And the walls came tumbling down : closing arguments that changed the way we live, from protecting free speech to winning women's suffrage to defending the right to die / Michael S. Lief, H. Mitchell Caldwell.

"A Lisa Drew book."

Includes index.

To be or not to be : Karen Ann Quinlan and the right to die -- The Amistad odyssey : American courts decide if a free man can be forced into slavery -- Enemy within : radio star John Henry Faulk challenges the McCarthy-era blacklist -- A woman's rightful place : Susan B. Anthony casts a vote and battles for the ballot -- The truth shall set you free : the English crown and colonial government try muzzling newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger and the fledgling American press -- The porn king and the preacher : Larry Flynt takes on the moral majority and becomes an unlikely champion for free speech -- What price too high? : One woman's fight for survival against cancer and her HMO -- Cleansing the gene pool : Carrie Buck's forced sterilization and the limits on reproductive freedom.

A collection of closing arguments from eight landmark trials spanning 250 years of American history, all of which redefined civil rights in the United States and profoundly impacted society.