Fair Trials in the United States

How we work

Fair Trials Americas worked as part of a wider movement to reform criminal justice across the country since 2016. As an international NGO, we brought in-depth expertise from a comparative and international perspective to provide innovative and practical solutions to long-standing problems, and gave partners access to a network of leading lawyers, non-profits and academics from around the world.

Access to Counsel

Fair Trials campaigned for arrested people in the US to have access to a lawyer before police interrogation, a right almost never available before the first court hearing. Drawing on European models, we argued that earlier defense involvement could help prevent unlawful arrests, police brutality and miscarriages of justice. This work included the publication of Station House Counsel: Shifting the Balance of Power Between Citizen and State, and contributed to legislative debate on early access to counsel in California, Washington, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Plea bargaining

In a system where roughly 98% of criminal cases in the US are resolved through plea bargaining, Fair Trials worked to raise awareness of how the practice affects police coercion, sentencing and racial justice, and engaged with prosecutors to challenge its routine use in processing cases quickly.

INTERPOL and asylum – a concrete result

Fair Trials’ US-focused legal work also included a successful amicus curiae intervention before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that an INTERPOL Red Notice alone cannot establish probable cause of criminal activity in an asylum case. In February 2021, the court agreed, reversing a Board of Immigration Appeals decision.

Fair Trials’ work in the US concluded in 2024. To find out about our current work in Europe, visit Our Work or explore our campaigns.