Overview

“This is a book of courtroom war stories, drawn from my forty years of experience as an obscure lawyer for the underdog and the downtrodden.” So begins Renegade for Justice, a memoir of a public interest lawyer driven by the cause of justice. While the stories Stephen Saltonstall tells are entertaining, they are also instructive, providing, as he says, “an insider look at the American justice system, which is rigged against the poor and people of color and tolerates police perjury.”Renegade for Justice begins by telling the story of how and why a privileged kid from Cambridge, Massachusetts, broke from family tradition and devoted his professional life to defending the defenseless in a justice system that is crippled by systemic injustice. Activist lawyer Stephen Saltonstall brings readers into the world of criminal defense by recounting narratives of his cases, including a successful attack on a Massachusetts death penalty statute, appeals of two notorious homicide cases (a serial murderer and a cop-killer), an effort to save the life of a little boy whose parents refused to give him the medical treatment he needed for acute lymphocytic leukemia, free speech cases for students and an environmentalist carpenter, litigation to save critical black bear and neotropical migratory songbird habitat from US Forest Service clear-cutting, and more. In a system biased against the public interest and the underprivileged, Saltonstall gives people a model for practicing values-based law. Channeling the spirit of radicals like William Kunstler, Saltonstall writes not only for activists who want to better understand our society, but also for those thinking about becoming a lawyer. As he writes in the preface, “I hope my stories will challenge those of you—you know who you are, you who dream of soft landings in the glittering halls of boring, soul-free law firms doing the bidding of the uber-rich and powerful—to visualize the alternative, a career that’s built on cases and causes that further the public interest, human rights, and care of the natural world.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stephen Saltonstall ,  Michael Meltsner
Publisher:   University Press of Kansas
Imprint:   University Press of Kansas
Dimensions:   Width: 15.10cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.60cm
Weight:   0.363kg
ISBN:  

9780700633678

ISBN 10:   0700633677
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   28 October 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael Meltsner Preface Acknowledgments 1. Prelude: Suicide Notes and Golden Hits on the Way to the Bar 2. The Outlaw Road and its Challenges 3. My First Case: Representing a Serial Killer 4. Representing a Cop-Killer 5. The Chad Green Case: Medicine Versus Quackery 6. Fighting to End the Death Penalty in Massachusetts 7. Vermont Law Practice 8. The Cowboy Snodgrass Case 9. My Most Troubling Walk-in Cases: The Cleaning Lady and the Doctor and the Gun on My Desk 10. Continuing with Public Defense 11. Homicides by Auto 12. Representing the World Person in Vermont 13. Getting Rid of a Bad Judge 14. Operation Rescue Accuses Me of Attempted Murder 15. Combatting the War on Drugs 16. Defending Nature 17. The Lamb Brook Aftermath 18. Political Cases 19. A Precedent-Setting Case for Student Freedom of Speech 20. Foiling a Frame-up 21. From Lawyer to Water Truck Driver List of Cases Coda and Notes on Sources Index

Reviews

Stephen Saltonstall's memoir of forty years of courtroom war stories explains why 'any sane person would consider becoming a criminal defense lawyer, ' especially when the courts he served were, in his words, 'a Hollywood backdrop designed to disguise a shameful tradition of inequality and injustice.'--Ronald Goldfarb, author of The Price of Justice: Money, Morals and Ethical Reform in the Law Boston has had a tight-knit cadre of activist lawyers going back to the founding of the republic and before. Stephen Saltonstall stands in that tradition with figures like James Otis, who courageously challenged the legality of the king's despised writs of assistance, setting the stage for the later adoption of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Saltonstall movingly shares with readers his own journey, with all its ups and downs--his fascinating cases, his clients, his fellow lawyers in the struggle for social justice, and the unforgettable characters he encountered along the way. It is an inspirational tale for law students, lawyers, and all those seeking a more just society.--Mark S. Brodin, Michael and Helen Lee Distinguished Scholar, Boston College Law School Stephen Saltonstall was born into a Boston Brahmin family of privilege, wealth, and upper-class status that would have assured him a special, protected lifestyle surrounded by those of similar privilege. But he spent his entire adult life rejecting those inherited advantages and working for the poor, the underprivileged, and the downtrodden. He is an erudite, brilliant man who discovered early in life that his emotional satisfaction was derived primarily from identifying with those less fortunate. As an attorney, he embraced what he calls 'value-based lawyering, ' handling righteous cases for 'the benefit of working people, the indigent, people of color, abused and neglected children, and on behalf of wildlife.' Saltonstall has written a lovely, inspiring account of how one can, and should, use their education, skills, and talents to leave the world in a better place than they found it.--R. Keith Stroup, founder of NORML

Author Information

Stephen Lee Saltonstall is a retired lawyer who practiced law for forty years in Massachusetts and Vermont. Michael Meltsner is Matthews Distinguished Professor and former Dean of the Northeastern University School of Law. As a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, he was the principal architect of the death penalty abolition movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the author of six books, including Cruel and Unusual: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment, The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer, and Mosaic: Who Paid for the Bullet?

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