Ketanji Brown Jackson, Criminal Justice, & Public Defense
Senate Republicans have attacked Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson for her past public defense work. How have defense attorneys elicited criticism and praise through American history? Why is the right to counsel so important to democracy?
Heather and Joanne discuss past moments of transition for legal counsel, from John Adams’s representation of British soldiers implicated in the Boston Massacre, to Clarence Darrow’s plea for the lives of Leopold and Loeb, to the impact of the 1963 Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright.
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I loved the podcast. I finished watching Ken Burns' Benjamin Franklin last night. It is all coming together for me. I used to vow to make an historical timeline at some point before I die, and you and your writing and broadcasts and friends have instilled the time line in my head over these past several years. Thank you! The possibility of losing a right to representation if we cannot afford it ourselves is critical. Absolutely critical. Especially where power mongers would take advantage, as they have in Texas with that poor Black woman who asked if once she'd served her time for some petty thing she could legally vote. The law got changed and she is now serving 5 years for voting. Who is helping her? Please, somebody. Help her. And Heather, keep listing the podcasts and history chat links in the New section on Substack. It made it easy for me to go ahead and try Now & Then. Thank you!