Only about one in four people charged with a felony in the U.S. can afford a lawyer. Most of the rest depend on public defenders, often so overworked it’s hard to provide a quality defense. Lawyer Jonathan Rapping calls that a civil rights crisis.
Seven years ago Rapping started a training and mentoring program for public defenders in the south; this spring he brought the same techniques and training to public defenders throughout Maryland. Earlier this year he got a vote of confidence from the MacArthur Foundation, which gave him one of their 21 “genius” grants. Sheilah spoke with him in September.
Find out more about Gideon's Promise and the HBO Documentary about Jonathan Rapping's work, Gideon's Army.
