Washington, DC (February 23, 2026) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) honored Baton Rouge criminal defense lawyer Jean Faria at a reception during their Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
Jean was the capital case coordinator for the Louisiana Public Defender Board for over seven years. From 2008-2013, she served the then-newly created Louisiana Public Defender Board as the state public defender. She was responsible for the development of Louisiana's performance standards, delinquency standards, CINC standards, and capital standards and guidelines. With the highly talented LPDB staff, she developed the strategic plan for the delivery of public defense services and prepared and submitted for LPDB and legislative approval a 33-million-dollar budget. Before becoming the state public defender in 2008, Jean served as the Assistant Federal Defender for the Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana, in Baton Rouge, LA. From 1995-1997 she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Indigent Defender Board in New Orleans, LA. Prior to that, she worked as a public defender in the 19th JDC Public Defender Office in Baton Rouge. She has been active in the public defense reform movement, both locally and nationally, for more than 40 years.
Said NACDL Board Member Jim Boren: "What she did was she breathed life into the belief that indigent defendants were worthy of respect and that their lawyers were worthy of respect and that they needed to be funded and that they needed to be trained. And those are the programs that she put into effect which had long-lasting and current effects in the state of Louisiana."
Speaking about the work ahead, Jean said: "We've reformed the system twice now and we can and we must do so again. My fervent desire is that in this next chapter of reform we will be brave enough to address the institutional racism that permeates and poisons the entire criminal legal system in this state. One of the most important traits that the prior recipients of this award all have in common is that they were practical observers who, despite all the difficulties that they encountered, never failed, not once, to engender hope in people who would otherwise despair. I hope that I will be remembered as one. We are not going back. We will fight for every public defender to exercise their first amendment rights without fear of retribution. We will fight for line defenders to have the resources that they need to competently and ethically represent their clients. And we will inspire hope in the hearts of our public defenders and our clients."
