William Turner Oral History Interview

William Bennett Turner is a distinguished civil rights attorney and First Amendment scholar. Turner earned his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1963 and later received a Fulbright fellowship in comparative law. During the late 1960s and 1970s, he served as an attorney at the Legal Defense Fund, where he represented prisoners whose civil rights were violated, particularly focusing on issues related to censorship and freedom of expression. His experiences in these cases led him to specialize in First Amendment law. In 1977, Turner transitioned to academia, teaching First Amendment law at Harvard Law School. In 1978, he founded a law firm in San Francisco, California, dedicated to “unusual litigation,” handling cases that others could not afford to take. One notable case was KQED v. Vasquez, which challenged the exclusion of cameras from San Quentin prison during executions. He later taught at the University of California, Berkeley for 34 years, influencing generations of students.

Highlighted excerpt:

William Turner discusses the origins and impact of the landmark prisoners' rights case Ruiz v. Estelle

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William Turner Interview transcript

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William Turner interview for the Legal Defense Fund Oral History Project. Interviewed by Gabriel Solís on January 19, 2025 in Berkeley, California. Conducted in collaboration with the Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.