Jonathan Rapping to discuss public defense at Seattle University

Jonathan Rapping will speak at Seattle University on Oct. 8 about public defense as part of the law school’s Dean’s Luminaries in Law series. The event comes as Washington implements new public defender caseload standards and faces multiple lawsuits over public defense funding and adequacy.

Why it matters: - Jonathan Rapping has spent years building public defense capacity aimed at equal justice for marginalized communities. - The Seattle University event comes as Washington is changing how public defense is measured and funded, which could affect defendants, attorneys and court systems statewide. - The discussion will connect public defense staffing and sustainability to civil rights concerns.

What happened: - Seattle University School of Law will host Rapping on Oct. 8 for “21st Century Public Defense: Stories from the Front Line of Today’s Civil Rights Struggle.” - The program is part of the Dean’s Luminaries in Law Lecture and Conversation Series. - Rapping will appear in conversation with Seattle University School of Law Associate Professor Paul Holland. - The free event runs from 5 to 6 p.m. PDT in the LeRoux Conference Room, Student Center Room 160, at Seattle University, 901 12th Ave. - Registration is required, and the event is open to the public.

The details: - The conversation will focus on Rapping’s work recruiting, developing and sustaining public defenders committed to equal justice. - Rapping founded Gideon’s Promise, a nonprofit that works to transform the criminal legal system by building a movement of public defenders serving marginalized communities. - Rapping served as Gideon’s Promise CEO from 2022 to 2024 and remains on the board of directors. - Gideon’s Promise has trained and supported more than 1,500 public defenders and works across 27 states. - The organization supports public defenders at multiple career stages, including new attorneys, supervisors, chief defenders, trainers and law students. - Seattle University says the event is a collaboration among the School of Law’s Defender Clinic and the College of Arts and Sciences, with the Defender Initiative as a partnering sponsor. - Seattle University’s Defender Initiative is part of the Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice and works to improve public defense in Washington and nationally through research, advocacy and education. - Rapping is a professor of law and director of the Criminal Justice Certificate Program at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School and faculty director of the Center for Criminal Justice Innovation. - His work inspired the HBO documentary “Gideon’s Army.” - Rapping’s honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, and Beacon Press published his book “Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice” in 2020. - Monica J. Casper, dean of Seattle University’s College of Arts and Sciences, said the university is proud to partner with the law school for the conversation and that equal justice and the common good are values taught in the classroom. - Paul Holland said Rapping recognized how unsustainable public defense was for many lawyers and chose to build a community-based alternative.

Between the lines: - Washington is in a transition period after the Washington Supreme Court adopted new public defender caseload standards in June 2025. - The state began a 10-year implementation period on Jan. 1, 2026. - Four lawsuits are also addressing funding and the adequacy of public defense services in Washington. - The timing suggests the Seattle University talk is aimed at a live policy fight, not just an academic audience. - The event also gives Seattle University a platform to connect legal education with current civil rights and public defense debates.

What’s next: - Rapping’s Seattle appearance is set for Oct. 8, with public registration required before the event. - Washington’s caseload standards implementation will continue over the next decade. - The related lawsuits could shape how the state finances and delivers public defense services.

The bottom line: - The Seattle University event brings a national public defense leader into the middle of Washington’s ongoing fight over who gets constitutionally adequate legal representation.