And the Walls Came Tumbling Down Greatest Closing Arguments Protecting Civil Liberties

by Lief, Michael S; Caldwell, H. Mitchell

• ISBN13: 9780743246675
• ISBN10: 0743246675
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-10
• Publisher: Scribner

Summary

The second volume in a must-have trilogy of the best closing arguments in American legal historyEvery day, Americans enjoy the freedom to decide what we do with our property, our bodies, our speech, and our votes. However, the rights to these freedoms have not always been guaranteed. Our civil rights have been assured by cases that have produced monumental shifts in America's cultural, political, and legal landscapes.And the Walls Came Tumbling Downshowcases eight of the most exciting closing arguments in civil law -- from the Amistad case, in which John Quincy Adams brought the injustice of slavery to the center stage of American politics, to the Susan B. Anthony decision, which paved the way to success for women's suffrage, to the Larry Flynt trial, in which the porn king became an unlikely champion for freedom of speech. By providing historical and biographical details, as well as the closing arguments themselves, Lief and Caldwell give readers the background necessary to fully understand these important cases, bringing them vividly to life.

Author Biography

Michael S Lief is a senior deputy district attorney in Ventura, California. A former newspaper editor, he was a submarine driver for the U. S. Navy during the Cold War.

H. Mitchell Caldwell is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law. A former deputy district attorney, he specializes in death-penalty litigation before the California Supreme Court.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
Chapter 1. To Be or Not to Be	5	(56)
Karen Ann Quinlan and the Right to Die
Chapter 2. The Amistad Odyssey	61	(48)
American Courts Decide If a Free Man Can Be Forced into Slavery
Chapter 3. Enemy Within	109	(54)
Radio Star John Henry Faulk Challenges the McCarthy-Era Blacklist
Chapter 4. A Woman's Rightful Place	163	(43)
Susan B. Anthony Casts a Vote and Battles for the Ballot
Chapter 5. The Truth Shall Set You Free	206	(36)
The English Crown and Colonial Government Try Muzzling Newspaper Publisher John Peter Zenger and the Fledgling American Press
Chapter 6. The Porn King and the Preacher	242	(57)
Larry Flynt Takes on the Moral Majority and Becomes an Unlikely Champion for Free Speech
Chapter 7. What Price Too High?	299	(56)
One Woman's Fight for Survival against Cancer—and Her HMO
Chapter 8. Cleansing the Gene Pool	355	(36)
Carrie Buck's Forced Sterilization and the Limits on Reproductive Freedom
Index	391