This episode examines The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, with an all-star cast, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance, and Frank Langella. The film is based on the 1969 trial of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and other anti-Vietnam War protestors prosecuted for conspiracy in connection with the mass protests —and brutal crackdown by police—at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (The eighth defendant, Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was severed from the case after being bound and gagged in the courtroom on the judge’s order). Our guest is Gerald Lefcourt, who not only is a leading criminal defense attorney, but also was part of the original defense team at the trial and represented Abbie Hoffman for over two decades.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
3:33 Meeting Abbie Hoffman
8:06 Nixon targets the Chicago 7 (then Chicago 8)
11:58 The defense team
13:25 The egregious treatment of Bobby Seale
22:45. Judge Hoffman: off his rocker
25:54 The genius of Abbie Hoffman and the art of political theater
30:36 David Dellinger and the MOBE
31:59 Abbie, Tom Hayden, and dueling strategies on the left
37:21 Abbie: “We have to steal the headlines”
41:22 Abbie takes on the CIA
43:50 Abbie and Jerry Rubin
46:04 The celebrity witnesses
48:08 What Aaron Sorkin missed
51:33 Abbie’s excellent tennis game
55:37 Losing battles and winning wars in political cases
59:53 The Chicago 7 trial’s relevance today
1:02:31 Abbie’s later career
1:07:09 Abbie’s final speech
Further Reading:
Hancock, Catherine, “Race and Disorder: The Chicago Eight Trial Judge and Prosecutors Meet the Constitution and Bobby Seale,” 96 Tul. L. Rev. 819 (2022)
Levine, Mark L. & Greenberg, Daniel eds., The Trial of the Chicago 7: The Official Transcript (2020)
Levenson, Laurie L., “Judicial Ethics: Lessons from the Chicago Eight Trial,” 50 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 879 (2019)
Linder, Douglas O. “The Chicago 8 Conspiracy Trial,” http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html
Mailer, Norman, Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968)
Sims, David, “Aaron Sorkin’s New Film Is the Right Story for This Moment,” The Atlantic (Oct. 16, 2020), https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/10/trial-of-the-chicago-7-aaron-sorkin-netflix/616755/
Schultz, John, The Conspiracy Trial of the Chicago Seven (2020)
Stevens, Dana, “The Trial of the Chicago 7 Is Timely, a Little Sexist, and a Lot of Fun,” Slate, Oct. 14, 2020, https://slate.com/culture/2020/10/trial-chicago-7-review-aaron-sorkin-movie-netflix.html
Weiner, Jon, Conspiracy i
Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated important cases to protect civil liberties and human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember.
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