The case by which the U.S. Supreme Court declared itself the highest court in the land. When Ed Johnson; a black man; was wrongly convicted in 1906 of rape and sentenced to death in Tennessee; Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan issued a stay of execution; declaring that Johnson's right to a fair trial had been violated and that he had been railroaded through the criminal justice system. The interference of the Supreme Court was not well received back in Chattanooga. A violent mob answered this federal "interference" by dragging Johnson from his jail cell; beating him; and hanging him from a bridge. Local police did nothing to prevent the lynching; nor were any members of the mob arrested. For the first and only time in history; an enraged Supreme Court conducted a criminal trial to enforce its authority. It brought criminal contempt of court charges against the sheriff; his deputies; and members of the lynch mob. The first book written about these highly charged events; Contempt of Court raises issues of federalism versus states' rights that are as timely today as they were ninety years ago. Johnson's case led to a precedent-setting criminal trial that is unique in the annals of American jurisprudence. Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips's riveting tale will prove essential reading for all interested in understanding how American justice works.
#5148959 in Books Bantam 2002-03-26 2002-03-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.52 x 1.00 x 6.35l; #File Name: 0553801627288 pages
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. An important story told adequatelyBy William ArnheimThis book covers a portion of Civil War history seldom given sufficient consideration. The naval war was monumentally important to bringing the conflict to as early an end as it had. While this book provides the information to cover the topic; it does so in an uninspired fashion. The almost complete absence of maps will leave the average reader jumping from book to reference book or giving up entirely on trying to understand the geography. Add to this fault some of the worst proof reading I have ever encountered and the reader can easily slip into confusion. The same designation is given for the hulls of the commerce raiders Florida and Alabama and in the same chapter;Semmes begins a cruise in the original Florida (not the same as the British built raider)which majically turns into the Alabama somewhere in the gulf of Mexico.From the standpoint of presenting an important aspect of the Civil War not covered in such detail anywhere else this is an important book. It's faults can be very annoying.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Did ANYONE fact check this book?By steve estvanikA decent account of the naval portion of the Civil War in the Atlantic; marred by sloppy editing; and inexcusable mistake. the author TWICE claims an event took place after Second Bull Run (Aug 1862) when he's still discussing 1861 events. Then he describes a 51" thick steel armor for an ironclad! And goes on to claim that no ships were sunk by submarine between the Civil War and the sinking of the Lusitania (May 1915) even though U boats had been attacking and sinking British ships since the previous fall of 1914! Other parts of the book use repetition of phrases and sentences; giving the appearance of a book cut and pasted together with poor editing. This mars the story. An additional problem is that the author gives no proper comparison when he discusses gun sizes -- mixing 32 lbers and 12" guns; without ever giving the reader any indication of how these compared.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Poorly ResearchedBy Joseph L. ErdmannWhile this book is nicely written there were many inaccuracies. I do not believe the author researched the book very well. He refers to Semmes first ship the converted packet Havana as the first Florida when she was actually the CSS Sumter. Also it appears he did very little research about the ships he writes about; he lists the wrong number of guns and tonnage constantly. There were too many flaws in this book to make it enjoyable.
