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

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. 

When the Supreme Court’s 1963 decisionGideonv. Wainwrightmandated free counsel for indigent defendants, the Defender (as it is now known) became more essential than ever, representing at least 70 percent of those caught in the machinery of justice in the city. Its groundbreaking work in juvenile advocacy, homicide representation, death-row habeas corpus petitions, parole issues, and alternative sentencing has earned a national reputation.

InThe Defender,Edward Madeira, past president of the Defender’s Board of Directors, and formerPhiladelphia Inquirerjournalist Michael Schaffer chart the 80-plus-year history of the organization as it grew from two lawyers in 1934 to a staff of nearly 500 in 2015.

This is a compelling story about securing justice for those who need it most.

Ned Madeira, esteemed member of the Philadelphia Bar for more than six decades, and journalist Michael Schaffer have crafted an eminently readable history of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. The Associations record of providing counsel for Philadelphia defendants in need predates, by decades, the Supreme Courts 1963 decision inGideonrecognizing a right to counsel in all state criminal prosecutions. Through interviews, anecdotes, and records, Madeira and Schaffer recount the experiences that forged todays modern, respected Defender Association. This narrative of determination and dedication is especially timelƒ