As a young lawyer in Arkansas, one of Clinton’s first legal victories was when she secured a lenient plea deal for a 40-year-old man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. In a bold legal maneuver, Clinton traveled to New York where she persuaded a prominent forensics expert to raise questions about the admissibility of the prosecution’s DNA evidence.
Although Clinton later expressed doubts about her client’s innocence, she managed to plead down the charges and got him off with just a few months in jail.
The Clinton campaign ad highlights her work for the Children’s Defense Fund in South Carolina in the early 1970s, when she helped end policies that allowed incarcerated minors to be held in adult prisons.
"I first met Hillary in the early 1970s when she was here fighting for the rights of children in South Carolina," said one attorney in the video. "She could have gotten a job anywhere out of law school with her credentials, but she has taken the route of public service."