The Perfect Shot

Many of the events and themes in The Perfect Shot revolve around the American justice system and how corruption, bureaucracy, and human error often cause it to fall short of the ideals in the Constitution. Todd and his brother, Warren, who is a lawyer, understand how patterns of abusing power affect vulnerable people, and they educate Brian and his friends so that they are more aware of them, too.

When Todd and Brian begin reading about the case of Leo Frank, Brian is shocked by how unfairly he is treated by the court. The southern community in Georgia was already prejudiced against him as a Jewish man, and instead of investigating real evidence, the judge and jury listened to and believed untrue stories about him. The prosecution paid witnesses to maintain the narrative of Leo’s guilt, and the corrupt system led to his being lynched when his sentence was commuted. This storyline draws on the history of lynchings in the United States, which emerged as a problem after the end of the Civil War and endured into the 20th century. After slavery was abolished, the legal system was used to perpetuate anti-Black violence and discrimination—Black Americans were often linked to crimes without evidence or accused of crimes that never happened at all.