Good Law | Bad Law - From Jailhouse Lawyer to the Supreme Court: A Conversation w/ Professor Shon Hopwood about His Remarkable Journey
09/27/19 • 67 min
From jailhouse lawyer to law professor and criminal justice reform advocate . . .
Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Shon Hopwood, an attorney and law professor at Georgetown Law, to discuss his remarkable life story and how it brought him to understand the need for profound reform in our criminal justice system. After Shon’s story was featured on a recent episode of “60 Minutes,” he graciously agreed to come on Good Law Bad Law to share his story and the reforms he believes are so urgently needed.
Shon served 11 years in federal prison for a series of armed bank robberies he committed in his early 20s. After securing a job in the prison law library, Shon discovered that he had quite the knack for the law and legal thinking. After failing to get his own sentence reduced, he turned to helping other inmates with their cases. Against all the odds, Shon wrote a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for review of a fellow inmate’s conviction and the appeal was accepted. This brought Shon into contact with former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, who agreed to argue the appeal. Then . . . well, you just have to listen to the episode to hear the rest of Shon’s incredible journey and his views on in-prison rehabilitation services, mandatory minimum sentences, and re-entry training and services.
A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, and a Gates Public Law Scholar, Shon’s research and teaching interests include criminal law and procedure, civil rights, and the constitutional rights of prisoners. He has served as a law clerk for Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. And his legal scholarship has been published in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties, Fordham, and Washington Law Reviews, as well as the American Criminal Law Review and Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
To find more information on Shon, visit his Georgetown web page here.
Host: Aaron Freiwald
Guest: Shon Hopwood
Follow Good Law | Bad Law:
YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law
Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw
Website: https://www.law-podcast.com
From jailhouse lawyer to law professor and criminal justice reform advocate . . .
Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Shon Hopwood, an attorney and law professor at Georgetown Law, to discuss his remarkable life story and how it brought him to understand the need for profound reform in our criminal justice system. After Shon’s story was featured on a recent episode of “60 Minutes,” he graciously agreed to come on Good Law Bad Law to share his story and the reforms he believes are so urgently needed.
Shon served 11 years in federal prison for a series of armed bank robberies he committed in his early 20s. After securing a job in the prison law library, Shon discovered that he had quite the knack for the law and legal thinking. After failing to get his own sentence reduced, he turned to helping other inmates with their cases. Against all the odds, Shon wrote a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for review of a fellow inmate’s conviction and the appeal was accepted. This brought Shon into contact with former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, who agreed to argue the appeal. Then . . . well, you just have to listen to the episode to hear the rest of Shon’s incredible journey and his views on in-prison rehabilitation services, mandatory minimum sentences, and re-entry training and services.
A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, and a Gates Public Law Scholar, Shon’s research and teaching interests include criminal law and procedure, civil rights, and the constitutional rights of prisoners. He has served as a law clerk for Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. And his legal scholarship has been published in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties, Fordham, and Washington Law Reviews, as well as the American Criminal Law Review and Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
To find more information on Shon, visit his Georgetown web page here.
Host: Aaron Freiwald
Guest: Shon Hopwood
Follow Good Law | Bad Law:
YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law
Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw
Website: https://www.law-podcast.com
Previous Episode
Good Law | Bad Law - Charlottesville, the KKK and the Law: A Conversation w/ Michael Bloch
Can a law that dates back to Reconstruction in the 19th Century be used to fight back against the perpetrators of racial violence that erupted in Charlottesville two years ago?
Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Michael Bloch, an attorney at Kaplan, Hecker & Fink LLP, to discuss his work on “the Charlottesville Case,” a lawsuit representing the victims of the Charlottesville riots when neo-Nazis and white supremacists plotted to commit acts of horrific racial violence in August 2017.
Eight victims of that violence filed suit, in conjunction with the nonprofit Integrity First for America (IFA), to send a clear message to every hate group in the country: “Americans will not give in to violence and hate.” The lawsuit seeks to ensure that the tragic events of Charlottesville never happen again, “… not on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, and not anywhere else in the United States of America.” Michael’s firm is representing the Plaintiffs in this new litigation.
Aaron and Michael discuss this case and what it may mean for the future. Michael talks about the legal strategies of the case, the decision to use an 1871 law, the relevance of this case and more. Is there a new boldness today for hatred? Can Charlottesville be seen as a catalyst for such emboldened bigotry? Michael explains that this case is about accountability, emphasizing the importance of understanding what happened and how the law can be a tool to fight back.
A graduate of Harvard Law, Michael is an experienced trial attorney. Having spent over seven years as a public defender at the Bronx Defenders, Michael represented hundreds of clients charged with criminal matters at all stages of litigation. Prior to working as a public defender, Michael worked at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C., concentrating in the areas of commercial litigation and legal malpractice defense. At Harvard, Michael represented clients charged with crimes in Roxbury District Court as part of the Criminal Justice Institute. He also worked with the NAACP representing a client in post-conviction proceedings as part of the Death Penalty Clinic.
To learn more about Michael, please visit his bio on Kaplan Hecker’s website here. Or check out his twitter, @MichaelBloch15. To learn more about Kaplan, Hecker & Fink you can follow them on twitter, @kaplanhecker.
To learn more about Integrity First For America, you can visit their website here. You can also follow them on Twitter, @IntegrityforUSA.
*IFA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to holding those accountable who threaten longstanding principles of our democracy – including our country’s commitment to civil rights and equal justice.
Host: Aaron Freiwald
Guest: Michael Bloch
Follow Good Law | Bad Law:
YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law
Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw
Website: https://www.law-podcast.com
Next Episode
Good Law | Bad Law - Is the NRA a terrorist organization? A Conversation w/ Erik Schechter
How do we draw the definitional lines on what is, and what is not, domestic terrorism?
Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Erik Schechter, founder of Red Phantom Public Relations and a defense and security affairs specialist, to discuss the notion of terrorism, as well as his recent NBC op-ed on the topic, “September 11 was terrorism. The NRA and Antifa are not.”
In today’s conversation, Aaron and Erik talk about terrorism, both domestic and international, focusing on the particular ways in which we (as people, as governments, as societies) talk, think, and classify terrorism and terroristic acts. Erik explains the dangers of loose definitions and the theoretical consequences that could result by expanding these thresholds. Erik and Aaron contemplate San Francisco’s recent decision to brand the NRA as a domestic terrorism organization and the potential issues that may arise because of it, such as constitutional conflicts, expanding the power of the state and demonizing political opponents.
A former military correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, Erik experienced terrorism first hand in 2004 when a suicide bomber exploded on a bus he was riding. Throughout the episode, as well as in his article, Erik talks about how this experience scarred him and how it continues to shape his views and definitions on what should, and should not, be considered terrorism. Aaron and Erik talk about gun control and recent mass shootings, the Patriot Act and subsequent legislation, the context and comparisons of warfare and more. How should we be thinking about domestic acts of violence? What should the distinctions be? Are these definitions warping the way we think about these ideas?
Erik has written for such publications as Aerospace America, C4ISR Journal, Monocle, Training & Simulation Journal and more. He previously worked as a PR professional for Spector & Associates, handling defense and hi-tech industry clients and covering security-related issues for the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. In addition to covering advances in military technology and tactics, Erik has also written on issues involving international humanitarian law, such as the post-disengagement status of the Gaza Strip and controversial interrogation methods used on suspected terrorists.
To find a copy of Erik’s NBC op-ed, please click here.
Host: Aaron Freiwald
Guest: Erik Schechter
Follow Good Law | Bad Law:
YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law
Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw
Website: https://www.law-podcast.com
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/good-law-bad-law-121025/good-law-bad-law-from-jailhouse-lawyer-to-the-supreme-court-a-conversa-6140179"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to good law | bad law - from jailhouse lawyer to the supreme court: a conversation w/ professor shon hopwood about his remarkable journey on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy