Rating: 
Summary: Justice lives, even though a citizzen died.
Review: A wonderful book, which chronicles a painful time in our Nation's history. Curriden and Phillips have taken the events which led to the death of just one more poor Black man (one of far too many during that era) and explained how this incident rekindles and reaffirms the notion of the supremacy of Federal law.A book for normal people, not just lawyers or those interested in the law or civil rights. It makes a potentially dry concept (the relationship betweenm the states and the Federal government) come to life. More importantly, its shows just how essential the concept of Federalism can be. Should be required reading for anyone who decries the "meddlesome, activist Federal judges".
Rating:
Summary: Powerful history of the Law and Racisim
Review: Black man accused of raping a white woman. Shakey identification. All white judge, jury, police, sheriff, and all lawyers on both sides. A death penalty case. A jury in the midst of trial jumps up and threatens to rip the defendant's heart out on the spot. He is found guilty. From date of crime to guilty verdict--one week. Defendant advised by his own lawyers after trial: you have two choices, waive appeal and let the State execute you, or appeal and let the mob lynch you. Then two Black lawyers take up the case. The Supreme Court is horrified at the gross miscarriage of justice, and issues a stay. But the mob, with the Sheriff's apparent approval, decides the legal process is just taking too long, and lynches the defendant. Contempt of Court tells this story in great detail, bringing all of the characters to life. A fascinating history of the role racism played in the courts at the turn of the century. But the heart of the book is what followed the lynching. Unlike most cases which were quickly forgotten, the Supreme Court itself instituted contempt charges against the Sheriff for failing to carry out its stay of execution. This is the one and only contempt proceeding ever tried in the Supreme Court itself. It also marked the first time the federal courts had ever sought to review a state court criminal proceeding--setting the stage for such well known rules as "Miranda" and the exclusionary rule. I completely agree with the blurb on the book's cover. This volume belongs on the shelf next to Simple Justice and Gideon's Trumpet.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful history of the Law and Racisim
Review: Black man accused of raping a white woman. Shakey identification. All white judge, jury, police, sheriff, and all lawyers on both sides. A death penalty case. A jury in the midst of trial jumps up and threatens to rip the defendant's heart out on the spot. He is found guilty. From date of crime to guilty verdict--one week. Defendant advised by his own lawyers after trial: you have two choices, waive appeal and let the State execute you, or appeal and let the mob lynch you. Then two Black lawyers take up the case. The Supreme Court is horrified at the gross miscarriage of justice, and issues a stay. But the mob, with the Sheriff's apparent approval, decides the legal process is just taking too long, and lynches the defendant. Contempt of Court tells this story in great detail, bringing all of the characters to life. A fascinating history of the role racism played in the courts at the turn of the century. But the heart of the book is what followed the lynching. Unlike most cases which were quickly forgotten, the Supreme Court itself instituted contempt charges against the Sheriff for failing to carry out its stay of execution. This is the one and only contempt proceeding ever tried in the Supreme Court itself. It also marked the first time the federal courts had ever sought to review a state court criminal proceeding--setting the stage for such well known rules as "Miranda" and the exclusionary rule. I completely agree with the blurb on the book's cover. This volume belongs on the shelf next to Simple Justice and Gideon's Trumpet.
Rating:
Summary: Justice Denied
Review: Contempt of Court is a great read. Well researched, well written. A must read for anyone angered by the vigilante butchering of an innocent man or for anyone interested in how the Supreme Court of the United States became the repected institution it is today. From the brutal rape that brought Ed Johnson to the forefront of an angry mob, through his sham trial and the appeal that ultimately caused his brutal death, the authors brilliantly reconstruct a turn of the century piece of American history burried far too long.
Rating:
Summary: Breathing Life Into Legal History
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed reading Contempt of Court
Review: I enjoyed reading Contempt of Court despite feeling as though it was written for a 10th grade audience. The topic was a wonderful choice and the book appears to be very well researched. The authors mix fiction (e.g. details of the characters feelings and thoughts) with facts in a easy-to-read, story-telling format. The frequent use of quotes from newspaper articles and editorials suggest that the authors relied heavily on these accounts. The book is very biased for Ed Johnson and his lawyers - a fact that does not detract from the tale. I recommend this book to all students of American civil liberties and I thank Curriden and Phillips for shining a light on this enthralling moment in our history.
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Summary: Begs for more examination
Review: I got this book as a Christmas gift from my brother. He almost didn't give it to me as he found it a compelling read as he was wrapping it. After reading it I can see more. This case is riveting in what happened. As far as I know is the only examination of the lynching. There should be many more examinations into the crime. Also the protrayal of the Supreme Court Justices is compelling. This would make a much better subject for a movie than the Hurricane Carter story. In this case there is no doubt of the innocence of the defendant. Get the book and learn how the Federal courts started taking on the state courts in criminal matters.
Rating:
Summary: A Turn of the century lynching and the Supreme Court acts.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A Horrifying Look at Law and Lynching in America
Review: 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.
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