Renegade for Justice

Stephen Lee Saltonstall is a retired lawyer who practiced law for forty years in Massachusetts and Vermont. Michael Meltsner is Matthews Distinguished Professor and former Dean of the Northeastern University School of Law. As a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, he was the principal architect of the death penalty abolition movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the author of six books, including Cruel and Unusual: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment, The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer, and Mosaic: Who Paid for the Bullet?

Foreword by Michael Meltsner Preface Acknowledgments 1. Prelude: Suicide Notes and Golden Hits on the Way to the Bar 2. The Outlaw Road and its Challenges 3. My First Case: Representing a Serial Killer 4. Representing a Cop-Killer 5. The Chad Green Case: Medicine Versus Quackery 6. Fighting to End the Death Penalty in Massachusetts 7. Vermont Law Practice 8. The Cowboy Snodgrass Case 9. My Most Troubling Walk-in Cases: The Cleaning Lady and the Doctor and the Gun on My Desk 10. Continuing with Public Defense 11. Homicides by Auto 12. Representing the World Person in Vermont 13. Getting Rid of a Bad Judge 14. Operation Rescue Accuses Me of Attempted Murder 15. Combatting the War on Drugs 16. Defending Nature 17. The Lamb Brook Aftermath 18. Political Cases 19. A Precedent-Setting Case for Student Freedom of Speech 20. Foiling a Frame-up 21. From Lawyer to Water Truck Driver List of Cases Coda and Notes on Sources Index

"A fascinating look at what it take in today's world to be effective in pursuit of the public good."--Manchester Journal "Stephen Saltonstall's memoir of forty years of courtroom war stories explains why a 'sane person would consider becoming a criminal defense lawyer, ' especially when the courts he served were, in his words, 'a Hollywood backdrop designed to disguise a shameful tradition of inequality and injustice.'"--Ronald Goldfarb, author of The Price of Justice: Money, Morals and Ethical Reform in the Law "Boston has had a tight-knit cadre of activist lawyers going back to the founding of the republic and before. Stephen Saltonstall stands in that tradition with figures like James Otis, who courageously challenged the legality of the king's despised writs of assistance, setting the stage for the later adoption of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Saltonstall movingly shares with readers his own journey, with all its ups and downs--his fascinating cases, his clients, his fellow lawyers in the struggle for social justice, and the unforgettable characters he encountered along the way. It is an inspirational tale for law students, lawyers, and all those seeking a more just society."--Mark S. Brodin, Michael and Helen Lee Distinguished Scholar, Boston College Law School "Stephen Saltonstall was born into a Boston Brahmin family of privilege, wealth, and upper-class status that would have assured him a special, protected lifestyle surrounded by those of similar privilege. But he spent his entire adult life rejecting those inherited advantages and working for the poor, the underprivileged, and the downtrodden. He is an erudite, brilliant man who discovered early in life that his emotional satisfaction was derived primarily from identifying with those less fortunate. As an attorney, he embraced what he calls 'value-based lawyering, ' handling righteous cases for 'the benefit of working people, the indigent, people of color, abused and neglected children, and on behalf of wildlife.' Saltonstall has written a lovely, inspiring account of how one can, and should, use their education, skills, and talents to leave the world in a better place than they found it."--R. Keith Stroup, founder of NORML