Millard Farmer oral history interview, September 28, 2012

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: FarmerM_20120928

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Peter Roberts. Farmer provides his recollections of Margie Hames’ early career and contributions to the broader civil rights movement. He illustrates the support Father Austin Ford provided by enlisting Jean Young for the Team Defense board, having Bill Hames defend Farmer in his suit with Morris Dees, and providing advice in the John Spenkelink defense. He details the behind the scenes activities to stay the execution of Spenkelink. Included are his interactions with Judge Elbert Tuttle and David Kendall. Farmer explains how public opinion is the barrier to abolishing the death penalty. He tells about Charles Black coming to Atlanta to write a Supreme Court brief. He explains the strong work ethic and commitment required to work with Team Defense, and why Team Defense pretended like it was well funded.

Dates

Creation: September 28, 2012

Creator

Farmer, Millard (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Born in 1934, noted death penalty defense attorney Millard C. Farmer, Jr. grew up in Newnan, Georgia. A University of Georgia graduate (1956), he worked in the family business and attended Woodrow Wilson College of Law during the evenings. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1967, built a successful practice in Newnan, and was a co-founder of the Bank of Coweta there. Farmer also represented disadvantaged clients, and came to question whether African American defendants could be tried fairly before all-white juries. By 1970, he and his associates were challenging jury composition on the grounds of race. In 1976, he co-founded the Team Defense Project (TDP) with social psychologist Courtney J. Mullin and Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. TDP was dedicated to the representation of indigent persons in death penalty cases and enjoyed many high-profile successes in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the case of the “Dawson Five” in Dawson, Georgia. Most of Farmer and Team Defense Project’s work was intended to bring attention to the inequities in the way capital punishment is used, and many of TDP’s litigation strategies, such as jury composition challenges and motion filings it developed, have become widely adopted tactics. Farmer and his colleagues taught and lectured on these strategies to numerous legal groups and audiences. An acknowledged expert in capital cases, Farmer has also represented clients bringing racial discrimination suits. He has received numerous honors from legal and civil liberties advocacy organizations. Farmer died in 2020.