Book Reviews

Awhile ago I read "Defending the Damned" and was a little disappointed in it. It was just ok to me. The author kept calling redirect recross and I would have liked to hear about more than just the murder unit. Also I'm not a huge fan of the court system in Chicago (since it's so corrupt).

Many people suggested I read "Indefensible" by David Feige. While I'm not a huge fan of New York either, I thought this was a much much better book. It helped that it was written by an actual public defender. You can tell Mr. Feige cares about the job and the people he represents and wants others to understand. I liked his candid admissions when he did something wrong. It is so scary that defendants get one shot and there entire lives can be ruined because the luck of the draw gave them an attorney who for one reason or another screwed something up. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. You can buy it from Mr. Feige's website.

After "Indefensible" I picked up a copy of "Gideon's Trumped" by Anthony Lewis at a used book store. This is an old book (from 1964) but it tells the story of Clarance Earl Gideon and his case created my future career. It is so weird reading the book and realizing Miranda hadn't been decided yet. Criminal procedure sucked a lot before the 1960s. It astonishes me that less than 60 years ago people were forced to represent themselves in felony cases. I've had two years of law school and I was barely able to handle a simple misdemeanor case. Before law school I'm not sure I would have been able to fight a traffic ticket intelligently. I was glad to learn that once he finally got his new trial Gideon was acquitted.