Experts on gun control and controversial federal monetary policies will discuss this week's developments April 19 on MTL Washington Update, the weekly public affairs radio show I co-host at noon (EDT).

Legal reformer, Chicago public defender and law professor Jeanne Bishop, at right, will describe her opposition to gun proliferation, the death penalty, and excessive sentences.

Then Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, an author, will amplify his column this week, The Attack on Gold. Roberts, at left, argues that President Obama's team is driving down the price of gold for political reasons dangerous to the economy and savers.

Roberts, author of a new book predicting frightening and unnecessary economic changes ahead for the nation, served as assistant Treasury Secretary during the Reagan Administration, and later worked as associate editor of the Wall Street Journal.

Join us and my co-host Scott Draughon at noon (EDT) for our one-hour weekly public affairs show broadcast live nationally on the My Technology Lawyer network. Click here to listen to the broadcast, available later on archive. For questions or comments on any of the shows, call in toll free (866-685-7469 ) or send an email to [email protected].

We begin the show with a news round-up, including commentaries on the latest developments in Washington and the manhunt for the remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. Authorities reported killing one suspect, with his brother escaping on foot.

Our show guests Bishop and Roberts each brings to their advocacy work impressive establishment credentials as well as unusual experiences.

Bishop, for example, argues on a Christian basis for what are generally regarded as progressive reform ideas in the criminal justice system. Bishop's appearance on the show is especially timely, given the Senate's failure this week to pass expanded requirements for background checks for gun sales. Her experience includes the intense aftermath of the murder of her sister and brother-in-law two decades ago. The case became one of Chicago's leading murder mysteries in many years during the six months until authorities identified the killer, a thrill-killer living in Winnetka, one of the region's highest-income suburbs. Authorities leaked erroneous information and theories to the media for months on false trails.

During the investigation, Bishop resigned her job at one the nation's leading law firms to pursue a career in Cook County's public defender office. Her lifelong commitment to justice and her religious faith have inspired her throughout to continue her advocacy, often on behalf of impoverished clients in Chicago accused of serious crime. She retains a full caseload as a public defender, while undertaking such other tasks as teaching as an adjunct law professor at Northwestern University, and the serving as the treasurer of the non-profit group Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights.

Roberts also crosses traditional political divisions in his policy advocacy. As a scholar affiliated with conservative institutions and policies for much of his career, he has emerged as a harsh critic of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations on a range of issues, including economics, human rights, due process, and foreign affairs.