Emily Galvin Almanza will read from her new book, The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender's Search for Justice in America. The Price of Mercy is described as "A former public defender takes us behind the closed doors of America’s criminal courts, revealing how the institutions that claim to protect us are doing the exact opposite—and offering a blueprint for finally fixing it" (emilygalvinalmanza.com). It's praised by Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow, as "a searing, compassionate, and utterly necessary book," while Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Ranking Member, U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, and author of New York Times Bestseller Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy, says: "The Price of Mercy is an astonishing and moving achievement...Emily Galvin Almanza brings us ...into the police precinct interrogation room, the holding cell in the courthouse, the jury voir dire selection process, the judge’s chambers and the packed courtroom with dozens of cases, the sequestered jury deliberation room, the filthy and forlorn prison cell and the sorrows of family visitation day. Unflinching, refreshingly pragmatic and bracingly humane, Emily Galvin Almanza commits us to a street-level systemic understanding of what’s actually working and what’s failing in American criminal justice. Her account of our penal condition, infused with personal stories, surprising statistics and tangible reform ideas, can be a serious game-changer for America—if we’re listening."

Emily Galvin Almanza is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Partners for Justice, a nonprofit creating a new collaborative model designed to empower public defenders nationwide. Prior to co-founding PFJ, Emily fought for clients inside the LA County Public Defender, Santa Clara County Public Defender, Bronx Defenders, and the Stanford Three Strikes Project. She believes that everyone is entitled not just to equal justice, but to equal mercy.