How do we practice belonging inside a system of mass incarceration?
HOLISTIC DEFENSE
About me
I’m Katie Carter, and for nearly 20 years, I’ve practiced holistic defense investigation and mitigation rooted in heart-centered truth-telling. Based in Louisiana—the incarceration capital of the world—my work calls for creative, community-based responses to harm: both the harm my clients have caused and the harm they’ve endured. I believe in digging deeper, listening closely, and uncovering the full human story inside every case.
I have worked with
*Federal Public Defender Eastern District of Louisiana
*Seattle Law School
*Orleans Public Defenders
*Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
*Capital Defense Project of SE Louisiana
*CJA SDNY
*CJA EDNY
*Federal Public Defender Eastern District of Louisiana *Seattle Law School *Orleans Public Defenders *Louisiana Center for Children's Rights *Capital Defense Project of SE Louisiana *CJA SDNY *CJA EDNY
*CJA Eastern District NY
*CJA Western District NY
*Legal Aid Manhattan
*CJA Eastern District NY *CJA Western District NY *Legal Aid Manhattan
*Orleans Public Defenders
*Federal Public Defender Eastern District Louisiana
*Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
*Orleans Public Defenders *Federal Public Defender Eastern District Louisiana *Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
MY PROCESS
I believe holistic defense is the path through the criminal justice system that is most healing for all.
When the light of investigation is shined on suffering and the causes of suffering, we have the ability to transform our experience.
When we are able to investigate together in the container of a safe relationship, any and all transformation is possible.
My services
-
Investigation
Witness locates, interviews, discovery review, locating evidence, and testifying.
-
Mitigation
Creating relationships, collecting records, telling deep truths, and creating possibility for transformation.
-
Mitigation Film
Storytelling and creating sentencing advocacy through the tool of film. Deeper truths are felt when they are seen.
-
Training and consulting
I teach mitigation film with Reel Defense: Mitigation Film Collective and have trained folks in mitigation and investigation locally and nationally.
PUBLICATIONS
Holistic Defense: A Practice
Holistic Defense: A Practice invites you to explore the ground of criminal defense investigation as an entryway to healing, connection, and transformation.
If you’ve ever asked how we can address the harms of systemic racism and mass incarceration as individuals, this work offers a grounded, heart-centered path forward. Through storytelling, presence, therapeutic frameworks, and creative inquiry, we’ll explore the art of investigation—rooted in dignity, connection, and deep listening.
Featuring contributions from TD, Elijah Burt, Jarrell Daniels, and Travis ComesLast, this is a practice for anyone ready to effectuate change.