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

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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.

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.

Don’t let this three buzz rating stop you from reading this book. True, it’s not well written, as often happens when one tells one’s own story (even with the help of a ghost writer). Nevertheless it’s a fabulous tale. If you are a person who has veered off onto a dark path or if you’re the parent or spouse or grandparent or friend of one who has done so, this story will inspire you.

Shon Hopwood held up five banks and was sent to prison. Had he been a typical American prisoner, that would have been the end of his story.

It’s not the end of Shon Hopwood’s story. He is now happily married, with two kids, and is attending law school.

I’ll say it again: An inspiring story.