ACLU-WA staff attorney Nancy Talner has received the Gideon Award from the Washington Defender Association. The honor recognizes her lifetime of service in advancing the civil rights of Washington defendants. A leading state expert on criminal justice issues, Talner has been an attorney with the ACLU for almost 20 years.
“Nancy is a passionate and tenacious advocate for the rights of indigents in the justice system. Her work has improved the lives of thousands, and she serves as an inspiration and resource to other advocates,” said ACLU-WA executive director Kathleen Taylor.
The award recognized Talner’s work on Wilbur v. Mt. Vernon, a federal case seeking to ensure that indigents accused in municipal court receive effective representation. The case arose out of the city of Burlington and Mount Vernon’s systemic refusal to adequately fund or supervise their public defenders, resulting in a system of “meet ‘em, greet ‘em, plead ‘em” justice. Through the efforts of Talner and private counsel, we obtained a landmark ruling that municipalities have a constitutional obligation to ensure reasonable caseloads that enable actual assistance of counsel.
The case built upon efforts to secure effective assistance of counsel at the state level. In 2004, Talner led the ACLU and pro-bono counsel in Best v. Grant County, challenging systemic deficiencies in the county’s felony defense system. The county agreed to make sweeping changes to its systems, and the case ended in 2013 after years of monitoring the settlement.
Further, Talner has written and co-authored numerous amicus briefs supporting the rights of criminal defendants. she also has been deeply involved in policy efforts to set caseload standards for public defense, increase diversity on juries, decrease housing and employment discrimination against people with criminal convictions, and end the imposition of excessive legal financial obligations.
For a decade, she led the ACLU-WA’s Voting Rights Restoration Project, which successfully fought to ensure that people’s right to vote was not irrevocably lost due to a felony conviction and subsequent lack of ability to pay legal financial obligations. The Project provided direct services to over 200 individuals, helping them to obtain certificates of discharge and restore their rights. Talner worked with our legislative and policy team to convince the legislature to pass a bill automatically restoring the right to vote once a person completes supervision. Her efforts benefited thousands, and brought Washington onto the right side of history.
