Deep Delta Justice

A Black Teen, His Lawyer, and Their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil Rights in the South

By: Matthew Van Meter

Narrated by: Brad Sanders

Finalist for 2021 Audie Award in History/Biography

The book that inspired the documentary A Crime on the Bayou

2021 Chautauqua Prize Finalist

The "arresting, astonishing history" of one lawyer and his defendant who together achieved a "civil rights milestone" (Justin Driver).

In 1966 in a small town in Louisiana, a 19-year-old black man named Gary Duncan pulled his car off the road to stop a fight. Duncan was arrested a few minutes later for the crime of putting his hand on the arm of a white child. Rather than accepting his fate, Duncan found Richard Sobol, a brilliant, 29-year-old lawyer from New York who was the only white attorney at "the most radical law firm" in New Orleans. Against them stood one of the most powerful white supremacists in the South, a man called simply "The Judge."

In this powerful work of character-driven history, journalist Matthew Van Meter vividly brings alive how a seemingly minor incident brought massive, systemic change to the criminal justice system. Using first-person interviews, in-depth research and a deep knowledge of the law, Van Meter shows how Gary Duncan's insistence on seeking justice empowered generations of defendants-disproportionately poor and black-to demand fair trials. Duncan v. Louisiana changed American law, but first it changed the lives of those who litigated it.

Critic reviews

"A seminal work of impeccable scholarship."—Library Journal, starred

"Excellent debut...readers will be struck by how many of the issues involved-voter suppression, public funding for private schools, racial inequalities in the criminal justice system-are still being legislated today."—Publisher Weekly, starred review

"An examination of a 1966 racial confrontation and its aftermath, which "would help dismantle the infrastructure of white supremacy that had strangled [a rural Louisiana] community for centuries". . . Will appeal to admirers of Bryan Stevenson . . . Timely reading."—Kirkus

"Matthew Van Meter dives into great detail through interviews, research and a rich knowledge of the law to reveal the society as well as the men subject to a justice system in need of systemic change."—Observer

"Deep Delta Justice is an uncommonly good true story told uncommonly well. Based on extensive reporting and first-rate historical research, it presents an unforgettable account of a landmark civil rights lawsuit that culminated in a Supreme Court decision affirming the right to a jury trial in most criminal cases. Van Meter's narrative, which takes more twists and turns than the Mississippi, is suspenseful, infuriating, and sometimes funny. This is a wonderful book, worthy of a permanent place in the literature of the American civil rights movement."—Patricia O'Toole,The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made and When TrumpetsCall: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House

"The story of Deep Delta Justice begins in 1966, when a Black teenager in Louisiana named Gary Duncan attempts to break up a fight. His trouble begins when he puts his hand on a white child. Van Meter traces how this incident and the trial that followed, Duncan v. Louisiana, eventually led to a major Supreme Court decision about one’s right to a jury trial."—LitHub

"Deep Delta Justice provides the arresting, astonishing history of a racial conflict that began on Louisiana's backroads and resulted in a momentous Supreme Court victory for all Americans. Pairing an investigative journalist's probing research with a novelist's eye for detail, Matthew Van Meter offers the definitive backstory of an all-too-often overlooked civil rights milestone."—Justin Driver, Yale Law School, author of The Schoolhouse Gate

"In the spirit of Melissa Fay Greene's classic Praying For Sheetrock, Matthew Van Meter takes readers to one of the most indelible yet obscure battlegrounds of the Civil Rights Movement and shows how grassroots heroism can topple even one of segregation's most fearsome tyrants."
—Samuel G. Freedman, Columbia University Professor of Journalism, author of Breaking the Line

Wow

this book is very intriguing in my opinion. very good read as well....it took me almost 2 weeks to finish...I don't read on the weekends

Wonderful story! I learned so much!

This was a terrific book. I knew very little about civil rights struggles in Louisiana, and even less about the Perez "dynasty." Van Meter is a wonderful story teller, and Brad Sanders read the story very well. I learned a great deal from listening to this book. I recommend it to all readers.

Timely story of a landmark civil rights case.

The timing of this publication with the black lives matter movement makes it clear that the struggle for justice is far from over and that it has been a long fight, not a new movement.

So well researched and told with gripping details. Thank you Mat Van Meter!