tom robinson, a human being. she must put tom robinson away from her. tom robinson was her daily reminder of what she did. what did she do? she tempted a negro. she was white, and she tempted a negro. she did something that in our society is unspeakable. she kissed a black man. not an old uncle but a strong, young, negro man. no code mattered to her before she broke it but it came crashing down on her afterwards. her father saw it and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. what did her father do? we don't know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that mae ella was beaten savagely by someone who was used almost exclusively to his left. we know in part what mr. yule did. he did what any god-fearing, persevering, respectable white man would do in the circumstances. he swore out a warrant. no doubt signing it with his left hand. and tom robinson now sits before you having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses. his right hand. so humble, respectable, quiet negro who had the unmitigated at the merit to feel sore -- temerity

tom robinson, a human being. she must put tom robinson away from her. tom robinson was her daily reminder of what she did. what did she do? she tempted a negro. she was white, and she tempted a negro. she did something that in our society is unspeakable. she kissed a black man. not an old uncle but a strong, young, negro

they're willing to go out and try to lynch tom robinson, right? they have taken one of their upstanding citizens, bo radley, and locked him in the attic. he's been there for god knows how many years. has anybody in town done anything about it? no. lock your kids in the attic. that's the kind of town you're dealing with. as we're seeing this through the idse of scout, a child, we have -- through the eyes of scout, a child, we have to dig into it ourselves to see what's going on and once you do you realize that atticus doesn't have a chance. there's nobody to appeal to. he's going to lose. and the moral of "to kill a mockingbird" isn't that atticus finch is a great lawyer or the lawyer that we should follow. the moral of the book and the movie is that the republican lawyer won't work any more. we need a new kind of lawyer. the only way to clean up a town like this is to bring in the federales. you know, everybody's got to go to jail. i mean, these -- you know, if you think about it, who is the real hero of "to kill a mockingbird"? who's the one who

adventures of scout, jim as they tormented boo radley and watched surreptitiously the trial of tom robinson. reading the book as an adult, i was more impressed with the dignity and courage of tom and his lawyer, atticus finch, also mr. gregory peck. and i was astounded by the injustice of that error. that trial was 75 years ago. and for those of us who observe the legal system and write about it, we are still confronted with injustice and inequality in a system that often convicts innocent people, since been to prison, and even executes them. unlike many, i cannot say that atticus finch inspired me to go to law school. i don't know what i was thinking when i went to law school. but i do recall ye

atticus finch and is principled and courageous representation of tom robinson. on september 21, 2010, u.s. attorney general eric holder honored our law schools when he came to tuscaloosa, alabama to help celebrate half a century of "to kill a mockingbird" and to help us establish this award. our law school has a special partner in this award in sponsoring it. the aba journal is read by about half of the nation's lawyers meant late, about half a million lawyers. what we now call upon jack rice to make some remarks. jack is the executive director of the aba. [applause] >> thank you, dean. it will surprise right now, but occasionally the american bar association does things that are controversial. but we asked about the university of alabama to partner with them in this award, we were able to do something totally uncontroversial. honoring harper lee was a great idea. choosing the writer to highlight the rules of war and society is a great idea that we were able to define a role for this at the university of alabama. we were honored to do so. it's especially fitting

there is a line in the book front "to kill a mockingbird," were atticus if he didn't tell tom robinson. in the segregationist of structure. what role does faith play in mourning for social justice? robber, we will start with you. >> i think you have to start in the middle. >> they either gave you too much time to think or no time at all. >> well, you know, weary feet is culture. i think it has a lot to do with how we view our role, particularly lawyers. there is a very high expectation that notwithstanding the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, that there are certain principles and ethical standards and that people have faith in the fact that you will act upon the for the preservation of justice. and i ain't buying a march works. there are clearly exceptions to that rule is there are situations that have bad results that resulted prosecutors doing that thing, defense lawyers not doing good things. judges being in different two things. that changed the outcome and affect people's lives in a very adverse way sometimes. but when you look at that and the totality and that's wh

it's not just that atticus tells scout that he can't go to church if he doesn't represent tom robinson, he tells her numbers of things. he tells her i can't parent you, i can't have you do your chores. i can't walk down the street, i wouldn't be able to function as a son of this state. i couldn't represent the town in the legislature. you know, law students are taught to achieve the correct legal result. they're not taught to think about fundamental distinctions between right and wrong and common human courtesies and decencies. that's what atticus is about. he transcends what he learned at law school. he went beyond what you taught him, and he says, no, i understand the correct legal result, but it's also more important for me to do what's right. and i think that idea is also what drive t so much of this fiction. the john grisham characters when you think about one of my favorite books, "the rainmaker." you know, these are people who are tireless, energy energetic crusaders. morris dees, the real life people who just do the right thing. they just do the right 24eu7bg. and we don't teac

we have tom brokaw, walter isakson, mike murphy and jennifer granholm for the roundtable. >> you gene robinsonk, jim cramer joins the table. >> love jim cramer. >> how can you not love him? the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the peace of mind of owning a 2011 iihs top safety pick. the all-new volkswagen passat. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away fr