Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned (2nd Ed.)
Richard Jaffe’s explosive second edition of Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned affirms the vital role criminal defense lawyers play in the balance between life and death, liberty and lockup. It is a compelling journey into the legal and human drama of life or death criminal cases that often reads more like hard to imagine fiction, yet these cases are real. Quest for Justice invites readers into the courtroom and into the field with Richard Jaffe, a powerhouse Alabama defense attorney with more than four decades of experience, who has successfully defended hundreds of individuals accused of murder, including more than seventy cases where the defendant faced the death penalty, including the Olympic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, in Alabama, nine people have been exonerated from death row—Jaffe represented four of them: James Willie “Bo” Cochran, Randal Padgett, Gary Drinkard, and Wesley Quick. Though every chapter reveals more alarming, gut-wrenching cases, and impediments to justice, Jaffe’s unwavering determination, hope, and strategies in the courtroom yield many momentous victories for his clients and the cause of justice. In Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned, Richard Jaffe offers all audiences an accessible, page-turning perspective borne out of a life representing the damned in America’s criminal justice system.
Richard S. Jaffe, author of Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned 2nd Ed., gives readers a preview into the compelling book.
Meet the Author
According to the Equal Justice Initiative, in Alabama, nine people have been exonerated from death row—Jaffe represented four of them.
Jaffe’s four decades of experience in the courtroom inform his exhilarating and informative second edition of Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned.
“The seemingly small, subtle details in many trials form the tightrope between life and death upon which the accused unknowingly walks.”
Photo credit: Beau Gustafson
Photos courtesy of the Birmingham News and others.
Featured Cases
Want a glimpse into Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned (2nd Ed.)?
Check out a few of Jaffe’s cases featured in the book.
Listen: Ep.64 of NACDL’s The Criminal Docket Podcast featuring Richard S. Jaffe
In this episode, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Associate Madeline Sklar sits down (virtually) with Alabama criminal defense attorney Richard S. Jaffe to discuss his NACDLPress publication, Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned 2nd Ed., his four decade-long legal career, and the case of Toforest Johnson.
Listen now: Wrongful Conviction Podcast with Jason Flom featuring Richard S. Jaffe and Randal Padgett
When Richard Jaffe took on Randal Padgett’s case, Padgett had been on death row for five years for the alleged gruesome murder and sexual assault of his wife, Cathy, from whom he was separated. Listen to the podcast to learn more about Padgett’s wrongful conviction and exoneration.
Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned (2nd Ed.) Book Review
Elizabeth Kelley, a criminal defense attorney who specializes in representing individuals with mental disabilities, reviewed Quest for Justice in the May issue of NACDL’s The Champion magazine.
““This is a must read for anyone who cares about justice.” ”