Profile: ernie.lewis

Ernie Lewis received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University in 1969, a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University in 1973, and a Juris Doctoris (J.D.) from Washington University in 1977. He was a VISTA Volunteer in Minnesota in 1970. He was with the Department of Public Advocacy from 1976 until 2008 in several different capacities, including appellate lawyer, local assistance branch manager, directing attorney of the Richmond Trial Office, and Regional Manager for the Central Kentucky Region. He was appointed Kentucky Public Advocate in 1996, overseeing the statewide public defender system, and served in that capacity until 2008 when he retired from state government. Since 1985, he has been on the faculty of the National College of Criminal Defense located at Mercer Law School in Macon, Georgia. He served for two years as Chair of the American Council of Chief Defenders from 2006-2007. He has worked on indigent defense issues with various groups in Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, and Louisiana. In 2000, he was named Outstanding Lawyer by the Kentucky Bar Association. In 2007, he was given the Champion of Indigent Defense Award by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2008, he was given the Chief Justice’s Special Service Award. He received the Department of Public Advocacy’s Professionalism and Excellence Award in 2003 and the Nelson Mandela Award in 2009. He is now active in teaching public defenders, consulting, representing an occasional client, and advocating for the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers before the Kentucky General Assembly. Since January of 2014, he has been serving as the Executive Director of the National Association for Public Defense.

• Login Count: 53
• Join Date: 71/16/2016 58:00:00
• Last on: 02/24/2021 12:43:10
• Location: Executive Director, National Association for Public Defense (Frankfort, KY)
• Articles posted by this author:
• Jeff Adachi Is Missed
• Reflecting Back
• Chair of NAPD Steering Committee to be Filled by Derwyn Bunton
• New Leadership in NAPD
• Somewhere in America
• What can I do about that?
• CLOSING ARGUMENTS CONTINUE: DOUG WILSON UP NEXT
• The Best Generation
• Jeff Adachi: A Champion for Justice
• We came to celebrate, but first we focused on racial justice
• This is a Must Read: Tell the Client's Story (Edward Monahan and James Clark, editors)
• Thoughts for Independence Day
• Thank You, Rick Jones
• Public Defenders and Mental Illness
• Enough
• Two
• Voices From St. Louis: Workloads Conference Recap
• You Got Problems? Systems Builders Is Here to Help
• Ed Monahan Retires as Kentucky Public Advocate
• Are You on Facebook?
• Something's Got to Change
• Why Do We Need More Standards?
• 48 Years Ago...
• The backstory to Alabama v. Shelton
• Steve Bright's Vision
• An Unlikely Verdict
• Learning Organizations
• Remembering Ross Shephard
• The headline screamed: "Arrest Made In Local Indigent Defense Fraud Investigation."
• What a waste
• Biggest Legal Stories of 2013
• Scottsboro Boys Pardoned - only 80 years later
• Chicago NAPD Meeting on February 7, 2014
• How would you characterize NAPD?
• You want fries with that?
• Quit harassing the tourists!
• Hearty souls and strong voices brave Chicago's cold to envision bright future
• Public defenders know it could hurt them but they do it anyway
• You let the cop do what?
• 10 Top Things I always wanted to say at a judge's conference
• Be Careful Out There
• Mark Stanziano - We Have Lost a Warrior
• When My Lawyers Didn't Recognize Their Clients
• Reflections on Ferguson
• Ten Things Prosecutors Know
• NAPD Signs on as Amicus Curiae
• Over 7000 Strong
• Here's My Pitch
• Is there a war on poor people?
• This is Just Wrong
• Two Prosecutors in Ferguson
• I'll Have What She's Having
• We Each Have Our Roles to Play
• "Witnessing a Fundamental Breach" - Testimony in Missouri
• Responsiveness
• Oh, the Things You Will Learn
• No case is too small
• Judges gone wild, systems gone cold
• Is Leadership Dead?
• A Small Thing
• The Day The President Went To Prison
• Where's the Evidence for Sex Offender Registries
• Cognitive Dissonance
• A Cry for Relief
• Yes, It Can Happen
• Oh, the places we've gone, the places we'll go
• Changes to the NAPD Steering Committee
• Two Courageous Defenders
• Because He Was Wrong on So Much...
• Public Defense Deep in the Heart of Texas' Death Penalty Country
• When Did Defending the Constitution Constitute a Campaign Weapon?