Legal Commentary

With all of the discussions of late about the impending retirement of Justice Souter, I began to think about depictions of the U.S. Supreme Court on film. Although there have been many films about law and lawyers, only a few actual High Court cases have reached the big screen. One site cites to the following list:

• Gideon's Trumpet ? A fictionalized account of the events of Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Supreme Court held that an indigent had the right to court-appointed counsel.
• Amistad ? Former Justice Harry Blackmun played the role of Justice Joseph Story in this fictionalized account of the real case, wherein the Court upheld the liberation of native Africans who had been kidnapped and brought to the United States after the importation of slaves had been prohibited.
• The People vs. Larry Flynt ? The film features a fictionalized portrayal of the real case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, in which the Court found that the First Amendment protected the right of Hustler Magazine to print emotionally distressing (but unbelievable) falsehoods.
• Separate But Equal ? A fictionalized account of the events of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case.

There have been many other interesting cases that have reached the U.S. Supreme Court, arguably with storylines just as compelling as those on the aforementioned list. Which ones would you recommend for film adaptation?