Fighting the Good Fight

Abstract

This essay recounts the author’s thirty-year career as a public defender in Bronx criminal court. Through vivid anecdotes of transformative events that played out over those years inside and outside of those overcrowded courtrooms, the author exposes the most fatal flaws of our criminal justice system and the tragic consequences for those who are accused of crimes. Reflecting on her own personal and professional growth as a human being and as an advocate, the author emphasizes the importance of embracing a defiant, adversarial role when necessary to protect the constitutional rights of indigent clients and the value of fighting hard in the face of impending defeat.

Keywords: criminal justice, public defender, academia, adversarial system, zealous advocacy, professional identity, public interest, Legal Aid Society, strike