Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
Biography/Political History. 277 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
Gideon’s Trumpet is the story of this extraordinary case, from the night of June 3, 1961, when the Bay Harbor Poolroom was robbed, to the moment that Clarence Earl Gideon walked out of the Panama City, Florida, Courthouse a free man, on August 5, 1963.
Gideon’s plea to the United States Supreme Court was deceptively simple: he had been denied a lawyer at the time of his trial for burglary because he could not afford one. To most laymen this would seem to provide grounds for a new trial, but the fact is that until the Supreme Court heard Gideon’s case, an indigent prisoner did not have the right to a lawyer in many state courts.
The case of Gideon v. Wainwright changed all that. The Supreme Court decided to hear Gideon’s plea, and it appointed Abe Fortas, a noted Washington lawyer, to represent him.
On March 18, 1963, the Court announced its historic decision: the Justices unanimously overruled an earlier case and held that henceforth the “due process of law” guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment meant that poverty alone could not deprive a criminal defendant of the right to counsel. For Gideon this meant a new trial, and this time, with the help of a lawyer, he was acquitted.
But Gideon’s Trumpet is far more than the dramatic story of a single case whose reverberations will change the lives of thousands of other prisoners; it is also an inspiring examination and interpretation of the role of the Supreme Court itself. The reader learns much of the history of the Court, of the constitutional and criminal law in the United States, of the philosophies of law of various Justices, of changing historical interpretations of the Bill of Rights and its various amendments, and of the modus operandi of the Court day by day.
Anthony Lewis writes about the complex and momentous issues involved in Gideon v. Wainwright with simplicity, clarity and precision, and his portrait of Gideon and his dogged fight for freedom is as poignant and, in the words of one distinguished reader, “as absorbing as the best fiction.”
My Review:
Okay, so this is a book I’d never in a million years have picked up myself. But a friend from church loaned me his copy and said he thought I’d find it interesting. And he was quite right!
At first, it was a little difficult to get into the book. All my life I have struggled with history, economics, government, politics, etc. I have to work harder to understand conversations that involve legalese and I had a moment of doubt in the first few chapters – wondering if it would be a super dense, thick read that made my brain hurt.
However, after I got into the story part, I began to catch on a little easier. I won’t say I completely 1000% understood everything. And, I thought Lewis actually did a really good job of explaining how the legal process worked as well as the crucial political context needed to best understand Gideon’s story.
It was an informative read, for sure, and I feel thankful to better understand the process of sending a case before the Supreme Court (albeit I still don’t think I could explain it to someone else XD). I really liked the way Lewis handled a topic that can be overwhelming and highly intellectual so that someone like me can still benefit from and understand the point.
Furthermore, the story of how Gideon’s appeal unfolded is rather fascinating. It was neat to see what the states believed, what prior cases impacted the cultural understanding, and how the legal system was challenged to step up and right a moral situation where so many were slipping through the cracks or being tried unfairly. Super interesting bit of (far more recent than I realized) history.
If you’re at all interested in politics, Supreme Court cases, the legal system, etc. or if you simply want to stretch your brain and get outside your reading comfort zone, this may be one to try out!
On GraceBought
If you enjoy this topic/book, you may also enjoy:
Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson
or
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray