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Art Spitzer for four decades served as the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the national capital area. Fairfax, Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jon Katz has known Art since before the time Jon served on that group's board for three years in the early 1990's, and through that experience has met such great civil libertarians as Art Spitzer, Eugene Fidell (a dean of military criminal defense lawyers), and Mary Jane DeFrank, who for years served as the affiliate's executive director.   

Art tells a fascinating story about how he started his post-law school career in a traditional path of serving as a federal judicial law clerk followed by doing litigation with one of the nation's most prestigious corporate law firms, except he did not personally care whether his corporate clients won or lost, even though he was professionally invested in their winning. He did enjoy the pro bono work his law firm did for such groups as the ACLU. Attending college in the 1960's, Art witnessed the political demonstrations of the time, and ultimately he learned that the D.C. ACLU was hiring a replacement legal director, a job that he loved throughout. 

Art won the essential Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1984), which provides that when the defendant's sanity at the time of the alleged crime is likely to be a significant defense at trial, the government must pay for a psychiatrist to assist on the issue for an indigent defendant.  Our recent previous podcast guest Stephen Bright thirty-three years later won McWilliams v. Dunn, 582 U.S. 183 (2017), which breathed further strength into Ake.

Hear Art and Jon discuss the overlap between the First Amendment and criminal law, demonstrators' rights, and the ACLU's opposition to criminalizing the possession (versus production) of child pornography. When Jon asks how to beat the prosecution or any litigation opponent, Art sticks to fully preparing and fully serving clients. He credits his initial law firm experience for enabling him to learn how to do this work. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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Lawyer Stephen B. Bright is a hero to Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz and to many other people. Steve left the security of his public defender salary at one of the nation's premier defender offices, to barely receive pay during some of the early months of his working to overturn death sentences imposed in the Georgia capital punishment machine. 

While Jon Katz was yearning to shift to serving social justice when at a corporate law firm doing litigation and regulatory work, at a 1990 post-Supreme Court oral argument reception at the nearby ACLU, Jon met Steve Bright, arguing lawyer Charles Ogletree, and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson.  Professor Ogletree had argued what would lead to a unanimous Supreme Court's reversing a death penalty conviction involving racially motivated jury selection, in Ford v. Georgia, 498 U.S. 411 (1991). The room included numerous criminal defense lawyers. This gathering helped provide Jon Katz the extra oomph to become a criminal defense / public defender lawyer eight months later. 

At this gathering, Jon asked Steve Bright about any enlightened law firms Jon might consider applying to. Steve's answer was along the lines that such a phrase is an oxymoron. 

Stephen B. Bright is a criminal defense and civil rights powerhouse. He won all his four Supreme Court cases. Steve's Southern Center for Human Rights quickly made its reputation for great and devoted work that even law students and lawyers whose resumes could have earned them stellar salaries, went to work at the SCHR. 

Steve Bright underlines the necessity of fighting hard and well both at the trial and appellate levels for capital defendants and all criminal defendants, and the necessity of abolishing the death penalty, which he recognizes as being rooted in slavery. Steve has witnessed four of his clients being executed in the electric chair and one by lethal injection. He underlines how improved capital defense has reduced the nation to around forty annual death sentences from a high in the three figures, but even one death sentence is too many. 

Stephen B. Bright now consults with lawyers and is a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and a visiting professor at  Georgetown Law School. 

Read his essential co-authored book about his work and Supreme Court victories, The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts (2023). See his detailed wesbite related to that book.
https://www.thefearoftoomuchjustice.com/

See Steve's online  capital punishment course at https://campuspress.yale.edu/capitalpunishment/ and  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNez7ZuPRY3KNJ2ef16qebyZe

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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Ernie Lewis was one of Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's instructors at the National Criminal Defense College's Trial Practice Institute. Ernie is a past head of the Kentucky public defender system and a co-founder of the National Association of Public Defense. 

Join us as Ernie talks with Jon Katz about Ernie's relentless, fully prepared and caring approach to beating the prosecution. 

For Ernie's very direct approach to effectively defending the accused, see his "10 Top Things I always wanted to say at a judge’s conference," including:

"You do too see race when you make decisions.” ” You don’t really believe the police in your findings on motions to suppress.” “Don’t tell me you’re not thinking about your next election when you set a high bond.”

https://publicdefenders.us/blogs/10-top-things-i-always-wanted-to-say-at-a-judgeqs-conference

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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True believer criminal defense lawyer J. Tony Serra has been defending for over sixty years. He sees the criminal justice system as a broken system, without letting him shy away from fighting in court whatsoever. https://pier5law.com/attorneys/j-tony-serra/

Early in his career, Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jon Katz became aware of Tony and his being a true believer. Tony's single-minded and highly capable devotion to pursuing great outcomes for his clients with his self-imposed vow of poverty is enough to take notice of him, and to recognize that one does not need to be a member of the traditional legal establishment to obtain great results in court. 

Tony is not interested in negotiating settlements in his criminal defense work. He wants to go to trial and thoroughly prepares for trial. He has experience as a criminal defendant through civil disobedience, having been incarcerated for a few brief periods of time from his being a tax protestor. This episode includes how Tony has made the most of his experiences as an inmate -- when he helps other inmates with their legal matters -- and also Tony's suggestions for sentenced people to prepare to be incarcerated. 

Tony strongly opposes the system of snitching / cooperating by an inmate / criminal defendant / suspect against another person. He believes in criminal defense lawyers banding together. At the core, he believes in being fully alive. It is this very aliveness that helps Tony connect with and persuade jurors. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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Cross examination master Larry Pozner https://www.pozneroncross.com for decades has been practicing law and teaching criminal defense and other lawyers how to effectively cross examine witnesses, without needing to be born with that ability. Fairfax, Virginia, criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz first met Larry at a National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conference in Philadelphia in 1991. Jon Katz was immediately drawn to Larry's excellence as a lawyer and teacher, and his selflessness in sharing what he knows. Larry travels all over the country and beyond teaching cross examination. He is a very disciplined and dedicated attorney for obtaining the best possible results for his clients. 

Larry Pozner has been particularly devoted to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and to the criminal defense lawyers who learn from him. Jon was blessed for Larry to have been among his two cross examination instructors at the 1994 Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College in Georgia. Listen to this podcast episode for Jon's discussion with Larry about that experience and much more. Larry is one of many great NACDL members and other attorneys who welcomed Jon Katz into the fold of criminal defense and to the recognition that even solo practicing criminal defense attorneys never need to feel that they are alone.

Larry Pozner and friend Roger Dodd's Cross-Examination: Science and Techniques are essential for any trial lawyer.
https://store.lexisnexis.com/products/crossexamination-science-and-techniques-skuusSku6893 Learn more about Larry,,his upcoming programs and his training DVDs at https://www.pozneroncross.com

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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Criminal defense and First Amendment defense lawyer Louis Sirkin has since the 1960's been at the forefront of obscenity defense, criminal defense and First Amendment defense, often crisscrossing the nation in his battles for our civil liberties. When Jon Katz first met Louie in 1999, he was struck by Louie's powerfully persuasive approach that is both without ego and selfless, and his generosity in sharing his knowledge and experience with his fellow members of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, which Louie previously led as its president.  

Louis Sirkin's clients have included Larry Flynt and many other members of the adult entertainment world, Jerry Springer when on the Cincinnati city council and probed in a massage parlor matter, a museum director prosecuted for obscenity for displaying Robert Mapplethorpe's art in 1989 (with a win for the side of right), animal rights activists, and Black Lives Matter activists.

Louie at once is uncompromisingly relentless and a team player with co-counsel, and a true gentleman in pushing for the best possible results for his clients. Read more about Louie at https://www.santenhughes.com/lawyers/h-louis-sirkin

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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What do engaging with our suffering, breaking from addiction, and knowing our true nature have to do with beating the prosecution? Join Jon's riveting talk with Claude AnShin Thomas who has travelled the path between fighting in the thick of the Vietnam war to now being a warrior for peace and for helping others, including veterans. Claude ultimately became a mendicant Soto Zen Buddhist monk, meeting people "at the point of their humanity", as Claude says. After leaving Vietnam, Brother Claude pickled himself in drugs, alcohol and sex. Learn how he successfully ended drug and alcohol use with the help of a treatment program, how he became a monk, and how he travels to schools, prisons, war zones, and so many other places where he is invited, wanting to meet with a cross section of people there. 

Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jon Katz first met Claude around 2005, when Claude completely revealed the inner turmoil he underwent during and after his fighting in Vietnam, his life committed to service to others, and about living in peace with unpeacefulness. It is not a stretch to say that the courthouse is full of turmoil, and also of possibilities, starting with the criminal defense lawyer and defendant quieting their minds, being in the present, and, again, living in peace with unpeacefulness. 

If you like what you hear on this Beat the Prosecution episode number 28, please visit Claude's organization's website Zaltho.org, and read and share his essential autobiography At Hell's Gate- A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace, and read his other books On the Edges of Peace, and Bringing Meditation to Life. Your donations at https://www.zaltho.org/donation-causes can support the Zaltho Foundation generally, Veterans' Pet Health Care, and Zaltho's Solar Project. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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What do lacrosse, being self-demanding, and being ever vigilant have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as championship lacrosse coach Bob Streeten talks with his former summer camper and now-Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jon Katz about there being no replacement for preparation, hard work, excellent planning and strategy, and being self demanding for winning, whether in court, the playing field or life. Check out Bob's lengthy 2022 sports interview at https://www.mytwintiers.com/sports/legends-of-the-twin-tiers-bob-streeten.

As the foregoing interview's liner notes aptly underline: "No man defines the sport of lacrosse in the region more than Corning’s Bob Streeten."

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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What do non-ego, blue jeans, and tireless work have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as Fairfax, Northern Virginia, criminal and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz talks in depth with Corpus Christi, Texas, trial lawyer Robert C. Hilliard, who was Jon's roommate at the Trial Lawyers College. https://hilliard-law.com

Early on, Bob inspired Jon to stay on the path of deeply caring for his clients, and to become his own boss. Bob's experience pursuing products liability cases against manufacturers served him well in achieving the ending of a multiyear vehicular homicide sentence for a defendant who asserted that his car's brakes did not work to avoid the fatal collision. Bob argued right up to the United States Supreme Court for the right to sue a United States Border Patrol agent for his cross-border fatal shooting of a teenager. Hernandez v. Mesa, 589 U.S. 93 (2000) (a 5-4 decision declining to permit such a cause of action for a cross-border shooting). Bob Hilliard pursues victory for his clients without ego, without airs, and with hard and smart work.

In this episode, we talk about being authentic and powerfully vulnerable, and about the connections we make with our loved ones, with each other and with jurors. We include discussing our late friend Dax Cowart, and Bob talks about how meaningful it is to have Dax's walking stick in his office. Jon and Bob have not seen each other in person for years, and here pick up where they last left off, as if it was yesterday. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

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What do Gideon, Hawkeye and being a warrior have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jon Katz (who started his criminal defense career as a public defender lawyer)  talks with Northern Virginia public defender lawyers Shawn Stout and Shalev Ben-Avraham. Jon has deep respect and appreciation for both of these lawyers, who have been selfless in talking with Jon about challenging aspects of his cases and about defending all of our clients. Shawn has been involved in reforming the criminal justice system to the benefit of all defendants. Shalev is a fellow graduate of the multi-week Trial Lawyers College, and defended capital defendants before Virginia abolished state-sponsored killings. You will not want to miss this episode. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675