Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis

I have always been a reader, and whenever possible, I have tried to read what my children are reading.  It started out with 'The Hungry Caterpillar', progressed to the Harry Potter series and now I am immersed in British Victorian novels and socio-political classics (which it turns out that I am no better at deciphering in my 50's than I was in my 20's) .  So when my eldest son decided to go to law school, my husband and I encouraged him to read some of the recommended classics in the history of law, and pormised that we would read them as well.

My very first book in this project to better prepare myself to be the mother of a lawyer related the history of the Supreme Court case 'Gideon vs. Wainwright', which was decided on March 18, 1963, exactly 50 years ago this week.

While there are many many stories about what is wrong with America, this is a story about what is right.  The book was written in 1964, and delineates the path that Gideon was able to take to actually get his case heard before the Supreme Court and the immediate implications that the decision had.

Gideon was in prison when he brought his case forward.  He had had several previous convictions and spent a percentage of his adult life behind bars.  He was tried on a felony charge in Florida, and he asked for an attorney to represent him--he was refused.  Gideon felt that he did not get a fair trial because he had to defend himself, but the Florida Supreme Court disagreed.  Gideon did not ask for his aquittal nor did he ask to be retried.  His contention was that he was not treated fairly, and a clerk who read all such petitions from those who cannot navigate the Supreme Court system in the ordinary way agreed with him.  But a precedent, from as recently as 1942, disagreed with them--Betts vs. Brady was a case that upheld the right of states to make their own decision about legal representation.  So Gideon's case faced an uphill battle.

The story is very well told here, and is understandable to someone who has little knowledge of how the Supreme Court works.  One high point is that when the attorney for Florida informs other state Attorney Generals that this case is going before the Supreme Court and asks them for an amicus curiae brief in support of states rights in this matter, 23 states respond with an amicus curiae brief in support of Gideon instead.  That warmed my heart. 

The implications of the Gideon case were far reaching--when the court decided that all defendents should have access to an attorney, regardless of their ability to pay, it necessitated the devlopment of the public defender system, which up until that point did not exist, and it required the development of a way to pay for such a system as well.  It didn't solve all the problems with criminal jurisprudence, but it certainly righted one wrong--and not all that long ago.