Area attorneys ruminate on the publication of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

We've done business in this court for years and years, and Mr. Finch is always courteous to everybody. He's not trying to mock you, he's trying to be polite. That's just his way."

- Judge Taylor to prosecution witness Mayella Ewell, who asserted she was raped by Tom Robinson, in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Monroeville, Ala., author Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" is being celebrated in many corners of the nation, as 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of its publication.

Lee's story about prejudice and courage in a bygone time created an unforgettable character in Atticus Finch, the Alabama lawyer who represents a black man falsely accused of sexually assaulting a teenage white girl. The defendant is convicted, but the book is remembered not for the unjust verdict, but for Finch's courage and willingness to take on such a impassioned case in the 1930s.

Today, the Pulitzer Prize-winning story is regarded as one of the nation's best pieces of literary fiction.

"I thought the story was excellent," said Gainesville attorney Joe Sartain, who grew up in Madison County. "I thought it laid out in principle, at least, what the legal profession needs to do and should do. ... It demonstrates very well a lawyer who believes in his cause."

Sartain's feelings also are reflected by two other lawyers with local connections.

Jack Carey, a retired lawyer who was a boy in Ila during the general period of the book, and Victor Johnson, a lawyer who practices in Danielsville, both admire the character of Atticus Finch.

In the book, Finch gave a closing argument that emphasized the importance of the American judicial system.

"A masterpiece of a closing argument," said Carey, who retired three years ago after a legal career in Gainesville that spanned five decades. "The closing argument was fitting for the time and the theme of the trial.

"In days past, I could relate to the situation for this reason. Lawyers in times past were more interested in helping clients than they were in making money. Today, it seems like most lawyers are interested in making money than helping their client - and that's a tragedy," Carey said.

Carey recalled two doctors in Ila when he was young, but only one lawyer in Madison County. Today, there are several lawyers.

"Atticus was actually a role model when I went to (law) school," said Johnson, who steps outside his law practice to volunteer in community programs and is an activist to protect the Broad River. He has read the book and seen both the movie staring Gregory Peck and a theatrical play based on the book.

"Sometimes lawyers are put in difficult situations, and that book strongly reflected that," Johnson said. "(Atticus) had to choose between his family and what was right. And if the people who are in charge of the legal system don't do what is right, the whole thing falls apart like a deck of cards."

Although Johnson didn't grow up during the book's period, he said he can identify with some of its racial issues.

"I grew up in very rural Mississippi before I moved to Georgia," he said. "My dad was a preacher, and he lost about half of his congregation because he supported equal rights."

Carey grew up in the 1930s and '40s, a son of the late Harold and Julian (Hill) Carey, both natives of Madison County. The novel, Jack Carey said, is a true reflection of the racial attitudes of those days.

There even are some courtroom scenarios that still ring true today. In the book, Scout, Atticus' daugher, reflects that jurors never look at the defendant if they have convicted him.

"There is some truth in that they will not look at the defendant if they are to announce a guilty verdict," Carey said. "I think that in high-profile cases such as that, you get a se

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