Members who inspire. True Conviction

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 56-58

ABA Insider edited by

LEE RAWLES

lee.rawles@americanbar.org

Members Who Inspire is an ABA Journal series prof‌i ling exceptional ABA members. If you know members who do unique and important work,

you can nominate them for this series by emailing inspire@abajournal.com.

MEMBERS WHO INSPIRE

True Conviction

Deborah Espinosa uses photography and storytelling

for legal empowerment

BY AMANDA ROBERT

Deborah Espinosa calls it the

hour that changed her life.

In 2014, the Seattle at-

torney needed to ful ll her

CLE requirements and found an Amer-

ican Civil Liberties Union program on

the growth of modern-day debtors’

prisons. She was intrigued because as

far as she knew, there were no debtors’

prisons in this country.

ACLU attorney Vanessa Hernandez

told a different story, one that featured

Washington courts sentencing crimi-

nal defendants to  nes, fees, costs and

restitution that accrued interest at a

rate of 12% from the moment of their

conviction through each day of their

incarceration.

Once defendants were released, they

had about 30 days to make their  rst

payment on these legal  nancial obli-

gations, or LFOs. And if they missed

any payments on what often amounted

to thousands of dollars, they could be

found in contempt of court and face

another arrest.

“I was offended to my core,”

Espinosa says. “I also felt like I’m part

of the system as an attorney, and this

just isn’t right. This particular policy

disproportionately impacts people of

color and the poor, and it perpetuates

cycles of poverty and incarceration.”

Espinosa, who had experience using

visual storytelling for legal advocacy,

spent the next year and a half research-

ing the issue and connecting with

nonpro t organizations that introduced

her to formerly incarcerated individuals

who wanted to share their stories.

In 2016, she introduced Living with

Conviction: Sentenced to Debt for

Life in Washington State, a series of

recorded interviews and photographs

that demonstrate how Washington’s

court-imposed debt—and its interest

rate—impact these individuals’ efforts

to successfully reenter society. Photo-

graphs from that exhibit can be seen on

the following pages.

Carmen Pacheco-Jones, a grand-

mother from Spokane, Washington ,

appears in the series. Pacheco-Jones

grew up in an abusive home and then in

foster care.

She was pregnant and addicted

to drugs by age 17 and had her  rst

Photos by University of Arizona, Shutterstock

ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2020

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