Customer Reviews

Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching That Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism

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Contempt of Court presents a history of a long-ago legal proceeding, an important one now nearly forgotten. Curriden and Phillips keep it engaging from start to finish. They've done a wonderful job of recreating the passions and pressures of a southern city in the Jim Crow era. Readers get more than an understanding of the law. They get to know the people who participated in a landmark case -- from Noah Parden, a black lawyer who battled overwhelming odds to take a poor man's case to the Supreme Court, to Sheriff Joseph Schipp, who let a lynch mob subvert the rule of law. The book offers many well-drawn scenes, such as the crime against Nevada Taylor, Parden's audience with Justice John Marshall Harlan and the lynching itself. All are sketched in great detail. And there's the jail-house prayer service the African-American community held for Ed Johnson, an innocent man, who facing death, found dignity and faith in God. Contempt of Court proves that American law isn't only about legal arguments. It's also abou living, breathing human beings, with their capacities for heroism and evil.

Contempt of Court shines light into one of darkest chapters of America's race relations. Curriden and Phillips deserves high kudos for uncovering the sad story of Ed Johnson and revealing its significance to modern race relations. Like all good history writing Curriden and Phillips make us care about their characters. Set in the late Southern Reconstruction period in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Contempt of Court covers quite of a bit of intellectual territory without being over bearing, including: early 20th century Southern race relations, Supreme Court process, the terror of mob lynching and the impact of journalism of that era. I would highly recommend Contempt of Court to anyone who has an interest in American history. In retrospect, I can't think of a legal case that has had more impact on today's legal system than the trial of Ed Johnson. This case provides the precedent for modern Federalism and the concept that the protection of minority rights supersedes state rights. After finishing Contempt of Court I am left to wonder about how many other important stories from this tragic era are left untold.

I cannot believe I made it through a liberal arts education and law school without knowing about this story. That this is such a recent part of our history is sad and amazing. I look forward to someone making a movie out of this well-written book so that the masses will be exposed to it. This book should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in our legal system.

I have read a pre-published transcript of this book,and it is an exciting incite into a fasinating event in the history of our country.l suspect like most people,including professional historians,Ihad never heard of these events.I predict a movie will be made of this book.Two African American lawyers in 1906 in a small southern town struggle desperately and with great courge to save the life of a poor illerate Negro acused and convicted of raping a white woman.He is sentenced to death by a bigoted all white jury .At the risk of their lives,the lawyers seek relief in a federal court ,and when it is denied ,they have the intestinal fortitude to seek an appeal to the U S Supreme Court in Washington and 1906 this was a world away.To the astonishment of everyone old Justice John Marshall Harlan grants the appeal and orders a stay of his execution.This''interference'' by the highist court in the land infuriates the local white supremists,and with the acquiesence of the sheriff who is up for reelection,a mob breaks into the jail and succeeds in lynching the poor Black man.On his toomb stone is chiseled his last words to the vicious mob; ''God BLESS YOU ALL.I AM AN INNOCENT MAN.When the Supreme Court reads about the lynching in the Washington Post the next day, they are furious.The Justices persuade President T Roosevelt to send the secret service in Chattanooga Tenn.the small southern town involved.Eventually,and for the first and only time in the history of the U S Supreme Court,the Justices try the sheriff his deputies and members of the mob .I will let you read about what happens in the historical and unprecedented trial.It is worth reading by history experts and by anyone interested in excellent material This one is headed for rewards.

Not only did I read the book, I typed and helped edit the book with the co-author, Leory Phillips. It was as if I was transported back in time to the early 1900's. The characters seemed to come alive and will live in my memory forever. It is a read well worth your while.

Powerfully written and meticulously researched. This book takes you back to those dark, nightmarish days of "accepted" racial prejudice, especially in the South. The authors vividly review how an innocent black man, Ed Johnson, was brutally murdered, and how this act finally led to an awakening in the judicial system. A must read for all Americans, who believe in justice and deplore hate crimes.

Congratulations to Phillips and Curriden for bringing a century-old story to life, and making it relevant to today's readers. I intended to read this book over a period of days, but instead completed it over a long weekend. I recommend this to anyone interested in American history, race relations, and justice. And I guarantee, soon you'll be casting the movie in your mind, just like I have.

Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr. in Contempt of Court look at the case of Ed Johnson, a black man given a stay of exection by Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan after he was tried and convicted for rape in a misguided and injudicial trial. The Supreme Court was ignored and the poor man was lynched which provoked the Supreme Court to the unusual action of becoming involved. This is a well written and exciting telling of the events and will carry the reader along on a wave of outrage. It is sure to be turned into an exciting film. It does not, unfortunately, tell the whole story of lynching, nor is to trying to. This one action by the Supreme Court belies the inactivity of the court and the justice system to stem the tide of lynching and racial injustice. But that story is told in other books and the reader will find this particular book a fascinating footnote on legal and racial history in America, both good and bad.

For one interested in the history of federalism in this country, the book is a must read. The book can be enjoyed by both lawyers and lawmen. If you want to understand how and why the United States Supreme Court became involved in declaring state laws unconstitutional and the need for the Federal Courts to apply the United States Constitution to actions of local officials, this book will enable you to understand those reasons. A true story of unhearald courage by a very determined and brave attorney.

I ended up reading this book in a little over two days. I was quickly hooked by the fascinating and horrifying story of Ed Johnson, an indigent black man, unjustly accused and convicted by an all-white judicial system that was very typical of the south at the turn of the century. Mr. Johnson's second set of lawyers, two courageous black lawyers, from Chattanooga appeal to the US Supreme Court and set the stage for the most intriguing case to ever be heard before the court. Read the book!