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In this week’s Lawyer2Lawyer, we consider the promise and reality of the right to counsel, 51 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Gideon v. Wainwright. Specifically, we look at public defenders in the south, where low pay and heavy workloads raise questions about unequal access to justice. To discuss this, we have two guests:

  • Jonathan Rapping, the president and founder of Gideon’s Promise, an Atlanta-based training and support group for public defenders in the south aimed at creating greater access to justice for indigent defendants. Rapping is also the director of the honors program in criminal justice at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, where he teaches criminal law and criminal procedure.
  • Dawn Porter, a lawyer and the founder of Trilogy Films. She is the director and producer of the award-winning Gideon’s Army, a documentary about public defenders associated with Gideon’s Promise, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO Documentary Films. Last month, the film was awarded the 2014 Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize.

Read more about this week’s program at the Legal Talk Network or simply click the play button above to listen.

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Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.