PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
me until I actually represented these people to help me truly
appreciate it.” He did not learn that lesson in law school. The
“system sees cases and charges and we can’t forget the
people behind those cases and their stories.” He said that his
wife, Ilham Askia, known as Illy, understood it from personal
experience. At the age of five some of the men in her family
were poorly represented by public defenders and they were
sent to jail. Illy is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of
Gideon’s Promise.
“The first thing I lost in law school is the reason why I came,” a
law student told Rapping. During orientation at John Marshall,
he shares that quote with the students and tells them not
to lose the reason they came. He believes that law school
teaches that law is about rules and doctrine and it is easy to
lose sight of the people behind the cases. He believes there
could equally be a quote about the profession: “The first thing
I lost as a lawyer is the reason I became one.” Rapping told
the story of a young lawyer who was disillusioned because
the pressure was to bill and often at the expense of treating
clients like people.
Rapping gave an example of how the system comes to
accept a low level of justice for the poor. The Georgia Public
Defenders Standards Council is seeking to hire a public
defender with the expectation that they will handle 1,700 cases
with a staff of three lawyers. Rapping said, “[t]hat should
be unacceptable but public defenders are expected to try to
represent folks under these conditions. We wouldn’t accept
this for our loved ones.” Even though he does believe that
the best chance for transformation comes from lawyers who
devote their careers to public service, he has a challenge for
all lawyers.
Rapping’s challenge is:
1. “Go past a few Pro Bono Lawyers,” that is, “inspire other
pro bono people in your firm to make firm resources available
for criminal defense.” “You are the hope--lead by example-transform firms.”
2. “Support those who sacrifice to do it full time.”
3. “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”
“Lawyers all benefit from being lawyers; we need to give back.”
4. “When you see an injustice and it’s happening systemically,
you have a duty as [a] moral person to do something.”
Rapping ended his speech by quoting a famous Margaret
Meade statement, “‘Never forget that a small group of
thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it
is the only thing that ever has.’”
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
While most attorneys know that Gideon v. Wainwright 372 U.S.
335 (1963) – the case Rapping’s organization is named after
– established that criminal defendants in state courts have
a right to counsel, few lawyers remember the person behind
the case. Clarence Earl Gideon was a Florida man who was