Today – court appointed attorneys who protect the public, and honor the Sixth Amendment right to counsel remain the only professionals who are subject to conscription, to being forced to work without their consent in the United States. While John Thompson did not win, he is the only attorney to have fought this battle to the highest court in our state pro bono, and to be fearless enough to speak out about it afterwards.
While many of the other honorees are famous, such as Martha Coakley, or have made many millions of dollars, such as Juliane Balliro and Michael Mone, John Thompson’s whole career has been about the rule of law, and defending the underdog and the common person.
I will be attending to honor John Thompson.
For more about John, here are some links:
For the disappointing Cooper case decision, : http://www.suffolk.edu/sjc/arc…
For the Shepard case:
http://docket.medill.northwest…
About the three who saved a life:
http://maxedoutmama.blogspot.c…
Anyway the award dinner is 2/5/08 – really a bad day for it between the Presidential Primary, and the special election in Arlington – but I will attend to honor John Thompson for his courage and the values he holds.
And did his best work on the court. His son has been pretty good, too. I hope he brings his towel to the dinner.
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p>Oh, wait, that kind of court…?