Pace Law Advocacy Board announces inaugural publication of The Advocate’s Advantage blog

Cindy Kanusher, Executive Director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center, is featured in a Metro UK article examining the cultural impact of Making a Murderer—and the often-overlooked human cost of true crime storytelling. In the piece, Kanusher underscores the responsibility filmmakers and audiences share to center victims and survivors, particularly in cases involving gender-based violence, and to resist narratives that sensationalize trauma or erase lived experience. Her perspective highlights how true crime can do more than entertain—it can educate, foster empathy, and promote accountability—if it is framed responsibly.

In a Newsweek article examining the debate over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett L. Gershman offered important legal context on the limits of retroactive justification in use-of-force cases. Professor Gershman emphasized that the new videos surfaced from an earlier encounter between Pretti and federal immigration agents “do nothing to exculpate or excuse the conduct of the federal agents” involved in the January 24 killing. His remarks highlight a core constitutional principle: the legality of lethal force turns on whether an imminent threat existed at the moment it was used—not on efforts to recast prior conduct after the fact.

In this article, Cindy Kanusher, Executive Director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center, examines proposed New York legislation that would create a publicly searchable registry of persistent domestic violence offenders. As lawmakers consider whether such a database could enhance prevention and accountability, Kanusher offers a critical, survivor-centered perspective highlighting both the potential benefits and the serious limitations of registries, particularly given the widespread underreporting of domestic violence and the risk of unintended harm to survivors. Her comments underscore an essential point: tools aimed at accountability must be carefully designed, with survivor safety and privacy at the forefront.