High drama and enduring social lessons emerge from many cases that don’t always become the subject of Supreme Court opinions. We’ll focus on the trial process and its players — judge, jury, litigants and their counsel — against the historical backdrop of contentious issues like the “Red Scare” (Sacco/Vanzetti and the Rosenbergs); race (O.J. Simpson); and the defenses of insanity and diminished capacity (Leopold/Loeb and Dan White, the killer of Moscone and Milk). Memorable “test cases” will also be examined: the Scopes Monkey Trial (religious fundamentalism vs. evolution) and the recent challenge to Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage in California. And we’ll highlight the talents of trial lawyers, some long forgotten and others as legendary as Abraham.