As a public defender in Washington 20 years ago, Angela Davis defended a Jamaican immigrant against rape charges. The man had no criminal record and insisted on his innocence but was forced to stay in jail because he could not afford bail.
When Davis went to interview the man's accuser, she learned that the woman was deaf and unable to communicate with anyone except her mother. The prosecutor couldn't make a case without an unbiased third-party interpreter, so Davis asked him to release her client. He refused, declaring that he had nine months to get an indictment. When that time was...