# Lessons from a Bank-Robbing Law Professor **URL:** **By** Shon Hopwood, Trevor Burrus, Aaron Ross Powell **Published:** June 16, 2017 --- Shon Hopwood tells about his journey from bank robber to federal prisoner to U.S. Supreme Court practitioner and Georgetown law professor. Shon Hopwood joins us this week to tell about his journey from bank robber to federal prisoner to U.S. Supreme Court practitioner and Georgetown law professor. What's it like in federal prison? How did Hopwood become a jailhouse lawyer? If people do in fact "age out" of criminal activity, then what should our prison system look like? **Show Notes and Further Reading** Hopwood's book is [_Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption_](https://www.amazon.com/Law-Man-Robbing-Winning-Redemption/dp/0307887839/) (2012). Here's the _New York Times_ article by Adam Liptak that Hopwood mentions, "[A Mediocre Criminal, but an Unmatched Jailhouse Lawyer](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/us/09bar.html)."