Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first former federal public defender to join the United States Supreme Court. During her confirmation hearings, some senators criticized her for work as a public defender. One party’s National Committee upped the ante, attacking Justice Jackson for her work on an amicus brief supporting buffer zones around abortion clinics, and for her “zealous” work on behalf of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Criminal defense lawyers provide zealous representation – not because they condone their clients’ alleged conduct, but to protect their clients’ constitutional rights. Often representing unpopular parties, criminal defense lawyers proudly continue the tradition exemplified by John Adams’ representation of British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial. Adams later called it “one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country.”

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