How Public Defenders Are Key to Fixing America's Criminal Justice System

In 1963, the US Supreme Court ruled that all criminal defendants were guaranteed a right to counsel under the 6th and 14th Amendments. Jonathan Rapping, a former public defender and professor at John Marshall Law School, co-founded Gideon’s Promise to address the inadequacies of our public defender system by empowering motivated, passionate public defenders to work across the United States and bridge the gap between the ideal of the 6th Amendment’s right to counsel and the inadequacies of our criminal defense system. Prof. Rapping explains why a quality public defender system is so important for marginalized communities and our country as a whole, what it takes to be a great public defender, and how public defenders are addressing changes in our legal landscape.(00:00) - Introduction (00:51) - Introducing Prof. Jonathan Rapping (03:19) - What it takes to be a public defender (04:29) - How law students can maintain their empathy and humanity (06:43) - Prof. Rapping’s personal journey (08:25) - The conflict of training lawyers in public defender offices (10:16) - The mission of Gideon’s Promise (12:19) - How Gideon’s Promise trains public defenders and why it matters (13:47) - The real challenges public defenders face (17:27) - YSL, OJ Simpson, and the public perception of criminal defense lawyers (22:42) - Why underfunding public defense fails the American ideal (24:37) - How public defenders are facing legal and social changes (28:55) - Host takeaways and discussion Click here to view the episode transcript.