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Gideon's Army is an insiders' look at the work of public defenders who represent indigent people - men and women of all ages and backgrounds - who've been arrested for any sort of alleged criminal activity and cannot afford an attorney.

The Right To Legal Representation

In 1963, the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Gideon vs. Wainwright that established the right to counsel for all who are charged with felony crimes lead to the establishment of the Public Defenders' offices in many states.

At present, there are about 15,000 Public Defenders in the United States, representing the approximately two million defendants who need their help each year. The United States has the world's highest percentage of incarceration, with about 1 out of 100 citizens imprisoned. Of those incarcerated, some 80 percent cannot afford legal representation. And, 95 percent of them plead guilty in exchange for lighter sentences. Those are the shocking stats reported in the film.

Because of the volume of work, the Public Defender's job is terribly stressful. They have limited resources with which to pursue investigations, and they are paid much less money than most other lawyers. Despite their dedication to the cause of providing legal representation to all, and their personal commitment to providing their clients with the best possible representation, many of them wind up leaving the Public Defenders' office for private practice. In Gideon's Army, filmmaker Dawn Porter focuses on three Public Defenders who work in Georgia, where the numbers of indigent detainees is particularly high.

They are smart, fascinating to watch in court and they are heroic in stature in their performance of their enormously stressful and frustrating job.

The film introduces Public Defender mentor Jonathan "Rap" Rapping, who founded and leads the Southern Public Defender Training Center, a sort of support group where struggling Public Defenders share their experiences and frustrations, and gain strength from each other. Rapping offers guidance that helps them overcome feelings of defeat. He is dedicated to keeping them on the job, protecting the sanctity of our constitutional rights to legal representation and equal justice for all. He is inspirational. "If you want to rescue someone from hell," he says, "you have to go to hell to do it."

Focus on Three Heroic Lawyers

Travis Williams takes his cases very personally, not only because he believe in the cause of justice, but also because he's defending people who could be him. The child of a woman who fled incarceration, he never knew his father and fully understands the hardships many of his clients have faced and the consequences to them if he doesn't secure their acquittal. They won't be able to vote, can't get a passport and, often, cannot get jobs. When it comes to legal representation, he is a pro bono warrior. He frames all the documents showing his acquittals, has the names of those found guilty tattooed on his back. He has five tattoos, thus far.

Brandy Alexander is equally committed to her pro bono clients, and is shocked and feels completely betrayed when she learns that one of them was plotting to kill her if he was found guilty. She is struggling to pay her student loans and finds, at one point, that she only has $3.00 in change to buy gas to get her from home to work. Yet she continues to fight for those who need her help in negotiating a justice system that expedites cases by pressing the accused to plea bargain for lesser penalties rather than seek to establish the truth of their innocence. And she's so good at it that she could easily get a higher paying job in a private law firm. But the plight of justice and the future of the justice system presses on her conscience.

June Hardwick looks for new beginnings for her pro bono clients. She acknowledges that she lives among criminals, but seeks justice for them as though they were her kin. Eventually, she quits the Public Defenders' office for private practice because she cannot support her son on her salary. But, she continues to work within the justice system, representing indigent clients on a pro bono basis, and says she'll always be a Public Defender, no matter what her actual job of the moment. And she's running for public office, with suggested improvements in the justice system on her campaign agenda.

Extraordinary Access and Sensitivity

Filmmaker Dawn Porter and her crew take us on an investigation of the pro bono world within the justice system. We look into the courts to witness trials and into lawyers' offices to watch them preparing, and into the lawyers' homes and the homes of their clients to see how their lives are influenced by circumstances. The filmmakers' access is extraordinary. With the focus on three lead characters, each of whom is handling several compelling cases, there is a lot of story to follow in this film. Matthew Hamachek's superb editing interweaves the stories in such a way that they are all clear and consistently compelling. The film is also shot with tremendous sensitivity by Director of Photography Chris Hilleke and cinematographer Patrick Sheehan, who capture moments that reveal the depth of inner turmoil beneath the systems surface turmoil. There's one shot of a tear running down Travis Williams' cheek that's so affecting that it might cause you to join the film's social outreach program to effect change for the better. Film shot with tremendous sensitivity and skill. The sequence that shows a single tear streaming down Travis' cheek is so affecting that it may well encourage viewers to join the film's social outreach program to effect change in the justice system. 

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Film Details:

• Title: Gideon's Army
• Director: Dawn Porter
• Broadcast Premiere date: June, 21, 2013 (HBO Documentaries)
• Running time: 90 minutes
• Parents Guide: Add content advisory for parents
• Production Country: USA
• Language: English
• Filming Locations: Southern United States, including
• Production Company: HBO Documentary Films
• Distributor: Trilogy Films
• Official Website
• Trailer