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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27404.Gideon_s_Trumpet?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Gideon's Trumpet" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223649250m/27404.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27404.Gideon_s_Trumpet?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Gideon's Trumpet</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15374.Anthony_Lewis">Anthony Lewis</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9672460?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars Often, I am discouraged with my profession. The slow-moving machinary of the judiciary is not perfect, but both Gideon and To Kill a Mockingbird remind me why I'm a lawyer. I wish I had read Gideon before starting my clerkship. For one reason, we had an entire right to counsel issue that I would have understood better after this book. Additionally, it discusses the role of a law clerk and how the judicial system works. Dude, this is more helpful than my staff attorney manual! 
 But most of all, I love this book because it inspired me. The author discussed how unlike the legislature that makes rules based on wide populations, the judicial system is about one person, case by case. The assertion by one man that the constitution requires counsel for all, not just those who can afford it, instituted a sweeping change in criminal procedure, federalism, and state's rights. It takes Florida continously fucking things up for the Supreme's to fix the impractical application of Betts v. Brady.
 
 Things that I'm still working through: bond issues. We deprive people of their freedom when arrested on suspicion of a crime because we want to ensure they will stand trial and to protect the community from dangerous elements. How does this factor in awarding bail? If someone can afford it, they are released from prison. Gideon talks about a study where indigent prisoners released without bail showed up to court in the same percentages as defendants who were released on bail. Clearly, the use of bail doesn't guarantee a person won't abscond or commit new law violations. This is something I need to work through . . . including judges denying bail on all VOPs. 
 
 I want to write books like this one day. 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/647315?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

kimberly's review
rating:

bookshelves: law-books
recommended for: lawyers, those fascinated by justice and the mysterious supreme court
status: Read in November, 2007

Often, I am discouraged with my profession. The slow-moving machinary of the judiciary is not perfect, but both Gideon and To Kill a Mockingbird remind me why I'm a lawyer. I wish I had read Gideon before starting my clerkship. For one reason, we had an entire right to counsel issue that I would have understood better after this book. Additionally, it discusses the role of a law clerk and how the judicial system works. Dude, this is more helpful than my staff attorney manual!
But most of all, I love this book because it inspired me. The author discussed how unlike the legislature that makes rules based on wide populations, the judicial system is about one person, case by case. The assertion by one man that the constitution requires counsel for all, not just those who can afford it, instituted a sweeping change in criminal procedure, federalism, and state's rights. It takes Florida continously fucking things up for the Supreme's to fix the impractical application of Betts v. Brad...more

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