Marin Legal Adversaries Forge Partnership Amid Pandemic

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin County prosecutors have found an improbable ally amid their pursuit of important initiative: defense counsel.

The legal odd couple have put aside differences in their pursuit of their common goal of ramping up restorative justice procedures to safely keep people criminal justice system.

The partnership forged amid the pandemic is described in an op-ed published in The Marin Independent Journal earlier this month.

Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli and Marin County Department of Health and Human Services Director Benita McLarin co-authored the op-ed piece that said the pursuit of equitable justice system amid the pandemic has “required an unprecedented level of teamwork.”

“Since last March when the COVID-19 pandemic essentially closed our doors, it became immediately apparent county departments were going to have to intensify our cooperation in ways we never had before. The nationwide call for equity in the justice system also contributed to our collaboration.”

The Sheriff’s Office, HHS and Probation departments joined the District Attorney and Public Defender in a partnership the op-ed said enabled the county to “implement significant projects in days or weeks that typically would have taken months to complete.”

The DA and Public Defender found common ground on reducing the jail’s inmate population to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Assistant Public Defender Brian Morris said.

“A silver lining to this yearlong effort is the exciting opportunity for justice partners to collaboratively reimagine the justice system to provide dramatically improved and more racially equitable service,” Morris said.