Gideon's Trumpet

Clarence Gideon is the father of the modern Public Defender's Office.

Great book for anyone interested in the right to counsel. A poor old man who submitted his appeals in handwritten form until taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I learned a lot! I recommend watching the movie before reading this. It's a hard read with a lot of legal terms.

required reading for PJ students. Ahh the memories. we even made a song for it.

great background piece on the right to counsel as well as a solid introduction to Supreme Court procedure. The single chapter devoted to the actual Supreme Court hearing was great and did not try to bog down in unecessary detail.

One foundational basis for the axiom that the great rights which are secured for all of us by the Bill of Rights are constantly tested and retested in the courts by the people who live in the bottom of society's barrel.

Before starting law school in the fall, I decided to indulge in a few light reads in order to remind myself of why I'm going. Gideon's Trumpet seemed light and inspiring, if not the ideal precursor to what could be long months of casebook reading.For those of you unfamiliar with Gideon's case, I can't provide an in-depth background. My ConLaw background is too light for that cause, and Anthony...more

Before starting law school in the fall, I decided to indulge in a few light reads in order to remind myself of why I'm going. Gideon's Trumpet seemed light and inspiring, if not the ideal precursor to what could be long months of casebook reading.For those of you unfamiliar with Gideon's case, I can't provide an in-depth background. My ConLaw background is too light for that cause, and Anthony Lewis skirts the complicated precedents of the right-to-counsel, preferring to focus only on one case -- Betts v. Brady. The author writes in an accessible style which aims to lead layman through Gideon's narrative.   hide

so far so good

This was a req. reading for one of my CJ classes, and it's one I refer to people all the time. Perhaps Bush and Cheney would have benefitted from reading this as well. A MUST-READ for all Americans.