Educational Media Reviews Online

”In 1961 Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for stealing soda and five dollars from a pool hall. He could not afford an attorney and was convicted after representing himself at trial. Gideon appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the right to counsel in a criminal case is fundamental to the American system of justice.” So begins the introduction to Dawn Porter’s powerful and heart-wrenching feature-length documentary which looks at the trials and tribulations of public defenders in some of the poorest counties in Georgia, and Mississippi.

Grossly overloaded with court cases, Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander, and June Hardwick represent but three of the 15,000 public defenders assigned to serve millions of clients. The correctional institution has become such a large and profitable business that young men and women—overwhelmingly, but not all, African American, poor, emotionally and mentally unstable--are being arrested and incarcerated at alarming rates. As one public defender points out, “in Clayton County, Georgia, the bond for shoplifting is $40,000” which no family can afford. In most rural southern counties where African Americans make up the majority of the population, the unemployment rates are high, and poverty is rampant. A failure to post bail leads to dire consequences such as, sitting in jail for four to eight months before a trial date, a loss of education, income for the family, being evicted, and in some cases, bank foreclosure on homes due to non-payment.

Still these young public defenders believe in justice and the American way. They believe in doing the right thing and representing people who are underserved in the legal system. They fight tirelessly to defend their client in spite of the odds stacked against them. They are often lone-rangers within their community. They receive little funding, or outside support other than what is provided through the Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC), renamed Gideon’s Promise. One highlight of the film is the SPDTC’s annual fund raiser in Washington, D.C. in which Congressman John Lewis, a prominent civil rights leader, unequivocally praises the work of public defenders and their commitment to serve and defend the poor. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for some public defenders to quit within their first year and seek employment elsewhere. The emotional toll, and low-wages are not enough to keep many of these bright and intelligent lawyers in the field who, like most college graduates, must pay back staggering student loans.

In closing, the film points out a dismal statistic. It states that in the United States, more than 12 million people are arrested each year and will be represented by only 15,000 public defenders. Those are scary statistics and speaks volumes about the U.S. legal system.

Gideon’s Army is the winner of numerous film awards.