Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption

by Shon Hopwood

Other authors: Dennis Burke

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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: Law Man is an improbablee-but-true memoir of redemption -- the story of a young bank robber who became the greatest jailhouse lawyer in American history, and who changed not just his own life, but the lives of everyone around him. /> Shon Hopwood was a good kid from a good Nebraskan family, a small-town basketball star whose parents had started a local church. Few who knew him as a friendly teen would have imagined that, shortly after returning home from the Navy, he'd be adrift with few prospects and plotting to rob a bank. But rob he did, committing five heists before being apprehended. Only twenty three and potentially facing twelve years in Illinois' Pekin Federal Prison, Shon feared his life was already over. He'd shamed himself and his loving family and friends, and a part of him wanted to die. He wasn't sure at first if he'd survive the prison gangs, but slowly glimmers of hope appeared. He earned some respect on the prison basketball court, received a steady flow of letters from hometown well wishers, including a note from a special girl whom he'd thought too beautiful to ever pay him notice -- and, most crucially, he secured a job in the prison law library. It was an assignment that would prove his salvation. Poring over the library's thick legal volumes, Shon discovered that he had a knack for the law, and he soon became the go-to guy for inmates seeking help. Then came a request to write a complex petition to the Supreme Court -- a high-wire act of jailhouse lawyering that had never before met with success. By the time Shon walked out of Pekin Prison he'd pulled off a series of legal miracles, earned the undying gratitude of numerous inmates, won the woman of his dreams, and built a new life for himself far greater than anything he could have imagined. A story that mixes moments of high-adrenaline with others of deep poignancy, Law Man is a powerful reminder that even the worst mistakes can be redeemed through faith, hard work and the love and support of others. From the Hardcover edition. .… (more)

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I'm fascinated by prison and books on prison. Not sure why. I appreciated Shon Hopwood's self-awareness - he knew why he was in prison and accepted responsibility. He also took responsibility for what happened to him next in an environment that wasn't necessarily welcoming of any ambition or desire to improve himself. He was fortunate to encounter people, both prisoners and not, that supported him and made it possible for him to achieve success. (

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kgramer | Jul 2, 2019 |

This month's selection in my real-life book club. The author, Shon Hopwood, grew up in a conventional family in small-town Nebraska. He was a high-school basketball star, went to college and flunked out, spent a couple of years in the military, got out and started robbing banks. As one does.

Before long, Shon gets caught, goes to prison, offers to help a fellow inmate craft an appeal petition, gets hooked on the legal minutia of such endeavors, helps more inmates and eventually sees a couple of his petitions actually argued before the Supreme Court of the United Status. As one does.

He's released from prison, marries his high-school crush, finds Jesus and enters law school. As one does.

It's an inspiring if fairly routine prison redemption story. Hopwood is more convincing when he's talking about what his time in the sneezer taught him about the need for criminal justice reform and the unfairness of the same crime triggering varying amounts of prison time based on location and the personal whims of judges and prosecutors. The presence of a co-author doesn't keep the writing from being pedestrian except when it's a bit melodramatic — the book opens with Hopwood and an airplane full of fellow inmates getting caught mid-air in a thunderstorm that is spawning tornadoes all around them. If you don't think this event is used as a metaphor for the prison experience, this must be your first book.

I'm sincerely glad Hopwood has turned his life around. It's not lost on me (or on him, to his credit) that the chance he's afforded to do so is almost certainly a function of white privilege, but equality doesn't mean forcing everyone to endure injustice but rather ensuring justice for everyone. It's refreshing to read an account where prison actually fulfilled its rehabilitation function (even accidentally) along with its punishment function. I might have wished for a more compelling narrative style but that would be quibbling. So instead I'll just wish him all the best. As one does. (

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rosalita | Jun 4, 2018 |

5512. Law Man My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption, by Shon Hopwood with Dennis Burke (read 12 Nov 2017) This is a most amazing book and while it is a bit schmaltsy moved me tremendously. The author, born 11 June 1975, grew up in David City, Nebraska, starred in high school basketball, dropped out of college, spent time in the U.S. Navy, and while working on a Nebraska farm decided to rob banks. He did rob five banks and was sentenced to many years in prison, While at the Federal prison in Pekin, Ill., he became a "jailhouse lawyer" and astoundingly had a petition for cert accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to the decision in Fellers v. U.S., 540 U.S.519 (2004). After he served his sentence he obtained a job with the Cockle Printing Company in Omaha (long known as a first class printer of appellate briefs). The book was published in 2012 and so does not relate his law school success and eventually becoming a criminal law teacher at Georgetown Law School--a position once held by the legal giant Edward Bennett Williams (I was a student in his class in 1950!). While the first part of the book appalled me, to read of the stupid things the author did, the account of his prison life is high in drama and I was continually exhilarated by the highlights he related. This is one of the most gripping stories of disastrous behavior and inspiring redemption I have ever read. As I read I never had any doubt that I would have to give the book five stars. (

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Schmerguls | Nov 12, 2017 |

http://educationanddeconstruction.com/?p=3451

Bibliodidact | Feb 22, 2014 |

This book is a memoir of Shon Hopwood who robbed five banks and while in federal prison ends up drafting legal briefs for fellow inmates. Hopwood writes two petitions for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of which get granted. It is a very rare occurrence that a petition for writ of certiorari written by an inmate gets granted but for Hopwood it happened. I found this to be a very interesting memoir and as a student studying to become a paralegal it was very inspiring. I could have done without the 'come to Jesus' part towards the end, but it did feel genuine to me. I would recommend this to law students. (

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dpappas | Mar 4, 2013 |

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thingScore 25

The prose is clear and thoughtful, vividly illustrating the grim absurdity of life in prison, and most readers will root for Hopwood’s attempts to follow a different path. However, some readers will tire of the author’s proselytizing tone with respect to his rediscovered Christian faith.

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Shon Hopwood	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Burke, Dennis	—	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML:

Law Man is an improbablee-but-true memoir of redemption -- the story of a young bank robber who became the greatest jailhouse lawyer in American history, and who changed not just his own life, but the lives of everyone around him.

Shon Hopwood was a good kid from a good Nebraskan family, a small-town basketball star whose parents had started a local church. Few who knew him as a friendly teen would have imagined that, shortly after returning home from the Navy, he'd be adrift with few prospects and plotting to rob a bank. But rob he did, committing five heists before being apprehended.

Only twenty three and potentially facing twelve years in Illinois' Pekin Federal Prison, Shon feared his life was already over. He'd shamed himself and his loving family and friends, and a part of him wanted to die. He wasn't sure at first if he'd survive the prison gangs, but slowly glimmers of hope appeared. He earned some respect on the prison basketball court, received a steady flow of letters from hometown well wishers, including a note from a special girl whom he'd thought too beautiful to ever pay him notice -- and, most crucially, he secured a job in the prison law library.

It was an assignment that would prove his salvation.

Poring over the library's thick legal volumes, Shon discovered that he had a knack for the law, and he soon became the go-to guy for inmates seeking help. Then came a request to write a complex petition to the Supreme Court -- a high-wire act of jailhouse lawyering that had never before met with success.

By the time Shon walked out of Pekin Prison he'd pulled off a series of legal miracles, earned the undying gratitude of numerous inmates, won the woman of his dreams, and built a new life for himself far greater than anything he could have imagined.

A story that mixes moments of high-adrenaline with others of deep poignancy, Law Man is a powerful reminder that even the worst mistakes can be redeemed through faith, hard work and the love and support of others.

From the Hardcover edition.