Overview

The United States needs someone who represents the poor and disenfranchised. Someone who has a seat at the table for any discussions of policy, funding, or priorities in the administration of justice. The United States needs a Defender General. In these times of reckoning—at last—with America’s original sin of slavery and racist policies, with police misconduct, and with mass-incarceration, many in our country ask, “What can we do?” In this powerful and insightful book, Andrea D. Lyon explicates what is wrong with the criminal justice system through clients’ stories and historical perspective, and makes the compelling case for the need for reform at the center of the system; not just its edges. Lyon, suggests that we should create an office of the Defender General of the United States and give it the same level of importance as the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. Such an office would not be held by someone who represents law enforcement, or corporate America, but rather by someone who represents and advocates for accused individuals, collectively before the powers that be. A Defender General would raise his or her voice against injustices like those involving the unnecessary killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, or the Texas Supreme Court’s refusal to let an innocent man, cleared by DNA, out of prison. The United States needs a Defender General.

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9781538164655

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Reviews

One of our country's most skilled public defenders, Andrea D. Lyon, brings us heartbreaking insights from the trenches to make a passionate case for the creation of a national Defender General--someone endowed with a powerful voice to protect the rights of the accused, correct wrongful convictions, and fight racism and other entrenched systemic problems. This is an engaging, thought-provoking, and persuasive book that will speak to everyone interested in fixing our broken criminal legal system.--Carol S. Steiker, Harvard Law School

Andrea Lyon, a gifted lawyer, also proves to be a wonderful writer. Through the heart-rending stories of some of her clients, she proves her case beyond any doubt: The famously unequal treatment of the poor in US courts is due most fundamentally to the dramatic disparities in public resources afforded to prosecution and defense. Most important, Andrea Lyon tells us how to fix that problem.--Scott Turow, New York Times best-selling author, Presumed Innocent Fixing Legal Injustice in America offers a heartfelt, poignant perspective on why the United States needs a Defender General, who will fight for the poor and oppressed. A Defender General will create a seat at the table where one simply has not existed before, and the Defender General will be able to create change. We all know lots of good people and organizations are working tirelessly to end mass incarceration and reform the criminal justice system. The Defender General will help to strengthen these individual, grassroots, and often disparate efforts by addressing policy, advocacy, and funding at the same level as the Attorney General of the United States. As Andrea Lyon so eloquently tells the reader through her stories and examples, the United States needs a Defender General. We need a seat at the table.--Sister Helen Prejean, Author of Dead Man Walking One of our country's most skilled public defenders, Andrea D. Lyon, brings us heartbreaking insights from the trenches to make a passionate case for the creation of a national Defender General--someone endowed with a powerful voice to protect the rights of the accused, correct wrongful convictions, and fight racism and other entrenched systemic problems. This is an engaging, thought-provoking, and persuasive book that will speak to everyone interested in fixing our broken criminal legal system.--Carol S. Steiker, Harvard Law School

Author Information

Andrea D. Lyon is a criminal defense attorney, (the principal in the criminal defense firm Lyon Law), a death penalty expert, an author, a former professor and law school dean. Over her 40 years of lawyering, Andrea has been involved in several high-profile cases, including former Illinois Governor George Ryan. Andrea’s legal memoir, Angel of Death Row: My Life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer, 2010, received a starred review from Kirkus and was voted “Next Great Read” by the American Booksellers Association. her other published books include: The Feminine Sixth: Women in Criminal Defense. 2018, andThe Death Penalty: What’s Keeping it Alive, 2015. To find out more, visit her website at https://www.andrealyon.com/

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