A half-century after Anthony Lewis' award-winning Gideon's Trumpet (Random House, 1964) chronicled the story of the Gideon v. Wainwright court case (which ensures poor defendants are provided with lawyers by the state). A Muted Trumpet picks up where he left off. Reporter Karen Houppert examines the legacy of the decision, chronicling the cases of defendants who have relied on Gideon's promise, bringing renewed attention to an essential but failing aspect of the US criminal justice system and offering insight into how it might be saved.