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/Shon R. Hopwood
Shon R. Hopwood

About Shon R. Hopwood

Shon R Hopwood’s unusual legal journey began not at law school, but federal prison, where he learned to write briefs for other prisoners. Two petitions for certiorari he prepared were later granted review by the United States Supreme Court, and the story of his legal success was the subject of articles in the New York Times, the Saturday Evening Post, and Above the Law. His work has been published in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties and Fordham Law Reviews. He is a consultant at Cockle Law Brief Printing Company, and a student and Gates Public Service Scholar at the University of Washington School of Law. In August of 2012, Crown/Random House will publish his memoir entitled “Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Cases and Finding Redemption.” Through a decade of letters, Shon convinced his kind and beautiful wife, Ann Marie, to marry him. He has one cute but incredibly ornery son, Mark Raymond, and a precious and beautiful baby girl, Grace. Shon enjoys liberty, the writing of the Apostle Paul, Amy Hempel, and Raymond Carver, the music of Radiohead, and watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. Follow me at: @shonhopwood
3 Feb, 2011

A Non-Political View of the Commerce Clause and Health Care

2019-03-18T18:48:06-05:00February 3rd, 2011|Tags: , , |

Ever since Federal Judge Vinson struck down the Affordable Care Act, the legal blogosphere has been saturated with various arguments as to what the Commerce Clause should mean. I do not pretend to know whether or not the Affordable Care Act is good for the country, or, even if it is good for my family—a family that earns a very middle of the road income, that has a wife that is next to uncoverable, and has one child and another on the

3 Feb, 2011

The Solo Practitioner

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00February 3rd, 2011|Tags: , , , , |

On January 25th, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Fordham Law Review Symposium. Everyone that my wife, Annie, and I met from Fordham was gracious and welcoming. The topic of the discussion was the difficulties faced by pro se litigants, and it was enlightening to hear the varying perspectives; from Federal Judge James Francis, who must routinely deal with pro se prisoners filing civil suits to Columbia Professor Brett Dignam, who has been involved with prisoner rights litigation for over 20 years. I think the law profession, generally, tends to discount pro se litigants but that was not the feeling around the room on this night.

21 Jan, 2011

A Plea for a New Crack Law; A Prisoner Sues the Kardashian Sisters; An Economy of Tinned Mackerel; and Death Row Honey Buns

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 21st, 2011|Tags: , , , , , |

Earlier in the week, Julie Stewart, from the Families Against Mandatory Minimums, urged members of Congress and the President to pass a new law making the changes to crack cocaine sentencing retroactively applicable to federal prisoners. Courtesy of the Huffington Post, Ms. Stewart pleaded for new legislation, stating that:

20 Jan, 2011

Fordham Law Review Symposium on January 25th

2011-01-20T16:47:23-06:00January 20th, 2011|Tags: , , , , , , |

The “Solo Practitioner”: Pro Se Litigants and Their Obstacles to Justice A panel discussion hosted by the Fordham Law Review On January 25th, I will be speaking about pro se litigation at the Fordham Law Review Symposium. My esteemed co-panelists will include: Judge James C. Francis, a federal Magistrate for the Southern [...]

14 Jan, 2011

A Provacative Example of Parenting from Yale Law Professor Amy Chua

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 14th, 2011|Tags: , , |

This week has seen a media storm over Yale law professor Amy Chua's new book, entitled "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." Chua started the debate herself with her Wall Street Journal essay relating her experiences raising two daughters the "traditional" Chinese way. Chua later responded to reader's questions in the WSJ and during her appearance on The Today Show. By week's end coverage of her book made its way to Slate, Above the Law, the Boston Globe, Time magazine, NPR, the the Huffington Post. I found the furor over Professor Chua's book to be misguided. If anything, her book provoked, besides hostility, a debate over the proper role of parents in guiding their children. And in a country of parentless children, I find it disheartening that some would say she is not fit to raise children. She, at the very least, played an active role in children's formative years, which is more than most can claim.

14 Jan, 2011

A Rat Bites an Inmate’s Penis and other Prisoner News for the Week

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 14th, 2011|Tags: , , , , |

This is the first of many posts covering a legal issue that is very important to me, to 2 million of its members, and to many more millions of the members’ families: prisoner news. A former inmate at the Nassau County Correctional Center in Long Island, New York, filed a law suit [...]

11 Jan, 2011

The New York Times Covers MacDonald v. Johnson

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 11th, 2011|Tags: , , , , , |

Last week I wrote about a case that Cockle Contributor Jacob Huebert and I are involved with that is before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case involves a Lawrence v. Texas/due process challenge to the application of a state sodomy statute. Today, Adam Liptak at the New York Times continues the discussion--the article is entitled, "A Place on [...]

9 Jan, 2011

More Scary News for those Applying to Law Schools

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 9th, 2011|Tags: , , |

David Segal published a piece at the New York Times today that started with this sentence: "IF there is ever a class in how to remain calm while trapped beneath $250,000 in loans, Michael Wallerstein ought to teach it." Guess how this Mr. Wallerstein ended up in such financial woes: bad stock investments, subprime housing, or toxic mutual funds? No. He went to three years of law school and now has no employment prospects.

6 Jan, 2011

Do Lies In The Courtroom Matter?

2019-03-18T18:48:08-05:00January 6th, 2011|Tags: , , , , |

A few weeks ago David Hinkson’s unusual case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the form of a petition for writ of certiorari. Hinkson was convicted by a jury for soliciting the murder of three federal officials. The conviction was a product of government witness, Elven Swisher, who wore a purple heart on the witness stand as he told the jury that he about his extensive combat duty in the Korean War. The problem was that Swisher had yet to join the military