Proposed SCOTUS ‘Defender General’ Faces Hurdles, Lawyers Say

A proposal to put advocacy for criminal defendants on more equal footing at the U.S. Supreme Court could move the law in a favorable direction for them, but some lawyers worry it may lead to discarding individual cases for the greater good.

The “Defender General,” professors Daniel Epps and William Ortman explain in an upcoming law review article, would be a “public official charged with representing the collective interests of criminal defendants before the Supreme Court of the United States.”

They say the office would counter the weight of the U.S. solicitor general’s office, which represents the government at ...