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In 2015, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz finished court earlier than expected, and beelined to the Mindful Leadership conference in Crystal City, Virginia, in part to meet speaker Roshi Joan Halifax. Snagging a ticket to this soldout event, Jon met Roshi Joan, and also sat mesmerized by speaker Jim Dethmer's (co-founder of the Conscious Leadership Group) talk about conscious leadership, and about the difference between leading from above the line (where one is open, curious, and not attacking) versus from below the line. This conscious leadership approach is fully addressed in The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp.

The challenges abound for criminal defense lawyers and their clients to get sidetracked by actually or apparently slinged mud, heartlessness, dehumanization efforts, underhandedness and prevarication from various quarters in the courthouse and beyond. Getting angry and misdirected is weakening. Smiling in the face of proverbial flying vomit and diarrhea -- when knowing the possibilities of sweet success that may be right around the corner -- is the powerful way to proceed.

Conscious Leadership's Deb Katz pulls no punches in addressing how she transitioned from years of proceeding as an unconscious leader to a conscious one. She talks about how it is possible to say f--k you from above the line, and how sweetness does not automatically put one above the line. Deb addresses how Conscious Leadership draws on numerous pre-existing approaches to leading in a beneficial way. She and Jon both benefit from the teachings and practices of Ho'oponopono, which is featured on a previous Beat The Prosecution podcast episode. 

This conversation between Jon Katz and Deb Katz (same last name, but no close family connection) dives deep into transitioning into the conscious leadership approach. 

The universal and Apple podcasts URL for this episode are at https://podcast.beattheprosecution.com/2293867/episodes/15777966 

and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675?i=1000669998168

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

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 usually includes keeping the burden with the prosecution to attempt to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That approach can be turned upside down with activists who broadcast their actions loudly and clearly. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first faced that situation when teaming with Ramsey Clark to defend four Plowshares activists who hammered on warplanes outfitted to fire depleted uranium missiles. The four defendants' openness about their actions made winning the destruction of property count a challenge to win at their jury trial, while pretrial, Jon still convinced the trial judge to dismiss the sabotage and sabotage conspiracy counts.

Early in his criminal defense career, Jon Katz heard Gerald Lefcourt tell about how his client Abby Hoffman sought for Lefcourt to keep him out of jail so that he could pursue his activism. Jon wondered if he had missed the boat for defending activists until he was asked to defend the Plowshares. Ramsey Clark told Jon that the opportunities to defend activists are many, at least when doing so pro bono. When Jon asked about a lawyer(s) to turn to for suggestions for defending activists, Mark Goldstone's name immediately came up. Mark was delighted when he received a court appointment for an activist protesting in the Capitol against Ronald Reagan's policies in supporting anti-communist combatants in Nicaragua, and was even more delighted when the lawyers for the 130 other defendants withdrew their representation, leaving those defendants with Mark.

When Jon met Mark, Mark led the demonstrations committee of the local National Lawyers Guild, which Jon Katz first joined because of its work for criminal defendants and immigrants, and its stand for racial justice and gender equality, but left several years later when the group became too doctrinaire, and even issued a call to support Muntadhar al-Zaid -- who in 2008 threw his shoes at George W. Bush in Iraq -- and called to donate shoes for needy people, with not a peep against violence that was part of the shoe throwing. 

Over the decades, Mark has become a go-to lawyer for political activists -- including supporting their First Amendment free expression rights -- and for judges seeking criminal defense lawyers for appointments for such defense. Mark is a devoted, principled and caring person and attorney. Jon has great respect for him.

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

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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Reaching and being in a state of zero is vital for Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz. Jon Katz has learned and applies this approach of zero through taijiquan, mindfulness, nonduality, and Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono (SITH). Taijiquan master Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo taught that by being at zero, we are never chasing nor letting outside forces nor influences guide our path. Mindfulness helps us clean our internal gunk and vibrate away new gunk. Nonduality / non-attachment enables us to find, harness and unleash our power internally, without gauging our well being by outside circumstances, and helps us live in the moment. The samurai who is not in the moment, is fearful of possible death, and is thinking of their next move is more likely to have their head lopped off. Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono is about taking personal responsibility -- which is also central to conscious leadership -- for what we are experiencing and perceiving; cleaning our internal gunk, data and memories; and emanating that approach to the benefit of our family members and everyone else.

No matter how sensible or not the foregoing practices appear at first, this approach works powerfully for Jon Katz both in his criminal defense work and in his personal life. Jon learned about SITH in 2011, and that year met one of its main teachers and practitioners -- and Jon's very important teacher Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, whose first words to Jon upon their meeting each other was "lawyer". Dr. Hew Len was a psychologist, dealing with plenty of people experiencing psychological imbalance, and Jon Katz deals with people having such experiences through his criminal defense work.

Ihaleakala Hew Len took his last breath in 2022.  Kamaile Rafaelovich  (also spelled Kamailelauli'I) -- known as KR -- is president of IZI, LLC, which teaches and applies SITH. KR learned about SITH from its founder Morrnah Simeona before Dr. Hew Len started learning from Morrnah. KR has blessed Jon by joining him for this podcast. If the ideas and messages in this podcast episode do not resonate with you the first time, you may find that they make sense after listening

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

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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After learning about non-attachment after revisiting Wim Wenders's visit in Tokyo-Ga to the gravesite of famous director Yasujirō Ozu (who left his body only eight months after Jon Katz was born), whose headstone was marked solely with the character 無 Mu (translatable as nothingness), Fairfax Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz learned more clearly and deeply about nonduality / non-attachment, and began more intentionally pursuing this life path, through his continued practice of the taijiquan martial art, additional mindfulness practice, and lessons from such great teachers as Baba Ram Das (born Richard Alpert) about our interconnectedness.

Jon learned about the lawyers mindfulness movement, ultimately attended a great partially silent long weekend law professionals' retreat at the Blue Cliff Monastery, for a year became coordinator of the then-named Contemplative Lawyers group of the national capital area, and finally was willing to spend a long weekend in heavy silence and meditation -- other than during group discussion and question and answer sessions -- at the 2015 Mindful Lawyering long weekend at the Garrison Institute.

While Zoketsu Norman Fischer -- a former abbot at the San Francisco Zen Center, which Shunryu Suzuki Roshi founded -- was the biggest draw for Jon among the teachers at this Mindful Lawyering retreat, the remaining lineup of teachers was also great. Nikki Mirghafori stood out for Jon among the retreats' teachers for her apparent particularly practical approach to applying mindfulness, together with her profession as an artificial intelligence scientist. Nikki also brings us front and center to the mindfulness of death, seeing that we all have only one exit from this world. Nikki's social media links are at www.facebook.com/dr.nikki.mirghafori; www.facebook.com/nikki.mirghafori; linkedin.com/in/nmirghafori; www.instagram.com/nikki.mirghafori; x.com/NikkiMirghafori

In this Beat the Prosecution podcast conversation between Nikki and Jon, they both learn that their early meditation practices involved applying Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response, and moved forward. Nikki's early mindfulness practice took place during very substantial personal challenges.

Jon asks Nikki for ideas for lawyers, criminal defendants and others to deal with their suffering, addiction, and suicidal thoughts, as well as how to beat the prosecution. Nikki's lessons include being mindful and compassionate, engaging in restorative justice, and being ready to interact with prosecutors and others on a human level. 

Visit Nikki's website for a treasure trove of discussion, meditations, and

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

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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When Fairfax, Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz faces particularly challenging times in court, he often imagines that his peace teacher Jun Yasuda is to his right, his trial teacher Steve Rench is to his left, and his martial arts teacher is also right there. This Beat the Prosecution episode interviews Jon Katz's friend and peace mentor Jun Yasuda, who spearheaded making the Grafton, New York, Peace Pagoda a reality.https://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org (This peace pagoda is such an amazing place that Jon's friend's usually constantly overactive dog stood in quietness when first visiting the pagoda.)

Lama Surya Das has aptly pointed out that it is not enough to rage against violence if we do not also pursue peace within ourselves. Likewise, an effective criminal defense lawyer needs to find and develop internal peace so that anger, stress, and upset do not eat the lawyer alive; and so that the lawyer may think, see and hear clearly -- and show total compassion, teamwork and listening with their client -- on the road to pursuing the best defense. 

Jun Yasuda is as tough as nails, having crisscrossed the nation on foot in even harsh climates, having fasted for peace and justice for days on end, and having set her own selfish interests aside for the greater good of humankind. She advocated for sanctuary in New York for American Indian Movement cofounder Dennis Banks when his sanctuary in California was cancelled. She dry fasted for a week for Mumia Abu-Jamal when he was still on death row. Jun-san's central prayer for peace -- drummed at a walking pace -- is Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo, which is the Odaimoku, the essence of the Lotus Sutra. 

Jun-san briefly was in a lockup adjacent to Leonard Peltier's during the pendency of his trial where she went to support him. (Mr. Peltier's prosecutor ended up concluding that his prosecution and continued incarceration were and are unjust. https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/From-US-Attorney-James-Reynolds.pdf . His authoring appellate judge decades ago supported clemency for Peltier. https://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/download/Heaney.pdf )

Jun-san recognizes the importance of restorative justice as an alternative to the overgrown criminal justice system that she points out disproportionately incarcerates minorities and often uses inmates for free and cheap labor. 

Jun Yasuda is a monastic with the Nipponzan Myohoji Nichiren Buddhist order. More about this remarkable woman, her strikingly serene peace pagoda in Grafton, NY, and her order's peace work is at https://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org . 

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

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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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://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/

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://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/

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://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/

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://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/

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://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/

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