Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) Professor and Director of the Criminal Justice Certificate Program, Jonathan Rapping, was cited in many articles regarding the Equal Defense Act.
“I am hopeful that this Act prompts us all to continue to understand public defenders as a critical piece of the criminal justice solution, and to build on its important foundation to ensure marginalized communities have the advocates necessary to fulfill our democratic promise of equal justice,” says Rapping who founded Gideon’s Promise, an organization that backs the bill. (Vox)
Earlier this month Senator Kamala Harris introduced this legislation, the most ambitious federal legislation to date aimed at making the 6th Amendment Right to Counsel a reality in state and local courts. Rapping consulted closely with Senator Harris’ staff to draft this legislation. He is a nationally renowned public defense advocate and criminal justice reformer.
This quote at Vox is one of a number of quotes by Professor Rapping in national media outlets on the Equal Defense Acts. Some examples include The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Mother Jones, CNN, and many more.
Outside of all of the great work he does here at AJMLS, Professor Rapping has stayed actively involved with the law community within the last few months.
On February 21st, Professor Rapping was able to attend UCLA’s School of Law event, Gideon’s Promise: Building a Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice. As President and Founder of Gideon’s Promise, Professor Rapping was asked to speak with students on the organization’s purpose to transform the criminal justice system by teaching future public defenders how to fight for and provide equal justice for marginalized communities* as well as its upcoming programs.
His involvement does not stop there though. On March 6-7th, Professor Rapping traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to help train a new class of Maryland public defenders. Gideon’s Promise was brought to Maryland back in 2014, and since then it has continued to thrive and expand. Former AJMLS Professor, Patrice Fulcher, now resides as the Training Director for the program in Maryland, and for a couple of days, Professor Rapping had the opportunity to go and visit to assist in training new public defenders and help raise Maryland’s standard of justice.
Then, on March 20th, Professor Rapping attended the Public Defender as Civil Rights Lawyer luncheon talk at George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C.
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to both AJMLS and the legal community, Professor Rapping!