- Collection:
- Social Change Collection
- Title:
- Millard C. Farmer oral history interview, 2012-09-28
- Creator:
- Farmer, Millard
- Contributor to Resource:
- Roberts, Peter
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 2012-09-28
- Subject:
- Lawyers
Women Lawyers
Capital punishment
Criminal defense lawyers
Procedure (Law)
Civil rights movement
Team Defense Project - People:
- Farmer, Millard
Hames, Margie Pitts
Tuttle, Elbert P. (Elbert Parr), 1897-1996 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- Sound
Text - Format:
- audio/mpeg
application/pdf - Description:
- Born in 1934, noted death penalty defense attorney Millard C. Farmer, Jr. grew up in Newnan, Georgia. A University of Georgia graduate (1956), he worked in the family business and attended Woodrow Wilson College of Law during the evenings. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1967, built a successful practice in Newnan, and was a co-founder of the Bank of Coweta there. Farmer also represented disadvantaged clients, and came to question whether African American defendants could be tried fairly before all-white juries. By 1970, he and his associates were challenging jury composition on the grounds of race. In 1976, he co-founded the Team Defense Project (TDP) with social psychologist Courtney J. Mullin and Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. TDP was dedicated to the representation of indigent persons in death penalty cases and enjoyed many high-profile successes in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the case of the “Dawson Five” in Dawson, Georgia. Most of Farmer and Team Defense Project’s work was intended to bring attention to the inequities in the way capital punishment is used, and many of TDP’s litigation strategies, such as jury composition challenges and motion filings it developed, have become widely adopted tactics. Farmer and his colleagues taught and lectured on these strategies to numerous legal groups and audiences. An acknowledged expert in capital cases, Farmer has also represented clients bringing racial discrimination suits. He has received numerous honors from legal and civil liberties advocacy organizations.
Farmer provides his recollections of Margie Hames’ early career and contributions to the broader civil rights movement. He illustrates the support Father Austin Ford provided by enlisting Jean Young for the Team Defense board, having Bill Hames defend Farmer in his suit with Morris Dees, and providing advice in the John Spenkelink defense. He details the behind the scenes activities to stay the execution of Spenkelink. Included are his interactions with Judge Elbert Tuttle and David Kendall. Farmer explains how public opinion is the barrier to abolishing the death penalty. He tells about Charles Black coming to Atlanta to write a Supreme Court brief. He explains the strong work ethic and commitment required to work with Team Defense, and why Team Defense pretended like it was well funded. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/schange/id/20
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/schange:20/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Millard Farmer. Millard Farmer has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License. Please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ for more information.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Millard Farmer, interviewed by Peter J. Roberts, 28 September 2012, Y2012-03, Social Change Collection, Special Collection and Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta
- Extent:
- 1 hour, 15 minutes, 57 seconds of audio and a 36 page transcript.
- Original Collection:
- Social Change Oral Histories
Social Change Collection - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
