In this episode, Hugh sits down with Jed S. Rakoff, who for close to 25 years has been a federal district court judge in the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Before that he spent several years in private practice and seven years as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. 

They discuss a number of issues and experiences, including Judge Rakoff’s: 

– Upbringing in Philadelphia; 

– Time as a white collar criminal defense lawyer and Chief of Business and Fraud Prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office;

– Longtime experience as a federal judge, including views on jury trials and the value of oral arguments;

– Views on the death penalty and problems with federal sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences; and

– Work with the Department of Commerce in training foreign judges in international commercial law.