Scott Hechinger

Scott Hechinger is an American civil rights attorney, former public defender and the founder and executive director of Zealous, a nonprofit organization that trains public defenders and activists to use media, technology, the arts, and storytelling to shape criminal justice policy.

Upon graduation, he was awarded the "Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize" for excellence in clinical work and was named a Florence Allen Scholar.

[7] He challenged the prosecutorial practice of charging young single mothers with Endangerment for leaving their children alone for short periods of time to run necessary errands and even to give birth.

[13] Hechinger founded and directs Zealous, a national advocacy and education initiative, aimed at supporting and organizing public defenders and community advocates to better tell the stories of injustice in the American criminal legal system.

[18][19] Hechinger regularly writes and provides commentary about issues related to the American criminal legal system.

[20] In 2018, he told NowThis News that “Here’s what’s crazy: five minutes is over five times longer than the time it takes judges in the criminal court where I practice to decide to jail one of my clients pretrial, presumed innocent until their case is over, on cash bail they can’t possibly afford.”[21] He has written about bail reform in New York.

"[33][34] In response to U.S. President Joe Biden calling for the release of Brittney Griner, Hechinger wrote: "Joe Biden's calling for her [Griner’s] release and talking about how unjust a nine-year sentence is—40,000 people today are incarcerated for marijuana offenses in the United States, even as the legal cannabis industry is booming.”[33][35] In the response to the Supreme Court of the United States's May 2022 ruling that innocence is not enough to overturn a murder conviction, he wrote: "Know this: Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it is perfectly Constitutional to imprison and execute people, *even those who have evidence of their innocence & inadequate counsel.

He advocates for more investment in affordable housing, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and poverty alleviation.

[57] Hechinger believes that crime stoppers hotlines encourage sketchy tips and harm low-income criminal defendants.

[59] He has criticized Nassau County prosecutors for targeting Black and Brown people with felony charges for traffic-related infractions.

[61] Hechinger criticized Attorney General William Barr for his refusal to acknowledge the role that racism plays in the American criminal legal system.