Fixing Legal Injustice In America: The Case For A Defender General of the United States
Watch this episode on YOUTUBE, on APPLE PODCASTS, or wherever you get your podcasts!
We have an attorney general, who serves as the chief prosecutor for federal or state government. So, why, if we claim to have equal justice under the law do we not have a defense counterpart? Author and attorney extraordinaire, Andrea Lyon, makes the case for exactly that in her new book, Fixing Legal Injustice In America: The Case For A Defender General of the United States. She has graciously agreed to help us get Set for Sentencing!
I love this episode, because I love great stories. And Andrea Lyon is full of them. But those stories aren’t just for fun, they accentuate the need for a seat at the proverbial political table for the criminal defense bar. Those with the power of the purse, and the power to pass draconian laws, the power to steal lives with overcharging and wrongful convictions, need someone to speak truth at that table.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- Andrea Lyon’s origin story and a TON of other great stories that illuminate the cause of the creation of Defender General;
- What is Defender General of the United States and what that would the position entail;;
- What YOU can do to help turn this dream into reality.
LINKS:
Fixing Legal Injustice The Case for a Defender General of the United States on Amazon.com
Andrea Lyon’s Website: https://andrealyon.com/
Andrea mentions the confirmation hearings of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as an example of the level of disdain in which politicians hold the defense bar. It made me think of the VERY FIRST episode of Set For Sentencing, where Mark Allenbaugh and I do the post-mortem of those proceedings: https://setforsentencing.com/podcast/senators-sell-sentencing-snake-oil-at-kbj-confirmation-hearing/
ACTION ITEMS:
There are those in Congress who might very well support the idea of defender general. Here are a few, hyperlinked to their emails, so please click, and send them an email! Here’s some proposed text!
Dear ___
I am writing to talk to you about the importance of creating a defense counterpart to the Attorney General, called the “Defender General”. This is an idea championed by Andrea Lyon in her new book, Fixing Legal Injustice The Case for a Defender General of the United States. Ms. Lyon talks about this more on a recent podcast I heard (set for sentencing) and I truly believe it’s an idea whose time has come.
If we claim to be a system built on the idea of “equal justice under the law,” then those who give voice to the voiceless, must have a seat at the table of policy and decisionmaking. I would greatly appreciate if you would read Ms. Lyon’s book, and join her in championing this brilliant and desperately necessary idea that will move our beloved country closer to the ideal of equal justice:
COREY BOOKER: https://www.booker.senate.gov/contact/write-to-cory
JAN SHAKOWSKY: https://schakowsky.house.gov/zip_authentication?form=/contact/email-me
JOEL OSSOF: https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/contact-us/message/
DICK DURBIN: https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/contact-us/message/
CORI BUSH: https://bush.house.gov/contact/email-me
