client was different than what the rest of my office did, and I got to see them from jail to graduation, which is really rewarding. I became a bit obsessed about learning everything I could about best practices and figuring out how to do things better. The rest has been history.” Madison counts herself among the lucky few who can say that, on most days, work doesn’t feel like work. “For every tough day or moment, there is someone to celebrate for a big win in their life,” Madison expressed. “I have a great team at work who all show up and give their all each day. (That helps!) I also have a great friend group. We all work in this space in different ways, so we understand the heaviness of the work.” Madison said in a recent interview with The Oklahoman (bit. ly/MelonOklahoman) that she believes putting people in prison, where the root cause of their criminal behavior is untreated mental health or substance abuse, is not fixing the problem. “They're going to get out and not be any better than when they went in — and these are our neighbors and fellow citizens,” Madison told the news outlet. “We really owe them more than we are giving them; so more treatment programs, access to programs like drug court and
MADISON MÉLON-MCLAWHORN (Phi-Oklahoma) Assistant Public Defender and Supervisor for Treatment Courts Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Since graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in women’s and gender studies and Georgetown University with her law degree, Madison Mélon-McLawhorn (Phi-Oklahoma) has dedicated her career to helping vulnerable Oklahomans avoid incarceration and overcome substance abuse since 2015. In her current role with Oklahoma County, Madison works as the assistant public defender and the supervisor for treatment courts, where she oversees her team of lawyers and other staff members who work in all nine of the county’s diversion programs. She also works on resources, strategy and policy for how to grow programs to serve more people wrapped in the system. “My first day in the office, the chief public defender told me I was assigned to the mental health court, and I had no idea what that was,” Madison admitted. “I didn’t learn about [these] programs in law school, so it was a totally new concept. I got a copy of the docket notes and directions to the courtroom, and that was it! But I quickly fell in love with the model – spending months/years working with a
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