Mantz, Juanita E.

Mantz, Juanita E.

Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender (or, how I became a punk rock lawyer)

Bamboo Dart Press

***"What do the Talking Heads and the Clash have to do with the Post Conviction Justice Project Clinic at USC? Everything. Music is not just the soundtrack, but indeed the grounding inspiration for Juanita E. Mantz’s depiction of her evolution from punk princess drop-out to deputy public defender in Riverside California. Mantz’s hybrid memoir makes hard left turns and arrives at surprising destinations; after a toxic stop in corporate law, the author returns to California, rejects the big dollars and elects working with poor clients, many of whom are categorized as mentally incompetent. Mantz's book forces us to consider our past and our future: why bail doesn’t work and how the murder of George Floyd challenges us to do more to transform the criminal justice system, and our relationship with each other. An irresistible, thoughtful, and inspiring read." —Stephanie Barbé Hammer, author of The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior, and Rescue Plan