Jonathan Rapping

Professor of Law, Director of Criminal Justice Certificate Program

Education

B.A., University of Chicago, cum laude
M.P.A., Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
J.D., George Washington University National Law Center

Courses Taught

Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Advanced Criminal Procedure; and Criminal Justice Lawyering

Career Highlights

SSRN Papers

Immediately prior to joining Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School in 2007, Professor Rapping served as Training Chief for the Orleans Public Defender, working to rebuild New Orleans’ public defender office in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In the ten years prior to his work in New Orleans, he served in the Public Defenders offices of Georgia and Washington, D.C., developing and implementing public defender training programs, and handling a caseload of serious felonies.

He currently serves as a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He teaches and presents at numerous programs for criminal defense associations, public defenders offices, and law schools throughout the country.

In 2007, Professor Rapping was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship to develop Gideon’s Promise, devoted to training and supporting public defenders across the Southeastern United States, a project he currently directs. He has won numerous awards for his work in this area. Professor Rapping and Gideon’s Promise are featured in the award winning HBO documentary, Gideon’s Army.

In 2014, Professor Rapping’s non-profit organization Gideon’s Promise partnered with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD). The partnership will help OPD improve the quality of representation in its state. To facilitate this partnership, Professor Rapping will work intensively with Maryland OPD to incorporate the Gideon’s Promise model across the state. Being asked to model this program in Maryland is truly the next step for the organization. Rapping will work with Maryland OPD to direct strategic planning and organizational development as it continues its great work trying to ensure justice is a reality in courtrooms across that state. Paul DeWolfe, the Public Defender for Maryland, invited Rapping to work with his organization after spending a couple of years working with Gideon’s Promise through its Leadership Program.

Professor Rapping was named a 2014 MacArthur Foundation Genius Fellow for the impact his non-profit organization, Gideon’s Promise, has made on society. The MacArthur Fellow Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.

In 2020, Professor Rapping published Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice, which was a #1 new release on Amazon. Also in 2020, Professor Rapping was appointed by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as Co-Chair of the new Use of Force Advisory Council in Atlanta. Mayor Bottoms issued an Administrative Order to convene an Advisory Council comprised of community members and partners to examine the City’s use of force policies and procedures. The Advisory Council made recommendations for operational or legislative changes to the City’s existing use of force policies. During the summer of 2020, Gideon’s Promise launched its new weekly podcast hosted by Professor Rapping. Gideon’s Promise: The Podcast explores the critical role of public defenders in systemic justice reform. Each episode explores a wide range of issues facing marginalized communities with subject matter experts, key opinion leaders, and people impacted by the American criminal legal system.

In 2022, Rapping was elected as a member to the American Law Institute.

Publications

Articles

“The Critical Role of Public Defenders in a Post Dobbs v. Jackson World,” Criminal Justice Magazine, The American Bar Association (Winter 2023)

“The Costs of the Progressive Prosecutor Movement,” The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (May 2022)

“Public Defenders: The Vanguard of Redemption,” Ohio St. J. Crim. L. (2017)

“The Power to Transform is Stronger Than the Power to Punish: Public Defenders Are the Key to Equal Justice,” Los Angeles Pub. Int. L.J. (2017)

“It’s a Sin to Kill a Mockingbird: The Need For Idealism in the Legal Profession,” 114 Mich. L. Rev. 847 (2016)

“Grooming Tomorrow’s Change Agents: The Role of Law Schools in Helping to Create a Just Society,” 12 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 465 (2015)

“The Revolution Will be Televised: Popular Culture and the American Criminal Justice Narrative,” 41 New Eng. J. on Crim. & Civ. Confinement 5 (2015)

“Retuning Gideon’s Trumpet: Telling the Story in the Context of Today’s Criminal Justice Crisis,” forthcoming, Texas Law Review (2014)

“Reclaiming Our Rightful Place: Reviving the Hero Image of the Public Defender,” forthcoming, the Iowa Law Review (2014)

“Implicitly Unjust: How Defenders Can Affect Systemic Racist Assumptions,” the New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, vol. 16, issue 4 (2013)

“Redefining Success as a Public Defender: A Rallying Cry for Those Most Committed to Gideon’s Promise,” The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (June 2012)

“Who’s Guarding the Henhouse: How the American Prosecutor Came to Devour Those He is Sworn to Protect,” 51 Washburn L.J. 513 (Summer 2012)

“Street Crimes, Stress, and Suggestion: Helping The Jury See What the Witness Did Not,” The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (June 2011)

“National Crisis, National Neglect: Realizing Justice Through Transformative Change,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change, volume 13, number 3 (2009- 2010)

“Evidence Blocking: How the Defense Can Define the Legal Landscape at Trial,” National Journal of Trial Advocacy, Volume 33 (Spring 2010)

“A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: Persuasion Through the Use of Visual Effects At Trial,” The Advocate, Journal of Criminal Justice Education and Research, Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, Vol. 31, Issue No. 4, Oct. 2009

“You Can’t Build on Shaky Ground: Laying the Foundation For Indigent Defense Reform Through Values-Based Recruitment, Training, and Mentoring,” The Harvard Law and Policy Review, Volume 3 (Spring 2009)

“Directing the Winds of Change: Using Organizational Culture to Reform Indigent Defense,” The Loyola University New Orleans Journal of Public Interest Law, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring, 2009)

Books

Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice, Beacon Press, 2020

Manuals

Summer Institute Training Manual, Gideon’s Promise (authored 20 of 29 chapters)

Media, Public & Professional Appearances

COLLEGES OF LAW AND LAW SCHOOLS

ATLANTA’S JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

OFFICE OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL TOUR, 4/24

Committee Chair

YALE LAW SCHOOL, DEFCON 2024, PUBLIC DEFENSE CONFERENCE, New Haven, CT, 2/24

Keynote Address

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SCHOOL OF LAW, Houston, TX, 9/23

Lecture, Forging a More Humane Vision of Justice

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, Atlanta, GA, 8/23

Panelist, Georgia Latino Law Foundation Law Day, Being a Whole Lawyer

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, 3/23

Guest Speaker, Professor Adriaan Lanni, Advanced Criminal Procedure

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MANOA, WILLIAM S. RICHARDSON SCHOOLOF LAW, Honolulu, HI, 10/22

Guest Speaker, Island Leadership Lab

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE CLINIC, 10/21

Guest Speaker

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, 9/21

Guest Speaker, Professor Adriaan Lanni, Advanced Criminal Procedure

NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL, CRIMINAL JUSTICE ROUNDTABLE, 4/21

Featured Speaker, Public Defenders and the Imperative to Rewrite America’s Criminal Justice Narrative

DUQUESNE LAW SCHOOL, Pittsburgh, PA, 4/21

Presenter and Panelist, Forensic Fridays Series

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF LAW, Champaign, IL, Virtual, 2/20

Keynote Address and Book Talk, Criminal Defending Conference

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE SCHOOL OF LAW, Knoxville, TN, Virtual, 11/20

Book Talk, Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

MERCER LAW SCHOOL, Macon, GA, Virtual, 11/20

Presenter, Criminal Defense Clinic

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, Boston, MA, Virtual, 10/20

Panelist, Race Religion and Civil Rights

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, Virtual, 9/20

Book Talk, Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

ATLANTA’S JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL, Atlanta, GA, Virtual, 9/20

Moderator, Conversation with Dawn Porter (Filmmaker, God Trouble)

ATLANTA’S JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL, Atlanta, GA, Virtual, 7/20

Panelist, Let’s Talk About Police Reform

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OF LAW, Los Angeles, CA, 1/20

Presenter, Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles, CA, 1/20

2020 Speaker, The USC Dornsife Pre-Law Speaker Series

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Washington, DC, 3/19

Lecture, Gideon’s Promise: Building a Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, CA, 2/19

Lecture, Gideon’s Promise: Building a Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

Panelist, Reimagining Criminal Justice Symposium

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, 1/19

Guest Speaker, The Role of the Lawyer in Driving Justice Reform

Guest Lecturer, Storytelling and Developing a Case Theory

GEORGIA STATE LAW SCHOOL, Atlanta, GA, 9/18

Panelist, Decriminalizing Race and Poverty

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, IL, 5/18

Presenter, Public Defenders on the Front Lines For Justice

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Washington, DC, 4/18

Presenter, The Role of the Public Defender in the Larger Justice Reform Effort

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL, RACE AND THE LAW SYMPOSIUM, Ann Arbor, MI, 2/18

Panelist, Race and Criminal Justice

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, 1/18

Guest Speaker, The Role of the Lawyer in Driving Justice Reform

STANFORD LAW SCHOOL, SHAKING THE FOUNDATION, Palo Alto, CA, 11/17

Keynote Address, Lawyer as Change Agent

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, BICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION, Cambridge, MA, 10/17

Panelist, Teaching and the Movement: Criminal Justice Reform From the Classroom to the Front Lines

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Washington, DC, 3/17

Guest Speaker, The Sixth Amendment in Crisis and the Role of the Public Defender

FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL, New York, NY, 2/17

Invited Participant, Criminal Justice Roundtable

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, 1/17

Guest Speaker, The Role of the Lawyer in Driving Justice Reform

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MORITZ COLLEGE OF LAW, Columbus Ohio, 11/16

2016 David H. Bodiker Criminal Justice Lecture

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA SCHOOL OF LAW, Norman, OK, 3/16

Guest Speaker, Criminal Justice Speaker Series

UNIVERISTY OF TENNESSEE SCHOOL OF LAW, Knoxville, TX, 3/16

2016 Charles H. Miller Lecture in Professional Responsibility

UNVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW Austin, TX, 2/16

Guest Speaker, Building a Movement to Transform Criminal Justice

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, 1/16

Guest Speaker, Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise

BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Boston, MA, 1/16

Guest Speaker, Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, CA, 10/15

Guest Speaker, Gideon Fellowship Fundraiser

Guest Speaker, Public Interest Luncheon

Guest Lecturer, Perspectives on Law and Lawyering Class

LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, St. Louis, MO, 10/15

James C. Millstone Memorial Lecture

BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL, Boston, MA, 10/15

Panelist, Legal Superstars: MacArthur Fellows Pursuing Compelling Causes

ATLANTA’S JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL, Atlanta, GA, 9/15

Presenter, Professionalism Series, Pursuing a Purposeful Career in the Law

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW, Washington, DC, 4/15

Keynote Address, 15^th Annual Peter M. Cicchino Awards Dinner

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, Athens, GA, 2/15

Keynote Address, 10^th Annual Working in Public Interest Conference

STETSON LAW SCHOOL, Tampa, FL, 1/15

Delivered William Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Lecture

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, 1/15

Presenter, Having a Fulfilling Career as a Social Justice Lawyer

UNIVERITY OF TENNESSEE, Knoxville, TN, 10/14

Speaker, Right to Counsel Symposium

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, STRUM LAW SCHOOL, Denver, CP, 9/14

Keynote Address, Rocky Mountain Public Interest & Social Justice Retreat

STETSON LAW SCHOOL, Tampa, FL, 3/14

Lunch Lecture and Public Address, The Right to Counsel Fifty Years After Gideon

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, Chapel Hill, NC, 2/14

Presenter, Conference on Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnicity

FAULKNER LAW SCHOOL, Montgomery, AL, 2/14

Speaker, Fred Gray Civil Rights Symposium

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Chicago, IL, 2/14