Shon Hopwood — “A Law Library Saved My Life”
Shon Hopwood, the keynote speaker at the 2019 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) annual meeting, told an inspiring story of personal redemption and the power of the law to change the course of lives. He is currently an Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School and an expert in criminal justice reform. He also has strong ties to Washington State and is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and a member of the Washington State Bar Association. What makes his professional pedigree even more prestigious is that he accomplished all of this after a twelve year federal prison sentence, serving 11 years for stealing $150,000 in five bank robberies.
The details of his story are in his memoir Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption, the New York Times, and his July 21, 2019 appearance on 60 Minutes. Professor Hopwood’s journey from guilt, to writing briefs in a prison law library, to a life in the law is utterly amazing. As a jailhouse lawyer, he was successful in getting a petition granted by the U.S. Supreme Court, which former Solicitor General Seth Waxman noted “was probably one of the best cert. petitions I have ever read.” Even more amazing is that the Court granted a second petition and several other courts granted sentencing relief based on his briefing while he was still incarcerated.
The May/June 2019 issue of AALL Spectrum featured a Q and A with Hopwood in advance of his keynote appearance and his 2017 speech Unnecessary Imprisonment and the Need for Sentencing Reform, sponsored by the University of Chicago School of Law, is available online.
Here in Olympia, Hopwood argued before the Washington Supreme Court in 2017 on behalf of Tarra Simmons, another former felon who is dedicating her legal career to improving access to justice. Hopwood and Professor John Strait successfully argued that the Washington Supreme Court should reverse a previous decision denying Simmons permission to take the bar exam. Hopwood noted, “I’m pretty certain it’s the first time a former bank robber has argued to let somebody else in the club.” Justice Mary Yu, writing for a unanimous court, held that, “Today, we affirm the principles that for purposes of bar admission, a moral character inquiry is determined on an individualized basis and that there is no categorical exclusion of an applicant who has a criminal or substance abuse history.” The inclusion of both Shon Hopwood and Tarra Simmons in the bar, and their representation of people who need both lawyers and the power of redemption, is an important step towards improving access to justice. (RM)
