On March 12, 2025, Our office testified at the United States Sentencing Commission in Washington, DC on behalf of the Federal Defender national program in support of the Commission’s proposed amendments to the Supervised Release policy statements. On April 11, 2025, the Commission voted to adopt many of the proposed amendments.

On April 2, 2024, Mitigation Specialist Maria Diaz Sommer attended a Criminal Justice Speakers Series panel discussion organized by the University of Saint Joseph. Maria Díaz Sommer was on the panel, along with a Superior Court Judge, Deputy Director for the Office of Victim Services, a State Attorney, a Family Relations Officer for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and, a U.S. Supervisory Probation Officer. The panel spoke about their involvement in restorative justice practices, the significance of restorative justice in modern day courts, and where restorative justice was effectively practiced in their cases.

On February 8, 2023, The Federal Defenders Office spoke to the Yale Law School Defenders Society.  The discussion focused on how bail and pre-trial motions work in federal criminal practice, as well as on developing pathways to practice federal criminal defense.  

On February 9, 2024, Assistant Federal Defender Carly Levenson participated in a panel discussion at Def Con 2024, a public defense conference at Yale Law School. As part of the panel “Why Public Defense, and Why Now?,” Carly spoke to law students about what makes public defense such a rewarding and important line of work.

The Federal Defender Office has been collaborating with the Mental Health Justice Clinic at Yale Law School since 2022.  Our office co-supervises with Professor Marisol Orihuela  students working on mental health justice projects.  MHJC’s representation model is holistic, client-centered, and disability informed.  

On October 12, 2023, Mitigation Specialist Maria Diaz Sommer and members of the Federal Defender Office attended a panel discussion with community members organized by the Law and Racial Justice Center at Yale Law School. Maria Diaz Sommer was on the panel, along with Senior United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill, AUSA Bill Brown, Joshua Bentz, a participant in Bridgeport’s Support Court restorative justice pilot workshop, and Clarissa Turner, a victim survivor/restorative justice practitioner from the District of MA.  The panel spoke about the success of Support Court’s pilot workshop, their involvement with restorative justice from their role in the criminal legal system, restorative justice as an alternative to punishment, efforts to continue restorative justice and why more the district should follow suit

On February 23, 2023, Our office testified at the United States Sentencing Commission in Washington, DC on behalf of the Federal Defender national program in support of the Commission’s proposed amendments to the Reduction in Sentence Guidelines.  On April 5, 2023, the Commission voted to adopt most of the proposed amendments. 

The Federal Defender Office has been collaborating with the Challenging Mass Incarceration Clinic (CMIC) at Yale Law School since 2016.  Our office co-teaches CMIC with Professor Miriam Gohara and co-supervise students working on federal sentencing, reduction in sentence, and pre-trial cases.  CMIC’s representation model is holistic, client-centered, and mitigation driven.  We explore the foundations of building an effective working rapport with clients and of assembling the tools necessary to provide comprehensive, meaningful representation. These include: interviewing clients and relevant witnesses; conducting a broad-based, thorough fact investigation; developing a case theory; working with experts; organizing and managing cases; researching relevant legal doctrine; and written and oral advocacy.  Throughout the semester, we gather evidence of, study, and present in our advocacy the historical, racial, sociological, and economic structures that contextualize our clients’ contact with the criminal legal system. We also investigate and gather evidence of our clients’ own social histories and life circumstances in order to persuade decisionmakers to reconsider lengthy prison sentences or to persuade judges not to impose prison sentences in the first instance.

For more information on FDO’s collaboration with CMIC, please listen to Professor Miriam Gohara’s interview at https://soundcloud.com/yaleuniversity/episode-three-miriam-gohara.

On December 5, 2022, June 2023, and December 18, 2023, the Federal Defender Office hosted its biannual training sessions on Vicarious Traumatization.  Yale School of Medicine Law and Psychiatry Fellows and Dr. Kathryn Thomas led the office in a discussion of what vicarious traumatization is as well as strategies to implement to prevent burn-out and compassion fatigue. 

If you are interested in the Office’s work on vicarious traumatization, please contact Kathryn Thomas at Kathryn_Thomas@fd.org.

2025-2026 Curtis-Liman Fellowship at FDO/Yale Law School

The Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School has hosted a Curtis-Liman Fellowship for the last four years at the Connecticut Federal Defender Office. Established in 2020 to honor Professor Dennis Curtis, a co-founder of Yale Law School’s clinical program, the Curtis-Liman Fellowship focuses on alternatives to incarceration and the impact of fines, fees, and other costs associated with criminal law enforcement. The Fellowship is co-hosted by the FDO of Connecticut, the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO), and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law (Liman Center). The Curtis-Liman Fellow is supervised by attorneys at the FDO, and legal faculty at the LSO and at the Liman Center. ​ 

The current Curtis-Liman fellow, Hannah Friedle, works with the Federal Defender Office of Connecticut (FDO), the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO), and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law. Hannah builds on the work of previous fellows supporting clients on supervised release. Prior Curtis-Liman Fellows developed an inventory of programs that provide substance use and mental health treatment for FDO clients and challenged certain supervised release conditions imposed by federal district court judges. 

Hannah continues the Curtis-Liman Fellowship’s specialized case load. She represents clients on supervised release in revocation and noncompliance proceedings, connects clients with community resources, and works with individuals with a history of substance use disorder in the District of Connecticut’s Support Court program. At Yale Law School, Hannah supervises cases in collaboration with the LSO, co-teaches the Liman spring seminar, and works on research and outreach projects directed by the Liman Center.

Federal Defender Office Mitigation Specialist Maria Diaz Sommer implemented a pilot restorative justice workshop, Restoring Justice from the Inside, for detained clients represented by the District of Connecticut’s Federal Defender Office. On September 17 and 18, 2025, Maria facilitated a two-day, 16-hour restorative justice workshop held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility. The workshop was attended by nine detainees, a former Assistant United States Attorney, and community members including two victim survivors.

On September 3 and 4, 2025, Maria Diaz Sommer facilitated the District of Connecticut’s third pilot restorative justice workshop. The two-day, 16-hour restorative justice workshop was hosted at the Burroughs Community Center. The workshop was attended by seven participants and observers of the Bridgeport and New Haven Support Court program, five community members which included three recovery coaches from CCAR, and two victim survivors.

On January 18 and 19, 2024, Maria Diaz Sommer facilitated the District of Connecticut’s second pilot restorative justice workshop. The two-day, 16-hour restorative justice workshop was hosted at the Beardsley Branch Library. The workshop was attended by seven participants and observers of the Support Court program, two community members, a national colleague from the Federal Defender of Maryland who participated as a victim survivor, and AUSA Bill Brown.

On November 17 and 18, 2022, Maria Diaz Sommer implemented the District of Connecticut’s pilot restorative justice workshop. The workshop was hosted at the HomeBridge Reentry Community Center which provides comprehensive trauma-informed healing groups, job training and placement, and a supportive environment for returning citizens. The two-day, 16-hour workshop was attended by six participants and observers of the Bridgeport Support Court program, five community members which included two recovery coaches from CCAR, a representative from HomeBridge, a justice-involved person, a surrogate victim, and AUSA Bill Brown. I co-facilitated the workshop led by an AUSA from the District of Massachusetts.

Native American and indigenous communities have long used restorative justice practices to resolve harms. Currently, there is a nascent, but growing movement to use restorative justice in pockets of the United States within the traditional criminal justice system or as an adjunct to it. On August 3-4, 2020, the American Bar Association adopted a resolution urging judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and probation officers to consider using restorative justice practices in response to crime.

If you are interested in our Office’s restorative justice work, please contact Maria Diaz Sommer at maria_diazsommer@fd.org or 860-966-1860.