In an article about the new documentary “And So I Stayed,” the New York Times spoke to S&C lawyers Garrard Beeney and Angela Ellis about their pro bono work representing survivors of domestic violence. The film highlights the stories of women who fought back against domestic abuse and received lengthy prison sentences as a result—an injustice that the passage of New York’s historic Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) aims to correct. In March, S&C won a significant victory under the new law for pro bono client Tanisha Davis, one of the subjects of the documentary. Speaking about the film, Angela Ellis told the Times, “You could see the strength of the ties” Tanisha “had to her family and the strength of the support she would have” if she were released.
Garrard Beeney represents Nicole Addmiando, another woman sentenced to prison for killing her abuser. Garrard told the Times that the documentary’s examination of the justice system’s treatment of survivors is “a necessary, but I also think, not sufficient step” in fixing the process. What is needed, he said, is a new way of thinking about domestic violence. “We need that kind of retraining more immediately than a gradual process of understanding,” he said.
Click here to read the article.
The S&C team representing Tanisha Davis was led by Angela Ellis, Steve Hsieh, Cari Jeffries, Madeline Jenks, and legal assistants Sadie LoGerfo-Olsen and Allie Williams, with guidance from Nic Bourtin. The S&C team representing Nicole Addmiando is led by Garrard Beeney, Amanda Davidoff, Kamil Shields, Tim Weinstein, Alex Self, James Brown, Sami Briggs, and former associate Jennifer Lee.