Defense of Justice: Transformational Tales from the Trenches

(Paperback)

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Description

From wrongful conviction cases to transformative client relationships, the essays in Defense of Justice reveal the often-unseen emotional and ethical dimensions of representing society's most vulnerable.

Reviews

"Straight ground truth! Defense of Justice is a powerful and gripping look into the emotional and moral toll of working within a justice system that often harms those it claims to serve. This book is needed now more than ever!"

-Alejo Rodriguez, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Center for Institutional and Social Change, Columbia Law School

"The stories in Defense of Justice are a testament to the compassion, determination, and fortitude that define public defense. These essays capture the soul of our work - standing with people whom society often overlooks and fighting zealously every day not only to ensure that the people we serve receive the due process to which they are entitled, but to challenge and change systems that have long perpetuated injustice. Every reader will walk away with a deeper understanding of why people pursue a career in public defenseand why this is a fight worth taking on."

-Twyla Carter, Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer of The Legal Aid Society

Author Bio

Leanna K. Weissmann is a native of Aurora, IN. She was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Indiana by Governor Holcomb in September 2020. She graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1991, with a double major in journalism and English, and then earned her law degree from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis in 1994. From 1993-95, she clerked for Court of Appeals Judge Robert D. Rucker (now-retired Justice Rucker of the Indiana Supreme Court). Judge Weissmann then engaged in the private practice of law in Rising Sun, IN, until 1998 and served as Referee of Dearborn Superior Court 1 from 2000-07. From 1998-2020, she ran a solo law practice in Lawrenceburg, IN, focused entirely on appellate practice. She has argued several times before the Court of Appeals of Indiana and the Indiana Supreme Court. In 2018, Judge Weissmann obtained a reversal for a client through the United States Supreme Court on the issue of cell phone privacy rights. In 2013, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed her as a commissioner to the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, where she served for 10 years.