Legal Wars Wondery

Comedian Lenny Bruce was one of mid-century America’s most wanted outlaws. He didn’t rob banks or steal government secrets, but he did use dirty words in public—a lot.

Lenny Bruce believed the First Amendment protected every word he said. He was willing to stake his career and his freedom on it. And in 1964, a trial in New York City would require him to do just that.

Lenny Bruce becomes convinced that the entire criminal justice system is out to get him--including his own lawyers.

What began as a scheme concocted in the back room of a Tennessee drugstore, has snowballed into a legal circus. Two of the country’s most prestigious lawyers are going head to head before a national audience, with God, man and monkey on trial.

Thousands of people gather at the courthouse to watch the trial of the century--a showdown between two legal heavyweights: the bible-thumping William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, the defender of anarchists. On trial is the question of who gets to decide what people think.

The Scopes Monkey Trial is all but over--reporters have already started heading home--but Clarence Darrow has one more card up his sleeve. He calls William Jennings Bryan as a witness, and makes the Great Commoner look like an even greater fool.