion, and critical thinking skills,” principal Connie Grier said.
“[The students] had a mile wide smile as they presented their counter argument and proposal to one of our school policies. That’s right, I’m here for the discussion. Our youth must be heard, and they have salient points to make. Onward to Year 3!”
The program is open to all public schools in the city of Philadelphia through our asynchronous learning course launching in spring 2026.
Our 10-week summer fellowship paired 39 students — all 18 or older — with Defender attorneys, giving them hands-on experience in our courts, sparking interest in law and public service.
Fellows from the Black Public Defender Association and student peer educator interns helped amplify youth voices and expand their impact, while partners like Victoria’s Kitchen, CNS Film Co., and the Education Law Center grounded this work in schools and communities.
The results have been extraordinary. Students who are too often underestimated rose to meet us as equals, analyzing injustice, proposing reforms, and presenting their vision for a fairer Philadelphia. Their brilliance and resilience have reshaped not only their futures, but ours as Defenders.
But to sustain and grow this work, we need investment. While we are pursuing additional grant funding, we are also requesting city support to continue the summer fellowship and strengthen the foundation we’ve built.
Philadelphia must decide: double down on failed law enforcement strategies, or invest in a future where young people themselves lead the way toward justice.
Keisha Hudson is the chief defender of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Guy Lang is the Defense Association’s youth outreach director and the creator of the Junior Defender Program.