BOOK REVIEW
Introduction
There has been many scientific and analytical books and articles written about the issue of case studies. First, it is significant to analyze every interesting case, because they may become backgrounds for new laws. However, not many cases became backgrounds for books. The case Gideon vs. Wainwright became the background not only for a book, but also for new laws that made a revolution in modern justice system. The peculiarity of this case is that, after it, not only the government of the United States of America, but also governments of all democratic countries in the world adopted laws that provide a defendant with a barrister even if the one does not have money to pay for a lawyer. This essay is aimed at analyzing the book. Besides, I will present my own opinion on the book. In my opinion, the book, as well as the case, played a significant role in the development of modern criminal justice system.
The book by Antony Lewis was firstly published in 1964. The book consists of 14 chapters and an epilogue. The book begins with the description of the case. The first chapter begins with the description of the process of filing a claim to the Supreme Court. The author mentions in the book that previously Gideon was convicted four times before for felonies. The last case was opened when Gideon broke into Bay Harbor Poolroom in Panama City. Gideon could not afford a barrister. Hence, he filed a complaint stating that the Supreme Court did not follow the fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In the first chapter, Antony Lewis clarified why Gideon came to the Supreme Court and not to a lower court. The point is that, in the United States of America, the Supreme Court is the court of the last resort. Hence, having found no support in lower courts, Gideon came to the Supreme Court. Antony Lewis states in his book that Gideon has mentioned about his right for a barrister for six times.
The second chapter is focused on describing the Court. Atone Lewis describes the Court as an institution; providing his readers with the Court’s rules. The peculiarity of this chapter is that the author of the book describes how the Court chooses the cases to hear. The next chapter is devoted to the Court as well as the previous one. However, this chapter is focused on the procedure of making decisions and presenting verdicts. In this chapter, as well as in the previous one, Antony Lewis tries to explain a reader the mechanisms of functioning of the system. To support his words, the author provides readers with interesting facts and cases.
The next, fourth, chapter tells readers about Gideon’s counselor. In my opinion, this chapter is significant because one should know about the person who came hand in hand with the defendant during the trial. Moreover, the author of the book provides readers with a thorough analysis of counsel’s work.
The fifth chapter describes all the processes Gideon was participating. Besides, the author of the book presented Gideon’s speeches in courts. This chapter is significant as well, because it shows Gideon’s position during the trial.
The next chapter is devoted to the justice process as well as the second and the third chapters. The main idea of this chapter is to show the reader how difficult it may be to make a decision. The author of the book provides the examples, which were employed by Justice Black and Frankfurter. However, Antony Lewis provides readers with counter arguments. Hence, I state that the book is objective and trustworthy. Besides, in this chapter provides the author his readers with interesting facts and significant case studies that may help understand the peculiarities of justice methods. Another peculiarity of the chapter is that Mr. Lewis tries to apply all the methods, mentioned previously in the chapter, to the Gideon case.
The seventh chapter is devoted to Mr. Gideon. Antony Lewis thought it would be significant for the reader to have a deep insight on who Mr. Gideon was. Besides, he provides his readers with the outline of Gideon’s ideas about his rights’ protection. Chapter eight is connected to the previous chapter. Antony Lewis tried to give a brief overview of the major events that happened later. The author of the book emphasizes the difficulty of Gideon’s case.
The last several chapters are devoted to the issue of hearing the case. The ninth and tenth chapters describe the prosecution arguments. Besides, Antony Lewis provided information about Bruce Robert Jacob. Bruce Robert Jacob is an assistant attorney general for Florida. B. R. Jacob helped Gideon much. The author admits that he was not much into the case due to his engrossment. However, Antony Lewis admitted B. R. Jacob’s contribution into the case. The next two chapters are devoted to the opening arguments and the Jury choosing process. The thirteenth chapter is devoted to the issue of the decision making process. It is necessary to underline that Gideon made a revolution in justice system of the entire world. The last chapter is devoted to the role of the Supreme Court in the United States of America.
Opinion
When speaking about my personal opinion, first of all I would like to mentioned that I liked the book. Antony Lewis did not use any specific terms. Hence, every person can read it and understand. The advantage of the book is that the author does not speak only about the case. Instead, he tries to explain the modern justice system to an ordinary American. On the other hand, he does not make the book too simple; hence, every lawyer will be interested in reading the book. Another advantage of the book is that the author did not divide it into two parts: the trial and the court system of the United States of America. Such mixing of information allows the reader to evaluate information and make up one’s mind. Besides, it is worth to mention that Antony Lewis provided his readers with examples from different cases. As I have already mentioned, this allows even an ordinary American understand the court system and the peculiarities of the case. Besides, I liked that the author paid some attention to Mr. Gideon’s personality. It is significant for every lawyer to know one’s customer’s character, and what he is able to do. In my opinion, this book will be interesting to read to every lawyer, as well as to an ordinary American.
However, there is nothing perfect in the modern world. Hence, the Antony Lewis’ book has disadvantages, as well. The first disadvantage is that the author mentioned too many cases. I have already mentioned above that the author provided his readers with detailed analysis of some cases. They helped him to explain peculiarities of the modern court system of the United States of America. However, in my opinion, there are too many cases. A person without any knowledge will be confused with so many facts.
Conclusion
This essay was aimed at analyzing the book “Gideon’s trumpet” written by Antony Lewis. The book is devoted to Gideon vs. Wainwright case. This case made a revolution in modern justice system. The point is that Gideon proved that every defendant has the right for a barrister when a defendant cannot afford hiring the one. Gideon proved that it was the violation of the fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The author of the book provided his readers with a thorough analysis of the case. Besides, the author provides a thorough analysis of the modern court system. As I have already mentioned, the book impressed me much. I liked it. However, I should mention that the book has several disadvantages. The author mentioned too many cases when explaining the court system. A person without any education will not be able to understand all the peculiarities. However, if a person has ever watched a detective movie or read a book, there will be nothing unclear left. Hence, I recommend this book to every person who is at least a bit interested in justice system of the United States of America.
Resources:
Lewis, Antony. Gideon’s trumpet. Vintage, 1989.
