When Laws Collide: A Doctor, a Child, and a Case That Isn’t So Simple with Author Richard Kammen
Online For Authors PodcastShow Notes
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Richard Kammen, author of the book Tortured Justice Alabama. During his fifty-year practice, Richard (Rick) Kammen was one of Indiana’s top criminal defense lawyers and a nationally recognized expert in defending homicide and capital cases. He also defended numerous white-collar and complex cases involving alleged obscenity and healthcare issues.
Rick graduated from Ripon College cum laude in 1968 and New York University School of Law in 1971. Admitted to the Bar in 1971, he began his practice after service in the United States Army. Now semi-retired, Mr. Kammen still speaks to groups of lawyers and consults with lawyers throughout the United States.
When he retired, Rick began writing fiction. His first novel, Tortured Justice Guantanamo Bay, inspired by his work in Guantanamo, was published in the spring of 2023. His second novel, Tortured Justice South Carolina, set in the Low Country of South Carolina and Mexico, was published in 2024. Rick’s most recent book, Tortured Justice Alabama, which fictionally describes the prosecution of a physician for performing a legal abortion, was published in March 2025.
Rick now lives and writes in Hilton Head and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
In my book review, I stated Tortured Justice Alabama is a political thriller by Richard Kammen - and this is a book that will get you thinking about what you believe and why. Richard immediately introduces us to the main characters - a 12-year old girl, raped and impregnated by her cousin, her mother who only wants the best for her daughter, a local doctor who isn't allowed to perform an abortion because of state laws, and an out-of-state doctor who lives in a state with legal abortion. When the mother crosses states lines so her daughter can terminate the pregnancy, everything changes swiftly, and we are introduced to the attorney who takes on the case!
Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, I think you will find this story riveting. Why? Because few social issues - or the laws that regulate them - are as cut and dried as they seem. What actually constitutes the health and well-being of the mother - and who gets to decide? Should mental health be a consideration? Or age? Or rape? Or incest? Does someone of 12 have the ability to make these choices? Should a parent be able to decide for a minor? What if the parents don't agree? Can a doctor in a state allowing abortion be tried for performing one on someone from another state that doesn't allow abortion? When does the law supersede the doctor/patient relationship? And so much more!
This is a really well-written book that will make you think. I highly recommend it.
Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1
You can follow Author Richard Kammen Website: https://richardkammen.com/ FB: @authorrichardkammen FB: @RichardLKammen IG: @kammenlaw LinkedIn: @Richard Kammen X: @kammenlaw
Purchase Tortured Justice Alabama on Amazon: Paperback: https://amzn.to/4bMl2Ml Ebook: https://amzn.to/4lOUNJS
Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1
Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors
#richardkammen #torturedjusticealabama #politicalthriller #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
More from Online For Authors Podcast
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Lizette S Tupas, author of the book Always on a Tuesday. Lizzete S. Tupas is an author and healthcare strategist whose work explores identity, resilience, and the hidden cost of competence. With more than two decades of experience in healthcare, she brings a unique perspective to the ways high-performing people navigate expectation, control, and the often-invisible work of holding everything together.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is RA Consell, author of the book Stealing from Wizards: Arson. Ryan Consell is the author of the middlegrade fantasy series, Stealing from Wizards. Aside from writing, Ryan Consell is a teacher of science and mathematics, stage actor, armorer, and nerd culture activist. His work has been featured on io9, Kotaku, Boingboing, MTV Geek, ,adartlab.com and in Game Developer Magazine. He is an internationally acclaimed theorist on the science of fiction. He has consulted on such titles as The Science of Game ofThrones; spoken at events including DragonCon and Convergence, and partnered with the American Chemical Society. He employs his background in materials science and engineering to overthink fictional physics and to make science more accessible to the public. Ryan was born and raised near Toronto. He has lived and worked in Tokyo and Vancouver, but currently calls Ontario home.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Del Howison, author of the book The Survival of Margaret Thomas. Del Howison is an author, journalist, and SAG actor. He is a Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of the anthology series Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s Greatest Horror Writers. He has written articles for Fear.net, Gauntlet Magazine, and Writers Digest among others. Del’s short story Cul-de-Sac appeared in Weird Tales Magazine #369. His western short story The Lost Herd was turned into the premiere (and highest rated) episode, The Sacrifice, for the series Fear Itself. His dark western novel The Survival of Margaret Thomas was shortlisted for the Peacemaker Award given out by The Western Fictioneers. He has been shortlisted for over half a dozen awards including the Shirley Jackson Award and the Black Quill. Del’s retrospective short story compilation of dark tales, What Fresh Hell Is This?, was released in March of 2025 and listed by Australia’s Aurelias Magazine as one of the best books of the year. He was the cofounder and owner (with his wife, Sue) of Dark Delicacies, a book and gift store known as “The Home of Horror,” located in Burbank, California. For that 31-year effort they were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Horror Writer’s Association. The store won the “Il Posto Nero” award from Italy and has been inducted into the Rondo Hatton Hall of Fame.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Theresa E Evans, author of the book Choosing to Die. Theresa Evans nursing career spanned fifteen years with a focus in Critical Care. She opened Stone Path Studio in 2007 where she taught therapeutic yoga and somatic movement. In 2014 she joined forces with Essential Somatics, LLC and began a 5 year journey of domestic and international travel teaching and developing program content for Clinical Somatic Trainings. In 2020 her mother died with MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying.) Choosing to Die is her first novel and was born out of the experience of supporting her mother through that process. Currently she lives in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin with her husband Pete. Her focus now is on advocating for choice through Assisted Death.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Lynne Marshall, author of the book The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody and Cynthia Peabody's Big Fat Fake Funeral. USA Today Bestselling author Lynne Marshall has penned thirty-seven books. She has written Medical Romance for Mills & Boon, contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition and digitally with TULE. Publishing independently, she writes Women's Fiction where she explores the mysteries of life through endearing characters in unexplainable situations. Or, as she likes to call it, fiction for women of a certain age plus everyone who loves their nana.