OLLI101273 - FRIDAY FORUM - The Defender: The Battle to Protect the Rights of the Accused in Philadelphia

Course Description

The Defender: The Battle to Protect the Rights of the Accused in Philadelphia

Speakers

Michael D. Schaffer  &  Ben Lerner

Friday February 26 10:00AM - 11:00AM

(Registration closes February 25 at NOON)

The Defense Association of Philadelphia has been dubbed this book “the best lawyer money can’t buy.” Long before the Supreme Court ruled that impoverished defendants in criminal cases have a right to free counsel, Philadelphia’s public defenders were working to ensure fair trials for all. In 1934, when penniless defendants were routinely railroaded through the courts without ever seeing a lawyer, Philadelphia attorney Francis Fisher Kane helped create the Voluntary Defender Association, supported by charity and free from political interference, to represent poor people accused of crime. 

(Note: Ben Lerner, former Judge, Court of Common Pleas, has agreed to do interviews on behalf of the recently deceased Edward Madeira who co-authored this book with former Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Michael Schaffer.)