A producer for NBC's today show called me this morning to say, "Thanks, but no thanks." The Today Show will be running a segment next Tuesday in which two scholars will debate the question "What is THE trial of the century?" (Yes, I agree that all these "blank-of-the-century"debates are somewhat silly, but I'm willing to play along). I was one of two finalists for the honor of debating Professor Charles Ogletree of Harvard who will contend that the O.J. Simpson trial was the century's greatest. I guess I never will meet Katie Couric.
But since NBC asked (and so has the Washington Post, the AP, the Fox News Channel, and assorted AM talk show hosts), I've decided to tell you what really is the trial of the century.
First, a few serious contenders. The Hauptmann "Lindbergh Kidnapping" Trial was called at the time "the greatest story since the Resurrection." It WAS a great story, involving the greatest hero of our century, every parent's worst nightmare, and a first-rate whodunit complete with ransom money passed in dark cemeteries and witnesses that could hardly be dreamt up in Hollywood. For sustained day-to-day public attention, the Hauptmann Trial, covered by more reporters than covered World War II, ranks number one. The Nuremberg Trials, however, were of far greater significance (though not truly American trials, and so probably disqualified). So was the "Rodney King Beating" Trial that led to massive riots and 58 deaths. More significant too were the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930's that produced two landmark Supreme Court decisions, reshaped race relations, and produced a terrific story of heroism in the person of Judge James Horton who set aside the guilty verdict of black rape defendant Haywood Patterson knowing that it would almost certainly end his career as an elected judge in Alabama.
