2026 Summer Public Defense Conference

Doug Passon is a practicing criminal defense lawyer with 30 years’ experience in state and federal court. He has a national practice focused on holistic, narrative-based sentencing advocacy and autism-informed defense. (www.dougpassonlaw.com) 
 
Passon is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker, having directed, filmed and edited award-winning short and feature-length documentaries that have played throughout North America and beyond. He has long been recognized as the pioneer in using short documentary films for mitigation in criminal and capital cases.  Passon incorporates this form of visual advocacy into plea bargaining, sentencing and post-conviction relief.  The goal is to use “legal documentaries” to humanize his clients and put their conduct in the proper context. 
 
Passon produces and hosts a weekly podcast called Set for Sentencing (www.setforsentencing.com), the goal of which is to bring more awareness, fairness and hope to the sentencing