GIDEON'S ARMY
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
This new HBO documentary begins with a captivating fact: That an accused prisoner’s right to counsel, to being represented by a public defender if if he or she cannot afford an attorney, came about only relatively recently, as the result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling after a man represented himself in court for allegedly robbing $5 and some sodas from a pool hall in 1961. That defendant was named Clarence Earl Gideon, but this documentary isn’t about him. After that Gideon factoid is established, it’s about Gideon’s “Army” – today’s pubic defenders, examined by hanging with a few of them in court, and in their offices.