At the American Film Institute’s recent screening of Gideon’s Army, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke about the film’s impact in the legal community. “Gideon’s Army is a documentary that challenges each of us – as legal professionals, as policymakers, and as patriotic citizens from all backgrounds and walks of life – to reclaim the values enshrined in this important ruling, to ask difficult questions about our criminal justice system as a whole, and to recommit ourselves – as individuals, and as a people – to realizing the founding promise that has always stood at the core of our identity as a nation: of equal justice, and equal opportunity, for all,” says Holder.
He goes on to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School Professor Jon Rapping. Holder says, “Under the leadership of remarkable men and women like Jon Rapping – the founder of Gideon’s Promise, formerly known as the Southern Public Defender Training Center, who we’re fortunate to have with us tonight – they’re fighting to make a difference, once case at a time. They’re working to restore and improve public defender programs that – in some places – do little more than process people in and out of our courts.”
Rapping later participated in a panel discussion about the film. To read the Attorney General’s full speech, click here. Below please view at short video of opening day at the American Film Festival where the film was debuted – the first minute of the video discusses Gideon’s Army.