Every year, 15,000 public defenders take on more than 5 million new cases. If ever there was an occupation that was undervalued yet so sorely needed, theirs is it. This stirring documentary from former lawyer Dawn Porter focuses on Gideon’s Promise, an organization that mentors young public defenders. One of them, Travis Williams, takes on a staggering 120 cases in his first year, including defense of a young man facing a life sentence for a $96 robbery. In the American legal system, the poor apparently still have to play by a different set of rules. Monday, July 1, at 9 p.m., HBO
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