Preview of Member Only Content
For full access: 
or Become a Member 
Book Reviews
By Fay F. Spenca, Elizabeth Unger Carlyle, Mark Stevens
Hard Time and Nursery Rhymes: A Mother’s Tales of Law and Disorder
By Claudia Trupp
Rodale Press (2009)
Reviewed by Fay F. Spence
Hard Time and Nursery Rhymes evokes laughter, anger, tears, and pride as Claudia Trupp bounces back and forth between stories about the legal system and about her family. The author provides no answers on exactly what steps a mother should take to balance work and family, but she weaves several comparisons and contrasts between parenthood and criminal defense work into her rambling narrative. As she discusses some of the cases she has handled as an appellate public defender in New York, she also explains the complexities of criminal law and appellate procedure in terms that a nonlawyer can understand. The result is a book that reveals the depth of the author’s commitment to her professional and personal values.
The book is comprised of six parts, each loosely based on a different criminal appeal on which Trupp worked. With each case, she manages to explain comple
Want to read more?
The Champion archive is reserved for NACDL members.
NACDL members, please login to read the rest of this article.
Not a member? Join now.
Or click here to see an overview of NACDL Member benefits.
See what NACDL members say about us.
To read the current issue of The Champion in its entirety, click here.
- Media inquiries: Contact NACDL's Director of Public Affairs & Communications Ivan J. Dominguez at 202-465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org
- Academic Requests: Full articles of The Champion Magazine are available for academic and research purposes in the WestLaw and LexisNexis databases.