Even if you’re not a lawyer, the challenge that this administration is mounting to the rule of law affects you, too. When the president challenges the judiciary, when we as a country go after lawyers simply for doing their actual jobs, it hurts all of us.  What’s happening now is weakening our judicial branch and centering power in the executive branch. Maybe you’ve heard the term “unitary executive”? This basically means that the jobs of the other two branches, or the other two branches of government themselves, can be told what to do by the President, as the power becomes consolidated solely in that branch. As we are recording this, Cory Booker is almost 20 hours into the third-longest speech on the Senate floor, and THAT is the fire that we need from Congress and the legislative branch, which has been largely lacking until now in this triangle of power. But we need also accountability in order for democracy to work: Due process keeps us from disappearing people in the night, the right to representation keeps the President from telling law firms and prosecutors who they can represent, and our current system, if we let it, is heading towards that unitary executive, which is basically a dictatorship.

So it was wonderful to speak with Debbie Hines, a former prosecutor, assistant state attorney general, and trial attorney, on her take on what’s not only happening in our current administration, but how we can conceptualize the role of our legal system in our world, and how we can fight for a better, more expansive role for the judiciary and the justice system rather than playing small and bending the knee to those who would destroy it.

 

What to listen for:

• A clear explanation for the different layers of lawyers who work to keep our communities abiding by the rule of law - from trial attorneys to prosecutors to attorneys general

• Reflections and contextualizing what is happening with our current administration

• What’s broken about our current legal system

• How each of us can take action towards changing it

Recommendations: 

• Visit local courts to see how prosecutors work

• Meeting with people who have encountered the prosecutorial system and/or are incarcerated → listen to Marcus Bullock episodes 

• Educate family, friends, coworkers based on info in this book – support diversion, restorative justice, and community-based programs, as many have better recidivism rates 

• Decline to prosecute 13 million misdemeanor cases annually (80% of criminal cases prosecuted in state courts); instead, support the idea of punching up and go after economic fraud, things that hurt more people

About Debbie: Former Baltimore prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland, and trial attorney Debbie Hines is an advocate for racial equity in the criminal justice system. She maintains a private law practice focused on civil and criminal litigation in Washington, DC. A leading voice in the discourse of criminal justice and race, Hines is often called on by media networks for legal commentary.

 

Other resources:

• Episodes #83 + 84 with Marcus Bullock

• Episode #37: 99 Problems and the Criminal Justice System 

• Episode #41 with Ji Seon Song