Aram Byer James is a former Santa Clara County, CA Assistant

Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

, police watchdog,

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

, and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

attorney.Police watchdog threatens lawsuit, Bill D'Agostino, ''

Palo Alto Weekly The ''Palo Alto Weekly'' is a weekly community newspaper in Palo Alto in the U.S. state of California. Owned by Embarcadero Media Foundation, formerly Embarcadero Media, it serves Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Stanford, E ...

'', Wednesday, April 6, 2005Public Eye: Judging the Judge

''

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'', also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California-based Weeklys media group for four decades, a period during which its readership area became known as Silicon Valley. Metro was ...

'', 10-17-02Poster eye-catching... when seen: Civil rights initiative, ''San Jose Mercury News'', August 21, 1996, p. 1B As an expert on the defense of necessity, he headed the team of attorneys defending

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

students and professors arrested in anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

protests in 1980’s.15 Stanford Protestors Jailed for Anti-Apartheid Sit-ins, ''San Jose Mercury News'', 4-18-1986, 1B Local He is an advocate of

jury nullification Jury nullification, also known as jury equity or as a perverse verdict, is a decision by the jury in a trial, criminal trial resulting in a verdict of Acquittal, not guilty even though they think a defendant has broken the law. The jury's reas ...

, educator in the use of the

Marsden Motion A ''Marsden'' motion is the only means by which a criminal defendant can fire a court-appointed attorney or communicate directly with a judge in a California state court. It is based on a defendant's claim that the attorney is providing ineffe ...

to fire ineffective public defenders, a critic of the

prison industrial complex A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crim ...

, and critic of police use of

tasers Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...

and

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

.Taser recommendation delayed - Instead, Task Force hears from Taser-sponsored doctor, ACLU, and activist Aram James, Becky Trout, ''Palo Alto Weekly'', March 28, 2007Tasers:Are They a Viable Option?, ''East Palo Alto Today'', May 3, 2011Charged Debate, Marty Levine, ''

Pittsburgh City Paper The ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment. It bought out ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' in 2001. As of April 2015, ''City Paper'' is the 14th ...

'', 11-15-2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Aram Byer People from Santa Clara County, California Law in the San Francisco Bay Area Living people Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area California lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Jury nullification Public defenders