this week's guest host is jenna greene of the national law journal peesh author and journalist karen houppert on her latest book "chasing gideon" the elusive quest for poor people's justice. in the book she explores the unanimous opinion court decision that granted indigent defendants who face jail time free legal counsel and 50 years of that decision's application. the former "washington post" magazine writer explores the many reasons public defenders are often unable to provide justice for the clients. this program is about one hour. >> host: i thought it was apt that was published on march 18 which is the 50th anniversary of the supreme court decision and gideon versus wainwright. and i thought we could start at the beginning. who was clarence earl gideon because as you point out in your book he was a somewhat unlikely figure to have made such an impact on history. >> guest: clarence earl gideon was an itinerant chap living down in florida and hit broken into a pool hall there and was accused of breaking into a pool hall down there and accused of stealing change from a jukebox and a couple

. >> host: the book is "chasing gideon" by karen houppert. >> guest: thank you for having me. >> that was very nice. thank you. i love colorado and come back whenever i can. to talk about how things are going so terrible correct also for you since i left left a purple stay in came back to the blue one but anyway i live in maryland so reading this report that it soon will take over vermont to be the most liberal state in the country and that is where i live right now. i thank you are headed in the right direction because government is something we do and participation is not optional. the worst thing that happened to me since leaving colorado i am a hopeless pessimist. my first book was spun the second is not at all. i call it the obama for horsemen which is over the top my wife said this doesn't seem like you the imagery and as a metaphor you are not that sort of writer revelation in fire and brimstone i told them i am that type of guy now we underestimate how terrible what is going on it actually is even on the right type of thing people understand the long-term consequences of what

. >> host: the book is "chasing gideon" by karen houppert. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> that was "after words," book tv signature program in which authors of the latest nonfiction books are interviewed by journalists, public policy makers, legislators and others familiar with the material. "after words" errors every weekend in booktv at 10 p.m. on saturday, 12 p.m. and 9 p.m. on sunday at 12 a.m. on monday. you can also watch on line. go to booktv.org and click on "after words" on the upper right side of the page. >>> iowa arrived in a blizzard of course and when i stopped the first night in new york where my first boss of the navy met me, every kind of the came to the plane and he took me to stay with marie's mother, and you know she had a fantastic house in new york and she took me in her first night and i'd flown 17 hours across the of cleantech and there was a fixed-wing plane and we ran out of food of course. but these two little children, one was five months in the gel was two and we spent the night of this extraordinary house at fifth avenue i think it was and then she put

. >> host: the book isha gideon" karen houppert. >> guest: thanks for having me. >>> we are at the annual conservative political action conference in washington, d.c. and we are here with president publisher of a conservative imprint based here in washington. but tv viewers made recognize her who was at bouck expo america last year for a conversation about publishing. how are you doing? >> guest >> i'm great. happy to be here. >> let's talk about a couple bucks you have coming up in the season. former lt. governor beating obamacare. >> this is a terrific book and is our best seller so we are excited about that. we released this book as an original trade paperback because we wanted to make it accessible handbook, a sort of consumer guide to what people can expect to be a lot of people talk about what was going to happen when obamacare was actually starting to come into effect. mallets. we have to deal with it. so, betsy is an expert, former lieutenant governor of new york, one of the people what has read the entire bill, and she goes through it in a very common sense come easy to understan

karen houppert on the right to free representation sunday at 9:00 on after words, part of book tv this weekend on c-span2. >> the title, "saving justice" comes from bob's decision not to resign. [laughter] nixon did not plan it, but he just blundered into it. bob believe that the president has the authority to control everyone in the executive branch and to fire insubordinate personnel. cox had proclaimed his insubordination on national tv. whether a president is wise to exercise that authority is for history to the side. attorney-general richardson had promised the senate that he would maintain a special prosecutor in place. and he thought, therefore, that he had to resign when nixon asked him to fire cox. but bob bork had not made any such promise, and he thought that the president entitled today his own grave if he insists. he also thought that he should not gain by the deed and certainly should not appear to be at toady. so he planned to fire him in quite. in richardson and william, the deputy attorney general, talk to not of resignation. there was no line of succession in the depa

karen houppert on the right to free representation. sunday at 9:00 on "after words." >> next on c-span, we go live to the house floor. votes on a couple of bills they debated earlier. home rule act and the district columbia treasurer or one of the deputy chief financial officer of the district of columbia may perform the duties in an acting capacity if there is a vacancy in the office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, proceedings will resume on questions previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order, h.r. 1067 by the yeas and nays and h.r. 1068, yeas and nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1067 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to make revisions in title 36 united states code as necessary to keep the title current and make technical corrections and impro

karen houppert on the right to free representation. sunday at 9:00 on afterwards, part of book tv this weekend on c-span2. >> live at capitol hill where the u.s. house will gavel in momentarily. we don't expect them to be in long. they'll return at 4:30 for legislative work. just two bills on the agenda today. both making technical and clarifying changes to u.s. code. they will gavel back for that legislative work at 4:30 eastern. meanwhile the u.s. senate returns to work. debate on the internet sales tax bill. at 2:15 eastern. that's on c-span2 and now to the house floor here on c-span. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for giving us another day. the house returns from a long weekend meeting with constituents as our nation continues to process of the impact of dramatic explosions in boston and texas. concerns about budget, taxes, immigration, gun violence, among others, reveal the considerable divisio

. >> if you can want afford an attorney, one is provided for you, karen houppert on the right to free representation sunday at nine on "after words" part of booktv this weekend on c-span2. >> again, at 2:15 eastern, the senate returns for debate on the internet sales tax happening again at 2:15 when the senate gavels in from the weekly party caucus lunches. right now, senators mori ran of kansas and connecticut held a news conference this morning responding to reports of delays at the nation's airports yesterday as furloughs for air traffic controllers take effect. we'll show you as much as this as we can before the senate gavels back in. >> good morning, everyone, thank you for joining us on a topic we've been engaged in now, what seems for a very long time. as you may recall, we made an effort in the continuing resolution to make certain that the issue of air traffic control towers was addressed. the administration announced closing of more than 140 towers. we believe, i believe that's contrary to public safety and believe it's unnecessary for the administration to take the position

karen houppert on the right to free representation, tonight on "after words" on c-span2. >> congressman adam smith, the top-ranking democrat on the house armed services committee, is our guest this week on "news makers." he talks about reports of chemicals weapons used since syria. >> what do we do about it? the president did say it was a red line, but my big thing is we be cautious about how we respond. you know, i do not want to commit u.s. troops and u.s. forces to syria. i don't think that would be a wise use of our resources. i also think that being able to secure the chemicals weapons that are in syria is extraordinarily difficult, if at al possible. we're going to have to have very serious conversations with the partners in the region, international partners about how we proceed, because what has not been said by the administration at any point beyond the red line is what that means, what will they do? what is the best response? personally, i urge caution. e do not need another war. >> watch more about syria, the boston marathon bombings, and other defense issues today at 10:00 a