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Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People s Justice
The Washington Post reporter delivers a groundbreaking investigation into the nation’s crisis of indigent defense―“a hugely important book” ( New York Law Journal ).
A Nieman Report’s Top Ten Investigative Journalism Books of 2013
First published to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright , which guaranteed all criminal defendants the right to legal counsel, Chasing Gideon offers a personal journey through our systemic failure to fulfill this basic constitutional right. Written in the tradition of Anthony Lewis’s landmark work Gideon’s Trumpet , it focuses on the stories of four defendants in four states―Washington, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia―that are emblematic of nationwide problems. Revealing and disturbing, it is “a book of nightmares” because it shows that the “‘justice system’ that too often produces the exact opposite of what its name suggests, particularly for its most vulnerable constituents” ( The Miami Herald ).
Following its publication, Chasing Gideon became an integral part of a growing national conversation about how to reform indigent defense in America and inspired an HBO documentary as well as the resource website GideonAt50.org.
“ Chasing Gideon is a wonderful book, its human stories gripping, its insight into how our law is made profound.” ―Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon’s Trumpet
A Nieman Report’s Top Ten Investigative Journalism Books of 2013
First published to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright , which guaranteed all criminal defendants the right to legal counsel, Chasing Gideon offers a personal journey through our systemic failure to fulfill this basic constitutional right. Written in the tradition of Anthony Lewis’s landmark work Gideon’s Trumpet , it focuses on the stories of four defendants in four states―Washington, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia―that are emblematic of nationwide problems. Revealing and disturbing, it is “a book of nightmares” because it shows that the “‘justice system’ that too often produces the exact opposite of what its name suggests, particularly for its most vulnerable constituents” ( The Miami Herald ).
Following its publication, Chasing Gideon became an integral part of a growing national conversation about how to reform indigent defense in America and inspired an HBO documentary as well as the resource website GideonAt50.org.
“ Chasing Gideon is a wonderful book, its human stories gripping, its insight into how our law is made profound.” ―Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon’s Trumpet
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
October 19, 2015
I picked this book up a wee bit narcissistically. A case I worked on, State v. A.N.J. is prominently featured. In that case, a 12 year old boy pled guilty to sexual molestation after playing a game of “Icky-Poke U” with a young girl. He pled guilty on advice of counsel, the appointed public defender who had accepted a flat fee to represent just about anyone Grant County sent his way, meaning the faster he dealt with each case, the better his hourly rate was. He pled not meaningfully understanding what he was pleading too or what the consequences would be. My old boss blogged about it. http://tomchambers.com/chasing-justice/. My court allowed him to withdraw his plea, which required a pretty searching look into the equities of the case and the state of the law.
Grant County was a bad place to be charged with a crime, at least back then, and at least when you couldn’t afford private defense counsel. To save money, Grant County had no public defender; it bid out contracts to attorneys, many of which were phoning it in. Many of those attorneys have since been disbarred. I staffed some of those cases. I thought it was an aberration.
It worked out for A.N.J. He got good lawyers, Garth Dano, George Ahrend, and John Strait, who did good. There are lots of good lawyers out there eager to hold the State to it’s proof; to make it justify the use of force over an individual; and to do it for paltry wages.
But the courtroom is no place for lone wolves. Public defenders are among my favorite people. But systemic underfunding of the system means that many people don’t get an adequate defense before the full force of the State comes down upon them. This is a book about how the promise of Gideon has not been met in oh so many places. Including my own. I have guilt about my complicity in, and profit from, this system.
(And pride that I know many awesome public defenders and ethical prosecutors, judges, and legislators, including a former extern who stepped up after Katrina).
It also suggests that Gideon’s habeas was ghost written by an attorney, Joseph A. Peel, Jr., who was in prison with him. If so, it adds a certain texture to the story. Gideon wasn’t Henry Fonda. He was a man who was lucky in his cellmates.
From systemic underfunding to the subtle ways juries are made lily white, this book is a gentle but devastating critique of our justice system for the poor. A hard book to read. Definitely worth the time.
Grant County was a bad place to be charged with a crime, at least back then, and at least when you couldn’t afford private defense counsel. To save money, Grant County had no public defender; it bid out contracts to attorneys, many of which were phoning it in. Many of those attorneys have since been disbarred. I staffed some of those cases. I thought it was an aberration.
It worked out for A.N.J. He got good lawyers, Garth Dano, George Ahrend, and John Strait, who did good. There are lots of good lawyers out there eager to hold the State to it’s proof; to make it justify the use of force over an individual; and to do it for paltry wages.
But the courtroom is no place for lone wolves. Public defenders are among my favorite people. But systemic underfunding of the system means that many people don’t get an adequate defense before the full force of the State comes down upon them. This is a book about how the promise of Gideon has not been met in oh so many places. Including my own. I have guilt about my complicity in, and profit from, this system.
(And pride that I know many awesome public defenders and ethical prosecutors, judges, and legislators, including a former extern who stepped up after Katrina).
It also suggests that Gideon’s habeas was ghost written by an attorney, Joseph A. Peel, Jr., who was in prison with him. If so, it adds a certain texture to the story. Gideon wasn’t Henry Fonda. He was a man who was lucky in his cellmates.
From systemic underfunding to the subtle ways juries are made lily white, this book is a gentle but devastating critique of our justice system for the poor. A hard book to read. Definitely worth the time.
November 17, 2017
Hooboy. This was a chilling read on the state of indigent defense in the U.S. fifty years after Gideon v. Wainwright. Clearly written for even a clueless layperson, Houppert does a deep dive on a handful of cases and the circumstances that created the systems around them (including a look at New Orleans before/after Katrina), and highlights how corruption and changes in criminal law since Gideon have undermined the promise of rigorous defense for the poor. Houppert offers no easy solutions to the grievous situations she presents; rather, her purpose is awareness and empathy. I'll be thinking about this for a long while yet, for sure.
Would highly recommend. It's not going to be fun or easy to read like a nice fantasy, but nothing important ever is.
Would highly recommend. It's not going to be fun or easy to read like a nice fantasy, but nothing important ever is.
March 1, 2023
In America’s first 150 years, one did not have the right to an attorney in state criminal court. The case Gideon vs Wainwright changed that. And as quick as Gideon became law, Anthony Father-of-Legal-Journalism Lewis penned Gideon’s Trumpet. Lewis wrote optimistically and prospectively of a brave new world. Karen Houppert’s book, Chasing Gideon, takes the opposite perspective.
Although in the introduction, Houppert says that her book “raises questions about how we as a nation will choose to define justice,” if it does, it does so very subtly. Instead, I believe this book will provide a time capsule of early 21st century rights in the criminal legal system.
Gideon’s promise did not occur in a vacuum. [Be happy that I deleted the paragraph about the incorporation of the Bill of Rights to the states. You wouldn’t believe how boring it was]. The enforcement of the right to counsel didn’t occur in a vacuum either.
In the wake of Gideon’s promulgation leading to the publishing of this book there was the Civil Rights Act, The War on Drugs, the entrenchment of Neoliberalism, 9/11, and of course this list would be incomplete without Law and Order (TV).
However, instead of picking a factor that has influenced the right to counsel, Houppert tells 4 stories. 3 of the stories are criminal trials that take place in the early 21st Century. [The other is a shorter, yet more substantive, more complete, and most of all, better written, recounting of Gideon’s Trumpet]
Why these three stories? Unfortunately, that is the inescapable question that remains after finishing this book.
—
In the first chapter, a PD tells a judge that if she is forced to do her 6th consecutive trial, she will be ineffective assistance of counsel. Her employer initially has her back, but later fires her. The story ends with the former-PD running a blog about starting a PD revolution and writing semi-autobiographical novelization of this chapter. (I couldn’t find the blog or novel).
[The second chapter is the better version of Gideon’s Trumpet]
The third chapter shows how Hurricane Katrina took Louisiana from the worst place to be charged of a crime… to the worst place to be charged of a crime. Don’t go to Louisiana. But if you do; don’t be black or poor.
And, before the events of the final chapter take place, no one had been denied the death penalty in Georgia on account of being severely mentally handicap. (Unfortunately, the legal term is the r-word). And by the end of the chapter… the only change is the lead defender’s career change to bartending.
—
This book won’t change anyone’s minds on what is the floor for effective assistance of counsel. So, why these three cases?
My guess is that Karen Houppert thought 50 years after Gideon, we were at rock bottom. But the history of Gideon’s promise didn’t end in 2013. When Houppert published the book, Donald Trump hadn’t even declared his 2016 presidential campaign, not to mention install 3 justices on the supreme court.
Just yesterday, I saw a video from Reuters on Twitter about a so-called mega prison in El Salvador. More tragic than the preceding suspension of constitutional rights to fill the prison were the countless 🇺🇸-appended account names applauding.
Houppert may have thought she was showing us rock bottom, but the early 21st Century may, ironically, have been the golden years for due process in the criminal legal system.
Although in the introduction, Houppert says that her book “raises questions about how we as a nation will choose to define justice,” if it does, it does so very subtly. Instead, I believe this book will provide a time capsule of early 21st century rights in the criminal legal system.
Gideon’s promise did not occur in a vacuum. [Be happy that I deleted the paragraph about the incorporation of the Bill of Rights to the states. You wouldn’t believe how boring it was]. The enforcement of the right to counsel didn’t occur in a vacuum either.
In the wake of Gideon’s promulgation leading to the publishing of this book there was the Civil Rights Act, The War on Drugs, the entrenchment of Neoliberalism, 9/11, and of course this list would be incomplete without Law and Order (TV).
However, instead of picking a factor that has influenced the right to counsel, Houppert tells 4 stories. 3 of the stories are criminal trials that take place in the early 21st Century. [The other is a shorter, yet more substantive, more complete, and most of all, better written, recounting of Gideon’s Trumpet]
Why these three stories? Unfortunately, that is the inescapable question that remains after finishing this book.
—
In the first chapter, a PD tells a judge that if she is forced to do her 6th consecutive trial, she will be ineffective assistance of counsel. Her employer initially has her back, but later fires her. The story ends with the former-PD running a blog about starting a PD revolution and writing semi-autobiographical novelization of this chapter. (I couldn’t find the blog or novel).
[The second chapter is the better version of Gideon’s Trumpet]
The third chapter shows how Hurricane Katrina took Louisiana from the worst place to be charged of a crime… to the worst place to be charged of a crime. Don’t go to Louisiana. But if you do; don’t be black or poor.
And, before the events of the final chapter take place, no one had been denied the death penalty in Georgia on account of being severely mentally handicap. (Unfortunately, the legal term is the r-word). And by the end of the chapter… the only change is the lead defender’s career change to bartending.
—
This book won’t change anyone’s minds on what is the floor for effective assistance of counsel. So, why these three cases?
My guess is that Karen Houppert thought 50 years after Gideon, we were at rock bottom. But the history of Gideon’s promise didn’t end in 2013. When Houppert published the book, Donald Trump hadn’t even declared his 2016 presidential campaign, not to mention install 3 justices on the supreme court.
Just yesterday, I saw a video from Reuters on Twitter about a so-called mega prison in El Salvador. More tragic than the preceding suspension of constitutional rights to fill the prison were the countless 🇺🇸-appended account names applauding.
Houppert may have thought she was showing us rock bottom, but the early 21st Century may, ironically, have been the golden years for due process in the criminal legal system.
March 24, 2015
2013 was the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainright, which determined that attorney representation in criminal cases is a Constitutional right. (For details, see my review of Gideon's Trumpet.) This book examines how the country has been delivering on that decision for these fifty years, and unfortunately, the answer is: very poorly. Following a few specific cases of terrible miscarriages of justice, Karen Houppert paints a human picture of indigent defendants and their attorneys. Public defenders are so overworked and underfunded that they cannot possibly represent their clients adequately, and when appeals get filed on those grounds, it ends up costing the justice system even more. It’s a terrible catch-22 because there is hardly any political will to fund indigent defense in the first place. But failure to do so is a danger to safety and democracy.
In spite of all that, the book is still a call to action. Anyone interested in a career in law should definitely read it, and really, its message is relevant to all Americans. I, for one, will be checking out the book’s website to see what I can do next. And I hope that by publicizing the book with this review, I’ve also made one small step toward public justice.
In spite of all that, the book is still a call to action. Anyone interested in a career in law should definitely read it, and really, its message is relevant to all Americans. I, for one, will be checking out the book’s website to see what I can do next. And I hope that by publicizing the book with this review, I’ve also made one small step toward public justice.
May 30, 2013
2013 is the 50th Anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon which, along with its progeny, requires that every criminal defendant who faces the possibility of jail must be given an effective lawyer at EVERY step of the process, from bail, through the first appeal. However, in most states today, that Supreme Court order is honored mostly in the breach. Public defenders are vastly over worked, under compensated, and given almost no support.
Houppert sets out to examine the current state of criminal defense first be revisiting Gideon itself, and the back story behind the case (it turns out Gideon probably had the helped a lawyer when filing his handwritten pro se petition to the Supreme Court). She then goes on to examine individual cases in Washington State, Louisiana, and Georgia, to see how the right to counsel plays out in the trial courts of each state. She demonstrates both how important a lawyer is and how overburdened those lawyers are.
The cases represent a good cross section: a vehicular manslaughter, a trespassing/burglary case, and two murders--one a wrongful conviction, the other a mentally retarded man facing the death penalty.
Superb storytelling--masterfully interweaving facts and figures into these case studies to present a damning picture of criminal defense today.
Houppert sets out to examine the current state of criminal defense first be revisiting Gideon itself, and the back story behind the case (it turns out Gideon probably had the helped a lawyer when filing his handwritten pro se petition to the Supreme Court). She then goes on to examine individual cases in Washington State, Louisiana, and Georgia, to see how the right to counsel plays out in the trial courts of each state. She demonstrates both how important a lawyer is and how overburdened those lawyers are.
The cases represent a good cross section: a vehicular manslaughter, a trespassing/burglary case, and two murders--one a wrongful conviction, the other a mentally retarded man facing the death penalty.
Superb storytelling--masterfully interweaving facts and figures into these case studies to present a damning picture of criminal defense today.
June 29, 2013
This book is about the haves and the have nots when it comes to criminal defense in the USA. She tells the stories of overworked, underfunded public defenders and their clients, who miss out on their constitutional right to effective counsel. She assesses the lack of progress in the 50 years since the Supreme Court ruled in Gideon, but does not offer a solution. It's clear again (similar to my reaction to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander) that the failure of the War on Drugs contributes heavily to this problem by flooding the public defenders with small-time crimes. So often jail time is the answer when diversion, rehab, or school is the better solution. I started thinking about formulae related to police expenditure and prosecution (i.e. you have to spend X on public defense if you're spending Y on police and the prosecutor's office.) I recommend it to peeps who seek a more just society, but after reading it there's homework to find out what's happening in your own community.
September 8, 2014
Public defense is not currently funded on equal levels with prosecution- that creates huge problems. When the convicted of a defendant is challenged on the basis of inadequate representation, the very legitimacy of the conviction itself is call into question. The criminal justice system in New Orleans- indeed, the nation- seems similarly poised between plot twist, an ending that could go either way.
August 28, 2014
Really, really important topic. The book provides a lot of information about the indigent defense system in this country by giving real, personal examples. If you think you could never be accused of--and convicted of--a crime you didn't commit, think again. I can't say I enjoyed this book, but it did really like reading it, and I learned a lot.
October 1, 2014
I had to read this book for my English class. I am so glad I did, I knew absolutely nothing about Gideon's case and how it affects Public Defenders today, It is an amazing book showing us our ¨justice¨ system and it's flaws. I am still astounded by funding and the real side to a Public attorney's profession, as well as a few cases. I definitely recommend this book!
May 13, 2019
I am going to rate this, as far as I can tell, as an interesting look at the legal world written for a layman's audience, particularly drawing through the title.
It tracks the history of how somebody could plead his or her case before the court without any money.
The reason why I don't know for sure whether it's for a layman or not is that I don't think I myself count.
So maybe it is and maybe it is not, and I honestly couldn't tell you.
I think the data in this book is pretty good. I particularly like the American Bar Association's Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System explained in the back.
So if you want to read it, have at it!
It tracks the history of how somebody could plead his or her case before the court without any money.
The reason why I don't know for sure whether it's for a layman or not is that I don't think I myself count.
So maybe it is and maybe it is not, and I honestly couldn't tell you.
I think the data in this book is pretty good. I particularly like the American Bar Association's Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System explained in the back.
So if you want to read it, have at it!
January 2, 2022
just so infuriating and tragic. it’s really interesting how piece meal the indigent defense system is, with counties outsourcing to private attorneys who already have full case loads and incentive to work on paying clients rather than those in public defense. much of this is appalling but especially so was a habeas violation example in post-Katrina NOLA, in which a man was charged, held and quite literally lost in the system for over a year without defense or trial date. very depressing read.
March 25, 2021
This is the best book I've read in a long time. Journalism at its best. It's a series of heartbreaking, thought provoking, infuriating stories that have stoked the smoldering embers of justice into a raging blaze in my chest. I hope a tenth anniversary edition is forthecoming.
July 15, 2019
The state of indigent defense in the U.S. is cripplingly depressing.
Read
June 4, 2022read if you care about liberty
Excellent book explains in very readable terms the crisis we have with non access to attorneys in criminal cases. Our Constitution is routinely violated and threatens democracy.
Excellent book explains in very readable terms the crisis we have with non access to attorneys in criminal cases. Our Constitution is routinely violated and threatens democracy.
July 5, 2013
An eye-opening and largely depressing look at the state of legal counsel for indigent criminal defendants in the roughly 50 years since the Supreme Court case that established the right to have an attorney--Gideon v. Wainwright. Some of what's presented is what you'd expect--public defenders lack resources, are overscheduled, and often struggle to properly prepare for trials, and jury selection is rigged away from being a true "jury of peers" for African American defendants. But seeing it all presented with a human face and real cases just sends the message so effectively.
Of the two case studies, two are grimmer. One, which takes place in New Orleans, which details just how messed up Louisiana jurisprudence is (the guy served nearly 30 years for a crime he didn't commit because his lawyer basically never challenged any assertions by the prosecution, the cops withheld necessary documents, and icky things like prosecutors who turned judges then denying appeals. And while things have improved, budget cuts still result in poorer people spending months in jail while they wait for counsel.
The other one in Georgia presents an interesting picture of how hard it can be to not just defend the innocent, but also protect the guilty from the death penalty, as it details the trial of a man with some degree of mental disabilities.
Perhaps the scariest thing is an afterword that details more recent Supreme Court cases, which established rights you'd think would have been inherent in Gideon--such as the right to counsel at a plea deal. Given this and all the troubles with budget and effective counsel, plus new mandatory minimums, it's pretty clear that getting true and fair justice for lower-income defendants is largely a joke.
Of the two case studies, two are grimmer. One, which takes place in New Orleans, which details just how messed up Louisiana jurisprudence is (the guy served nearly 30 years for a crime he didn't commit because his lawyer basically never challenged any assertions by the prosecution, the cops withheld necessary documents, and icky things like prosecutors who turned judges then denying appeals. And while things have improved, budget cuts still result in poorer people spending months in jail while they wait for counsel.
The other one in Georgia presents an interesting picture of how hard it can be to not just defend the innocent, but also protect the guilty from the death penalty, as it details the trial of a man with some degree of mental disabilities.
Perhaps the scariest thing is an afterword that details more recent Supreme Court cases, which established rights you'd think would have been inherent in Gideon--such as the right to counsel at a plea deal. Given this and all the troubles with budget and effective counsel, plus new mandatory minimums, it's pretty clear that getting true and fair justice for lower-income defendants is largely a joke.
April 28, 2013
I'd love it if everyone would read this book about the state of indigent defense in the U.S., but I know few will read it for the same reason it needs to be read: very few people care. Lucky for all of us, most public defenders DO care, as this book makes clear. And while I wish the book was a little more punchy and had been edited a bit better to reduce some of the repetitive bits about Gideon, one thing this book makes very clear is that public defenders, by and large, work their asses off and care deeply about their clients and about justice. It's worth reading for that alone.
But it's also worth reading for the reminder of why this matters, for the history of how things came to be the way they are today, and for the powerful stories of specific cases within each chapter. No matter how much you think you know about tips subject, you're going to learn something from this book. For example, did you know that Clarence Earl Gideon had a cellmate in prison who was an attorney and who very likely drafted (or dictated) Gideon's fabled appeal to the SCOTUS? I had no idea, but I love the story because it shows just how important counsel is in a criminal case. If Gideon hadn't had counsel to help him complain about the fact that he didn't have counsel, no one would have counsel today!
The history is good, but better still are the contemporary stories that show how our criminal justice system works for poor people today...
But it's also worth reading for the reminder of why this matters, for the history of how things came to be the way they are today, and for the powerful stories of specific cases within each chapter. No matter how much you think you know about tips subject, you're going to learn something from this book. For example, did you know that Clarence Earl Gideon had a cellmate in prison who was an attorney and who very likely drafted (or dictated) Gideon's fabled appeal to the SCOTUS? I had no idea, but I love the story because it shows just how important counsel is in a criminal case. If Gideon hadn't had counsel to help him complain about the fact that he didn't have counsel, no one would have counsel today!
The history is good, but better still are the contemporary stories that show how our criminal justice system works for poor people today...
February 8, 2017
A rather weak book that approaches a very complex issue with a simple lens. This book is rife with false analogies, mistaking correlation with causation, perpetuation of myths and all around unsound logic. Furthermore, the book brings issues to the forefront without ever really addressing solutions for these issues. It would be like me going to a doctor and the doctor telling me I have a broken arm, and then walking out of the room. I am left none the better in my situation. Similarly, the book adds nothing new to the dialog.
I would have given the book a 1 star but it does have some redeeming qualities in that it shines a biased light on some individuals who were treated rather rashly and in some cases were deprived of constitutional liberties.
I would have given the book a 1 star but it does have some redeeming qualities in that it shines a biased light on some individuals who were treated rather rashly and in some cases were deprived of constitutional liberties.
November 19, 2016
very important issue [adequacy of representation for poor people given crushing workloads for public defenders] and some interesting history esp. the Gideon case that got Supreme Court to codify the right to counsel even if you can't afford one.
not her fault really, but the book was longer than my interest in the details. By coincidence, I happened to see a short newspaper article on this same general issue [not the history or the jurisprudence, but the current problem] while I was reading this book, and it was perfect -- summed up the problem without walking me thru one after another example of how justice is ill-served when the have-not's can't get a lawyer who has the time to mount a thorough defense.
In sum, 4 or 5 star book if you think you'd like going over case examples in detail, 3 if you care about the issue but not the examples as much.
not her fault really, but the book was longer than my interest in the details. By coincidence, I happened to see a short newspaper article on this same general issue [not the history or the jurisprudence, but the current problem] while I was reading this book, and it was perfect -- summed up the problem without walking me thru one after another example of how justice is ill-served when the have-not's can't get a lawyer who has the time to mount a thorough defense.
In sum, 4 or 5 star book if you think you'd like going over case examples in detail, 3 if you care about the issue but not the examples as much.
June 12, 2016
A wonderful book! It is a tough read through parts but she does a great job explaining how the current system works and where it is lacking. The personal stories she mixes in to illustrate a point really drive it home. After reading it makes me want to get involved all over again. If you have a small interest in this area I highly recommend reading this book.
Merged review:
A wonderful book! It is a tough read through parts but she does a great job explaining how the current system works and where it is lacking. The personal stories she mixes in to illustrate a point really drive it home. After reading it makes me want to get involved all over again. If you have a small interest in this area I highly recommend reading this book.
Merged review:
A wonderful book! It is a tough read through parts but she does a great job explaining how the current system works and where it is lacking. The personal stories she mixes in to illustrate a point really drive it home. After reading it makes me want to get involved all over again. If you have a small interest in this area I highly recommend reading this book.
June 2, 2013
Fifty years ago in Gideon vs. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that defendants in criminal cases have to be provided with a lawyer if they can't afford one. Houppert looks at cases from Washington state, Florida (where Gideon was originally tried), Georgia and Louisiana to show that in practice the right to attorney can mean waiting months for one to become available, getting horrendously incompetent counsel or dealing with someone who has three dozen other cases to work on at the same time. Houppert blames a lot of this on the war on drugs leading to so many more people getting arrest, though corruption and greed play a factor too. Nothing terribly new to me, but reading the details is certainly sobering
June 12, 2016
Justice Hugo Black said, "There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has." This whole book documents how the equal justice desired after the Gideon v. Wainwright is still elusive. This book is fairly depressing but really eye-opening. I plan on using the information in my Legal Literature class - hopefully I can help the students better understand the dilemma and problems facing the system as a whole but particularly public defenders. And if I ever hear the question, "how can you defend someone who is guilty?" I'm going to throw this book in their face.
May 30, 2013
A definite must-read for 2013 for anyone interested in social justice--and everyone should be. Houppert looks at cases in Washington, Florida, Louisiana (specifically, New Orleans), and Georgia, effectively proving that the scales of justice are weighted against the poor and raising serious questions about the validity of certain beliefs most of us like to have about our country. The book's also written in a blend of clear legal analysis and history and moving, often angering, personal stories.
March 29, 2015
Really powerful story of how the public defender system fails the people it is intended to help in Washington, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia. Although in some instances thinks worked out in the end the lack of money and resources needed to help defendants, the stacking of the system against them, and the strain put on the PD's trying to make the system work are overwhelming. The book really does not make any attempt to offer solutions. The conclusion is the quote from Attorney General Eric Holder, "What can be done?"
July 7, 2013
This book is one I'm really glad I read. Though truthfully I don't spend much time thinking about effective counsel for the indigent, it's an extremely important issue. Man, is this a fucked up part of American life. Not only are there not enough resources to provide effective legal counsel to all of America's accused, but places like New Orleans also hold people for a long time before ever giving them access to a lawyer. This book is heartbreaking and makes you lose faith in America.
October 10, 2013
Almost no one harbors the delusion that the American justice system treats everyone equally, but few understand just how badly the deck is stacked against the poorest and most disadvantaged individuals that have been charged with a crime. You should read this book before the next federal, state, and local election. Then, when you see campaign ads declaring that a judge, DA, etc. is "soft on crime", think about the case studies in this book.
January 14, 2013
Truly excellent.
August 6, 2014
Here is the link to my DigBoston.com review of Chasing Gideon:
http://digboston.com/boston-news-opin...
http://digboston.com/boston-news-opin...
May 29, 2013
A good book on the failing of financial support for public defenders. 4 Cases, one in Washington State, Georgia, New Orleans and Florida.
August 21, 2013
Very-well written, this book addresses a critical and widespread problem in our society: the poor state of indigent criminal defense.
Want to read
July 26, 2013Had to return this to the library...not doing so well with nonfiction suddenly.
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