"Gideon's Army"

Gideon's Army, 2013

Dir.: Dawn Porter

Prod.: Julie Goldman, Dawn Porter

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense" - Miranda warning

I usually try to avoid documentaries that are heavy with legal jargon because I often become frustrated at my inability to follow whatever the hell they're talking about. Law is not my strongest subject. I took a law course in college that I barely scraped by in (though it was a course in media law and was pretty specific and easy to follow). I've tried a couple of times to blog about legal and law-based documentaries and they are still sitting in my draft folder because I get so jumbled up trying to explain what things are that I get flustered.

But because this week's HBO documentary was centered around the law and the legal system, I dove headfirst into it and tried my best to follow. Luckily, the subject was not so much about the law as it was about the people who practice the law.  

The doc this week is Gideon's Army, which explores the lives of the overworked, underpaid, oft-overlooked public defenders of our country's legal system. The title of the documentary comes from the case of Gideon v. Wainwright. In 1961, Clarence Gideon was jailed for robbery. He was too poor to afford a lawyer and instead represented himself in court. That turned out to be not so great of a plan, because Gideon went to jail. Gideon appealed, from jail, which was granted, and he got a re-trial, with a lawyer, and was then freed by a jury. Basically, long story short, Clarence Gideon is the reason why we have these absolute angels of the legal system called public defenders. 

There are currently 15,000 public defenders at work in the US, and even though they can't buy enough gas to fill their gas tank, they are passionate about what they do. Every day, they defend those who cannot afford a lawyer, and most often, those people are guilty of their crimes and their job is to help prove these people are innocent.  

Brandy Alexander has been a public defender for three years, and she represents 180 clients at once. She speaks to her clients with a firm but gentle tone, almost like a mother scolding a misbehaving child. Travis Williams has been a public defender for less than a year, and represents 120 clients. He carries his court losses personally, and vows to one day have the names of all of his losses tattooed on his back. June Hardwick has 150 clients and still remains positive about her career, and visits her clients in jail as often as possible. 

June, Travis and Brandy are part of a program that helps train incoming public defenders, called the Southern Public Defender Training Program (SPDTP). It's the only program like it in the country. Public defenders from several states come to this program to meet, to air their grievances, and to reassure one another that they are doing what's right and they are making a difference in the country - despite the poor pay and the long hours (there's a scene where Brandy is scraping together change in order to pay for gas to keep her car running for the next two days).

The public defenders face exhausting battles. Brandy ends up having to take a week off from work because one of the men she was defending for murder was bragging to his cellmates that he was planning on murdering her if they lost their court case. 

Being a public defender is not glamorous. It is not easy, it is not fun. But it is one of the most important jobs that someone in the legal profession could have. If everyone in this country has a right to a fair trial, someone has to defend them. That's what public defenders are here for. They are here to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. 

What is completely amazing about this documentary is the courtroom access. We get to see these court cases unfold right in front of our eyes, on film. The people who are on trial are completely open about being filmed, their faces aren't blurred, they allow the cameras access into their homes and their lives. It was amazing to get to see this process completely uncensored.

Not everyone can handle being a public defender for a long period of time. Sometimes the stress is overwhelming, and the pressure of a low paycheck is soul-crushing. But, like the head of the SPDTP tells Brandy and her co-workers, they are doing "God's work". They are speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. It is extremely admirable, what they do, and they often go unrecognized.

Gideon's Army was a wonderful look into a side of the law that gets very little attention. I was very impressed with the access the filmmakers gained and the editing, though I really think they spent too much time focusing on Brandy and not enough on Travis and June (June actually gets the least amount of screen time).  Otherwise I thought this was a great doc that had moments of victory, moments of sadness and, always, moments of glimmering hope.