Attorney Heather Shaner was so appalled by the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that she cried the entire day; she didn’t expect to be asked to defend rioters who couldn’t afford their own lawyers.

Because in the US everyone has a right to a lawyer, Shaner agreed to defend rioters—if they hadn’t hurt police officers. She knew it was an extremely unpopular job to take on, but it’s not the first time she’s defended unpopular clients. She’s got a system of dealing with them that’s pretty unusual.

She’s giving “her” rioters books and videos and links to the U.S. Constitution and access to free on-line civics courses, encouraging them to learn about history—particularly as it relates to their charges—and to write about what they’ve learned.

“What happens,” she says, “is when you’re watching television on January the 6th, they’re monsters. Then when you get assigned them, potentially they’re human beings. And then as you get to know them and work with them, you see all the mitigating influences.”

Over the decades, she’s done this with client after client. She typically meets with them at their houses, gives them clothes if they need them, babysits their children, and even lets them sleep on her couch if they have nowhere else to go—not exactly the normal behavior for an attorney, especially when the client is an accused murderer or a drug lord. She’s been criticized roundly for years by pundits, fellow attorneys, and the public. Now she’s being called a traitor, a Communist, and a Nazi.

Nonetheless, Shaner is using her process with her new clients, reminding everyone that it’s worked before. “They change themselves, and that’s a voluntary process. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t force anybody. People change, but you can only give them the opportunity to change, and the tools."