Paul Butler (9)

Once in a while a book challenges our basic assumptions about the way things work. Paul Butler was an ambitious federal prosecutor, a Harvard Law grad who gave up his corporate law salary to fight the good fight—until one day he was arrested on the street and charged with a crime he didn’t commit. ... (more)At the courthouse Butler stood alongside the people he’d spent his days sending to prison. This stint on the other side of the law confirmed his sense that the system was not working—not making the streets safer, nor helping the people he’d hoped, as a prosecutor, to protect. Let's Get Free gives an insider’s view of the lock-’em-up culture that makes every American worse off. We’ve reached the tipping point—so many people are in prison, especially for nonviolent drug offenses, that incarceration now causes more crime than it prevents. Butler offers innovative methods for citizens to resist complicity and stand up for their rights. He introduces the concept of jury nullification—voting “not guilty” on principle—as a powerful way to protest unfair laws. Butler’s groundbreaking “hip hop theory of justice” reveals a profound analysis of crime and punishment found in popular culture. Let’s Get Free offers a positive new vision of justice and legal reform. A former federal prosecutor, Paul Butler provides legal commentary for CNN, NPR, and the Fox News Network. He has been featured on 60 Minutes and profiled in the Washington Post. He has written for the Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times and is a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. This event is free and open to the public.