About the Book

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"After I passed the bar, one of my friends, who finished law school with me, was going to be late to court one morning and called the court to let them know. When he got there, they found him in contempt of court for being late. He was jailed and fined $100 after the hearing. My friend paid it but was dissatisfied with the outcome and didn’t want the charges on his record. We appealed it. I wrote his briefs and typed them up. Then I went down and argued the case before the court of appeals. I later got a phone call congratulating me. I asked congratulations for what, and they said, “You won your case. The judge has been overruled.”  After winning that case, my first trial case, the courts could no longer hold a lawyer in contempt of court if they had a legitimate reason for being late and called."  

"Civil rights activist Lee Otis Johnson was my third trial case for possession of one marijuana cigarette. He had been convicted for 30 years, as the marijuana laws were ridiculous back then, for allegedly giving a joint to an undercover police officer. I took the case on appeal. We organized and started the process, all the way to federal court. That case made national headlines. Two years after Lee Otis had been convicted, they changed the marijuana laws. For marijuana, at that time, if you were a Black man, you could spend life in the penitentiary. Because I took on that case and won in appeals court, marijuana laws have gotten progressively better."

Bobby H. Caldwell (1934-2023) spent more than 50 years in the courtroom. He gained national attention for overturning Lee Otis Johnson's 30-year sentence for one marijuana cigarette in the 1960s. However, it was seeing the legalization of marijuana move across the country and President Joe Biden release a Proclamation on Marijuana Possession on October 6, 2022 that solidified his role in America.

Regarded as the "People's Lawyer," Caldwell successfully defended civil and human rights activists, including members of the TSU-5, Houston's People's Party II, and Houston's Black Panther Party. He remains relevant, as he stayed at the forefront of significant racially and politically motivated criminal cases during the Civil Rights Movement.

In The People's Lawyer, Bobby H. Caldwell gives a behind-the-scenes look at what radical representation, of an underrepresented people, at one of the most revolutionary times of the nation's history revealed. Caldwell has received national awards and recognition for his historic contributions to civil rights and continued to serve his community through his involvement with the Washington-Lincoln Alumni Association (WLAA) Houston. Most notably, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from both the Houston and National Black Panther parties and several NAACP awards.