Other Group

Wren Collective

Website:

www.wrencollective.org/

Type:

Project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs

Founder:

Jessica Brand

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The Wren Collective is a left-of-center think tank and project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. 1 The organization, formed by former public defenders, produces research on representing indigent criminal defendants. 2

Background

The Wren Collective was founded in 2019 by attorney Jessica Brand as an independent nonprofit organization. 3 In 2022, the organization became a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. 4

Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs is a left-of-center grantmaking and fiscal sponsor organization. 5 Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs was founded in 1987, at the time under the name American-Soviet Film Initiative, with the intent to promote Soviet culture in the United States through films and television produces in the USSR. 6

Policy

The Wren Collective has taken various policy positions on indigent criminal defense. 7 For instance, the organization has recommended that municipalities create “mental health public defender” offices. 8 Such offices would employ attorneys that specialize in defending and arguing for preferential sentencing for criminal defendants who suffer from severe mental health disorders. 9 Studies produced by the organization lament the lack of competency and training for public defenders and see this as a means of providing more specialized defense. 10

Other policies recommended to address competency problems include a taxpayer-funded Managed Assigned Council (MAC) system created by municipalities, as opposed to the local public defender office, which would be tasked with ensuring that each indigent defendant is paired with the most competent public defender or pro-bono attorney available. 11

The Wren Collective goes on to recommend that a taxpayer-funded MAC system should also pay for assigned social workers and skilled investigators to establish “mitigating factors” to lower the sentencing period for convicted defendants. 12 Finally, the organizations recommend that the MAC system hire immigration attorneys who can advise the local public defender office on how to navigate criminal law to avoid deportation and other undesirable immigration outcomes for undocumented criminal defendants. 13

Leadership

Jessica Brand founded the Wren Collective in 2019. 14 The leadership of the organization is subject to controversy because Bexar County, Texas District Attorney Joe Gonzales (D)  and his first assistant Christian Henricksen developed a working relationship that was left undisclosed to the public since the organization’s founding. 15 Reporting on the issue has uncovered that the Wren Collective wielded significant influence over both specific cases actively under litigation and policies, including policies related to limiting bail, that were implemented by District Attorney Gonzales. 16

References

  1. “About.” The Wren Collective. https://www.wrencollective.org/
  2. “About.” The Wren Collective. https://www.wrencollective.org/
  3. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com. January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
  4.  Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com. January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
  5. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com. January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
  6. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com. January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
  7. “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  8. “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  9. “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  10. “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  11.  “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  12.  “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  13.  “Sixty Years After Gideon: Indigent Defense in Nueces County.” The Wren Collective. November 2023. https://www.wrencollective.org/_files/ugd/8fe8f0_57ace02e045642318ef78fa366f9c32d.pdf
  14. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com. January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
  15. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez. “Take a closer look at the conversations between Bexar County DA’s Office & criminal justice reform group.” KSAT.com January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/01/31/take-a-closer-look-at-the-conversations-between-bexar-county-das-office-criminal-justice-reform-group/
  16. Collier, Dillon and Erica Hernandez. “Take a closer look at the conversations between Bexar County DA’s Office & criminal justice reform group.” KSAT.com January 31, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/01/31/take-a-closer-look-at-the-conversations-between-bexar-county-das-office-criminal-justice-reform-group/
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