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Title details for Law Man by Shon Hopwood - Available

Law Man

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

by Shon Hopwood
Dennis Burke
ebook
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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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 7, 2012

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780307887856

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780307887856
      • File size: 6360 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2012
      With the assistance of Burke (co-author: The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, 2008), Hopwood delivers an unusual tale of punishment and redemption. The author is frank and regretful about his youthful decision to rob five banks in the vast area around his small Nebraska hometown. When his crime spree unraveled, he wisely took a plea offer, resulting in a 12-year federal prison sentence. Without diminishing his own culpability, Hopwood writes affectingly of the prison experience: "It is beyond strange to be in such a place and feel your life freezing over, like a sci-fi story where you lie down in your rocket, not to return until everyone you know is old." Although he was nervous about the intricate social behaviors required to survive in prison, he was luckily transferred from the kitchen to the prison legal library, where he discovered an aptitude for decoding court decisions. He also realized that helping his fellow prisoners with their appeals gave him a sense of moral balance. Improbably, one such filing, concerning a dubiously obtained confession, went all the way to the Supreme Court, and Hopwood worked with high-powered attorney Seth Waxman to prepare the ultimately successful argument. He also found time to strike up a long-distance romance with a beautiful but troubled girl from home. The author's success helped him stay straight after his release, when he found employment at a printer of Supreme Court briefs. 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. Will appeal to fans of legal thrillers and stories of redemption.

      COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from September 1, 2012

      Growing up in a small town in Nebraska, Hopwood was the epitome of a small-town hero. As a basketball star, he was the center of attention and seemed to have a bright future. But after a stint in the Navy, he came home to find himself short of cash. He and a close friend decided to steal a car, get rifles, and rob a local bank. Having succeeded the first time without any consequences, Hopwood committed four more armed robberies before being caught, convicted, and sent to prison for ten years. His prison experience was a wake-up call to the realities of life for those less fortunate than he. While writing an appeal for a fellow inmate, Hopwood became interested in becoming a paralegal. After researching the inmate's case, he submitted the appeal through the court system. With the help of a lawyer, the case ultimately made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Life after prison proved to be a greater challenge. VERDICT Hopwood's prison memoir and long journey back into society are told with brutal and riveting honesty. For those readers interested in the sociology of crime and its effect on the prison population, this title is essential.--Claire Franek, Muhlenberg Cty. P.L., Greenville, KY

      Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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