[5] In 2008, after working as a public defender in Milwaukee for five years, Motley went to Afghanistan as part of a nine-month legal education program run by the U.S. State Department to train Afghan lawyers.
And within these conversations, I started hearing the connections between the businesses and the people, and how laws that were meant to protect them were being underused, while gross and illegal punitive measures were overused.
"[6] Motley has successfully represented numerous Afghan women pro bono in Afghanistan whose human rights were violated.
[6] She worked in Badam Bagh women's prison in Afghanistan giving pro bono legal advice.
[9] She is registered as an attorney with the American, French, U.A.E., Australian, Spanish, Dutch, British, Italian, Norwegian, German, and Canadian Embassies in Afghanistan, and is thus routinely contacted by expatriates who are facing legal troubles with Afghan authorities.
[10] The Daily Beast stated in 2010, "and often her work starts after the verdict—as in the case of an Australian on death row, convicted of killing an Afghan colleague in self-defense; a South African sentenced to fifteen years in prison on drug charges, and a Brit convicted of fraud."
For example, "she successfully won a not guilty verdict for the release of Bill Shaw, a former British military officer, who had been held in the notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison for five months.
Motley studied Sharia, and "developed her own approach to operating in the Afghan courts," reported The Daily Beast.
"[10][9] As of 2010, Motley was under a threat from the Afghan District Attorney's office to arrest her next time she set foot in Kabul, as retribution for her harsh criticism of Afghanistan's corrupt judicial system.
[13] Motley represented Claudiare and Victoria Davison, the woman who shot King, in court.
[15] In June 2021 Motley helped a decorated Afghan Air Force pilot Naiem Asadi and his family leave Afghanistan.
[17][18] In July 28, 2021 Wisconsin Judge Glenn Yamahiro found probable cause to charge Officer Joseph Mensah for the shooting and killing of Jay Anderson, Jr. on June 23, 2016.
[19][22] Joseph Mensah is an officer who killed three males of color in less than five years time and the department found significant training issues.
[96][97] It also won the AWFJ - Alliance of Women Film Journalists' EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary at IDFA 2015.