No comments about Drowning in the Desert: A JAG's Search for Justice in Iraq.

No comments about Justice James Iredell.

No comments about The Warren Court in Historical and Political Perspective (Constitutionalism and Democracy).

No comments about Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution: Erie, the Judicial Power, and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-Century America.

1 comments about Justice Brennan: The Great Conciliator.

1. Justice Brennan spent more than thirty years on the Supreme Court. He joined the Warren Court, decried by some as "liberal activists". He served with distinction there, on the Burger Court, and finally the Rehnquist Court (which some decry as reactionary conservative activists). On all three, he regularly was the man who spoke for the Court on many of the important issues of the times.

   The enduring question is "How could this man mold and shape such disparate groups of Justices to the point where he wrote some of the most significant majority opinions of our time?" With typical modesty, Justice Brennan said, that he learned early how to count to five.

   Rod Clark does a masterful job in his chronicle of the life, the influences, the context and the enduring legacy of Justice Brennan. He was a trail blazer in a host of areas of jurisprudence: First Amendment law, criminal defendants rights and women's issues. He has authored dozens of opinions affirming rights which we now take for granted. All this from the man who said "I don't expect to distinguish myself on the Court".

   A true American original. The kind of person who helped make this country great. A wonderful and easy read.

1 comments about The Political Thought of Justice Antonin Scalia: A Hamiltonian on the Supreme Court.

1. I was an undergraduate student in Dr. Staab's courses at UCM. This work reads in a similar manner to the discussions that I recall. There are a number of books available on Justice Scalia that read more like biographies of the man or his political philosophy. This one is unique in trying to pain a more dynamic picture rather than just calling the justice a conservative or an originalist. It is a very academic book and the reading level seems just beyond that of the average high school student. It would rank as above average in terms of difficulty compared to many of my better college texts. Still, I've loaned it to several of my more advanced high school students and they have found it readable with a little assistance. A healthy understanding of American political history and the thinking of our early political leaders was needed to appreciate the analysis.

4 comments about Scoundrels to the Hoosegow: Perry Mason Moments and Entertaining Cases from the Files of a Prosecuting Attorney.

1. To the writer I say hats off and what a lot of fun I had reading this treasure. Great stories that keep you glued and also make it humorous at the end of each short story to give it that neat zing of laughter. The wanting to finish the next unfortunate event for some----but the fulfillment of gratitude for others-----also to see at the end of each story what the outcome of the next Scoundrel will be and how they get themselves a room at the Hoosegow. Thank You



2. Swingle hits a home run with these stories of the interesting cases he's handled in South East Missouri.
   
   Ranging from the hilarious to the not-funny-at-all, Swingle proves with his intelligence and wit why he's been re-elected as Cape Girardeau Missouri's prosecutor for many years, and will continue to be so.
   
   The stories would be appreciated by Mark Twain, and bear a Twain-like edge along with the humor.
   Ranging from a hilarious account of how a rough looking felon tried to pass a check stolen from a State Senator and got a face full of pepper spray for his trouble, to a story about a total monster who killed with no remorse, the stories are intensely interesting.
   
   It's one thing to read a dry news paper account of the check passers efforts to cash in and something quite else to read Swingle's humorous account of a jaded pawnshop worker and a policeman with a sarcastic humor versus versus a hood who's not the brightest bulb in the criminal world but who's very willing to "discuss it" with the police.
   
   Then too, the story of an unstoppable killer takes on a different color when I remember my frightened wife telling me that she heard something under our porch, when we lived in sight of the county jail the killer had just escaped from.
   To say the least, the neighbors were not to sure what was going on while I was peering under our porch with a flashlight in one hand and an assault rifle in the other.
   There's nothing at all funny about this case, but Swingle gives a good account of how he stopped the "unstoppable" murderer.
   
   Swingle writes with skill and the ability to hold the readers interest, not the easiest job for many writers.
   I've had the pleasure of both reading Swingle, reading about Swingle, and actually sitting on a jury in a trial he was prosecuting.
   
   Swingle does the best job yet to date of describing just HOW a county prosecutor decides whether to prosecute, what to prosecute FOR, and how he prepares and presents his case.
   Of particular interest is the information on why an honest prosecutor will not prosecute a case.
   
   The man does it all with flair, and I heartily recommend reading his work.
   I've been told that he hates to waste time, and when he has a few minutes on his hands, he writes.
   Here's hoping there's more to come.



3. Disclaimer: I am not objective on this topic. I bought this book, but I only read one chapter, "The Case of the Millionaire Murder", that related the murder trial of Bill Pagano. The CSI officer on the case, Jan Vessell, is my mother. As I was away at college at the time of the crime, investigation, and trial, I had never read a complete and objective telling of what happened. Now that I have, I must thank Mr. Swingle for his tenacity and talent at successfully prosecuting a case that nobody in Jefferson County expected him to win.
   
   Sadly, I wish Mr. Swingle had stayed in town, because the story has a typical Jefferson County ending. Were the ones who investigated this crime rewarded for their efforts? No. Wally Gansmann, Jan Vessell, and three other Jefferson County detectives were demoted. In my mother's case, with 13 years service to the department as the first female law enforcement officer in Jefferson County (and all the harassment you can imagine came with that), in spite of 8 years as crime scene investigator, attendee of the same FBI Academy Mr. Swingle attended, she was demoted first to dispatcher, then to jailor. My sister and I finally talked her into resigning from the department in 1993 after she was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer, no doubt brought on by her attempts to salvage her career from what was left of the machinery left behind by "Boss Hogg".
   
   And this is why Jefferson County is still the laughingstock of the St. Louis Metro area. My hat is off to you, Morley Swingle, for exposing what you could. You did an indescribable service to us. I only wish you could have helped us with the aftermath.



4. Having spent 5 semesters at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, and being a native of Jefferson County, I recognized some of the people and trials Morley Swingle wrote about and found them hilarious, entertaining, informative, and sometimes disgusting. It is a book worth reading and shows just how low some people will go or how honorable they will be. While the book doesn't necessarily flow from one chapter to the next, it makes it easier to be able to pick up anywhere in the middle of the book and read about a specific case. I only wish Swingle had referenced case and law numbers more. His simple explanations of legal lingo made reading easier and educational. Morley, if you're reading this...I sure am glad I never met you. :-)

1 comments about Fifty-Eight Lonely Men: Southern Federal Judges and School Desegregation (Illini Books, Ib 74).

1. The 58 men who sat as judges in the South when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954 had the least enviable job in America. Almost without exception, they had been raised in a climate of racism, and were respected members of their communities. Once the strategy of massive resistance took hold in the South, they were caught between having to follow the Supreme Court's directive in Brown, or continuing to be respected leaders of their own communities.

   How they resolved this dichotomy makes for great reading, and is one of the most intense tests of character imaginable.

5 comments about A Fool's Gold: A Story of Ancient Spanish Treasure, Two Pounds of Pot, and the Young Lawyer Almost Left Holding the Bag.

1. The introduction at the La Jolla bookstore said it all: cross between John Berendt and Ken Kesey, or carl Hiassen and Vince Bugliosi -- or as he put it, reminiscent of Mark Twain.



2. i have a couple of problems with this book.but we'll get to them later.
   
   there is an awful lot to like about this book. the characters are quirky and fun. the writing is breezy and entertaining. there are multiple twists and turns that are (usually) resolved in some outrageously funny way. and the ending was (to me)unexpected and intriguing.
   
   a really good read for an airport or beach.
   
   so what problems did i have? well, the first is minor. i found this book in the non-fiction section. it clearly is not that. there was an "author's note" on the copyright page that, if given a little more prominence, handled the issue. or publish as a work of fiction. either one.
   
   the other problem is much more serious.
   
   one anecdote intregal to the story is the "tale of the soldier who wouldn't make his bed." (strangely, it is important to the story).
   
   it is also plagarised. in 1956, leo rosten wrote "captain neuman m.d.". chapter seven is entitled "the happiest man in the world". and is the story of colby clay, a soldier who wouldn't make his bed. now,i'm not a lawyer. i don't even play one on tv.
   
   but i'm pretty certain that taking a chapter from someone else's work without attribution is considered a no-no in polite society.
   
   so if you just want an entertaining couple of hours, read this book. it's fun.
   
   if you think that plagarism is something that should be discouraged, i'd pass.



3. Bill Merritt has written a wonderfully entertaining fable about young lawyers learning the ropes, a delightful cast of society's castaways, buried treasure and even a little bit of science.
   
   Because Merritt casts himself as the central character, it is necessary to remember that this is fiction - or at least Merritt says so: "Author's note: This book isn't journalism. It is filled with made-up individuals, composite characters, and descriptions that do not match anything in the real world. If you think something in here is about you, it isn't. And, if you think you are going to make a big deal out of it, I've got plenty more on you that doesn't appear in the book, so think again."
   
   Within a few pages, of course, you'll have forgotten the warning, so compelling is Merritt's first-person narrative. The characters are compelling and believable.
   
   There's Thaddeus Silk, now deceased, who hires Merritt as an associate in his small, highly suspect law office. Silk's death from natural causes brings in the police, an aggressive DA, the bar association disciplinary committee and others. Thaddeus, it seems, had long been suspected of a variety of nefarious dealings, including fencing a long rumored Spanish treasure that had been buried on Oregon's cost.
   
   Merritt provides a fascinating recounting of the legends of Neahkahnie Mountain where, it is said, a treasure is buried. Along the way, Merritt also provides an unexpected explanation of trade winds and the history of Spanish trade a few centuries ago. Utterly unexpected, these facts provide both elements of the main plot and an unusual backstory. Good work, indeed.
   
   When Thaddeus Silk shuffles off the mortal coil, Merritt is left the task of picking up the pieces of his mentor's practice. There's Grady Jackson, seemingly a harmlessly befuddled treasure hunter who, in his youth, had been a heroic soldier. Jolene, the office receptionist, was hired by Thaddeus on a work-release program after Thaddeus had bungled her case. Her boyfriend Tail Pipe lives largely on another planet. Abby Birdsong is an aging hippy with a marijuana possession charge against her that just keeps getting bigger.
   
   Soon Merritt himself is facing indictment by an aggressive DA.
   
   The story has plenty of twists and turns as Merritt, still a young and inexperienced lawyer, makes his way through one predicament after another. In terms of handling humor, Merritt is an ace. His storytelling flows smoothly, anchoring your sympathy to Merritt as the subject and eliciting boos and catcalls for the evil guys (who really aren't all that evil: just kind of dumb).
   
   It would be unfair to detail the story to any extent. Take my word for it: there's not a dull page in the book. There's also no sex, no immediate gore, no cliffhangers: just out-of-the-ordinary situations with some pretty oddball characters.
   
   Summer's almost here; the weather's getting nicer: this is the perfect beach read.
   
   Jerry



4. Why was this book in the non-fiction section at the library? I can understand changing the names of people but counties? There is no Siletz County, Oregon. Why not make up the state too? As fiction there leaves a lot to be desired. The back jacket says"truth is stranger than fiction". Either write non-fiction with names changed to protect identities or write a compelling novel. This is neither.



5. About the time you realize that you don't have a clue about what will happen next (and you can't wait to find out), you realize the song playing in your head is "What a long strange trip it's been".

5 comments about The Wrong Man: A True Story of Innocence on Death Row.

1. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, who avoided Florida's electric chair six years ago when his condemnation for murder was thrown out, was denied parole Wednesday on a sentence of life plus five years for raping a 16-year-old Orlando girl and slashing her eyes in 1974.

   The state Parole Commission voted against changing Spaziano's April 2060 parole date on the rape conviction after a 40-minute hearing Wednesday when family members and attorneys on both sides testified in the case of the one-time member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang.

   Spaziano, now 58, will be eligible to seek another parole hearing in 2009.




2. This book is coming from a positon of proving capital punishment unjust because *innocent* people are wrongly punished. BUT...what if Spaziano is GUILTY ??? Does that then make the authors argument null and void ?

   Interestingly enough, I oppose the Death Penalty because of my strong scriptually based spiritual beliefs. But I DO agree with punishment for crimes committed....and Joe Spaziano is as guilty as they come. I met him personally and just prior to his murder of an innocent young girl, when he was still self proclaiming himself as *Crazy Joe*...and justifiably so.

   Where are the droves of testimony from the woman, one of my closest friends at the time of the murder, who innocently went for a ride with her then boyfriend Spaziano and his cohort,DiLisio, while never realizing that they were heading for the Florida Seminole County dump to discard of Spaziano's lifeless victim's body ??? Where are the droves of documented commentary from questioning this key eye witness about when parked at the dump that night, Joe Spaziano told his then girlfriend that if she dared to turn around and look at what they were doing...that he would KILL her ??? But she DID turn around...and she knew what she saw...and she went into Wintness Protection in order for the TRUTH to be told...and voluntarily became yet another innocent victim, but this one sentenced to a life of hiding and fear because of threats for retribution from the unjailed *Outlaw* motorcycle gang which *Crazy Joe* Spaziano belonged to.

   Details, details, details of Joe Spaziano's guilt are so undeniably missing that it is no wonder *READERS* would easily be led down the path of thinking this heinous killer is innocent rather than guilty for what he indeed did do !!!

   Using THIS CASE to make the authors cry for unjustice against *the innocent* concerning capital punishment is...TOTALLY ABSURB and even HARMFUL.

   The author appears to have written this book from one other perspective...that of making a lot of money from the sales of his book. The key eye witness, Joe Spaziano's then girlfriend, testified for only ONE reason...so that the truth would be known and justice would be fulfilled. She never wrote a book about her story with this crazy man...one that has many, many, many more filthy and demeaning details of the unspeakable acts Spaziano and other Outlaw bikers did to their rival motorcycle gangs as well as other innocent people or even their very own members if that member did not comply to their *rules*.

   Think about it...surely you, the reader of this book, must conclude that you're being fleeced.




3. 
   
   
   Jerry Layne Rogers, Sr. -- wrongfully convicted and innocent. From 1989 - 1992, I was his investigator at CCR.
   
   Mr. Rogers' case consisted in 1992 of at least 80 boxes of documents, from court files, prosecutor and law enforcement files, trial and evidentiary hearing transcripts, etc. Mr. Rogers's case was the largest and most complicated that CCR [The Office of Capital Collateral Representative -- a state agency in the judicial branch of Florida government] has ever represented that I am aware of.
   
   The second largest and most complicated was that of Mr. Gerald Stano, whose lead attorney during most of the development of his case was Mark E. Olive.
   
   In 1995, Mr. Rogers began receiving pro bono representation from the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling. The result was an unanimous Florida Supreme Court (FSC) 26 page opinion ordering a new trial in Mr. Rogers' case due primarily to prosecutorial misconduct, in particular Brady v. Maryland violations.
   
   To read the opinion, go to the FSC website, then at "Public Information", to the recent opinions, to the year 2001, then toward the bottom at February 15, 2001, one will find the FSC opinion.
   
   During the summer of 2002, Mr. Rogers was re-convicted, however sentenced to life upon the jury recommendation. Now twice Mr. Rogers has been wrongfully convicted.
   
   In 2004, the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal denied relief. The FSC declined to accept jurisdiction and thus denied the petition for review.
   
   Mr. Rogers' case is pending Federal review.
   
   
   
   
   For those interested in reading the narrowly decided by four to three vote Florida Supreme Court opinions regarding two more death sentenced persons whose innocence is an authentic issue, please go to the FSC website, then go to the recent opinions, then chose the correct year and scroll down to the following two cases:
   
   Roy Swafford: April 18, 2002
   
   Peter Ventura: May 24, 2001
   
   
   Additionally, the issue in the below cases is DNA testing that proves that Roy Swafford did not rape Brenda Rucker:
   
   Roy Swafford: March 26, 2004 Case Nos. SC03.931 and SC03.1153



4. I agree with half of the other reviews: the author is ego-centric and self-righteous in his bent and erroneous position. The zealousness at which he seems to embrace Joseph Spaziano's innocense is nothing less than mind boggling. Therefore one must question whether his agenda is to prove this person, Joe "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, as an innocent victim or is it more accurate to conclude that the author is fervent in his quest only to prove himself correct.
   
   If you have a heart towards assisting the truly innocent and often overlook victims, your valuable time would be greater served elsewhere. Find some worthwhile publications that can help you minister to the truly needy instead of spending money to promote such outlandish writings.



5. I am myself a law student, and very interested in anti-death penalty work. Reading this book, however, is unlikely to convince anyone of the wrongness of the death penalty and very likely to convince the average reader that anti-death penalty advocates are unbalanced and as "crazy" and "guilty" as those they represent.
   Was Joe Spaziano guilty as charged? Probably not.
   Is Michael Mello one of the most repulsive lawyers in America? That's putting it mildly.
   I do not wish to launch an ad homimen attack on the author, but when the "hominem" in question inserts himself into the book as much as Mello does, it seems fair to comment on him. I have no problem with his anti-death penalty bias, and he does document ample reasons why Spaziano may well have been innocent. (I would say he stops short of the burden of proof, however.) But Mello is easily the most disgusting character in this book. He launches into long descriptions of his substance abuse, for instance--which he never disclosed to his client, saying only that he had to be "hospitalized" when he was sent away for over a month of rehab at his employer's expense. He seems to think the reader will be fascinated by his various failed relationships. Although he goes into great detail about his supposedly fairy-tale marriage to "Deanna" ("first and last marriage for us both"--I'll bet)he forgets his first "wife," Ruthanne. Coincidentally, this woman is the mother of his child, who is never mentioned again after the two of them break up. (Poor Larkin!) And let's not forget that Deanna was his student at Vermont Law, although he takes pains to say that she was on a leave of absence when they began dating. I certainly hope he doesn't teach legal ethics at Vermont.
   There's also the long side trips discussing how undisciplined he is with his personal finances, details of his battles with the Vermont Law dean (in his paranoid style, he claims they wanted to revoke his tenure--I wouldn't have blamed them a bit), and his equally paranoid-fueled rants against Spaziano's other attorneys and a newspaper which had taken up Spaziano's cause. It's easy to see why so many people believed in Spaziano's guilt: With Mello fighting his battles, doubtless the opposing side was inclined to think the worst. I was singularly unimpressed by the "petition" signed by various celebrities, many of whom were also passionate believers in Mumia Abu-Jamal's (Wesley Cook's) innocence. I am from Philadelphia, and while I am staunchly anti-death penalty, one must either be delusional or ignorant of the facts to believe in Jamal's innocence. Being against the death penalty does not mean one must believe in the factual innocence of every defendant.
   Yet none of these personal failings are nearly as telling as the fact that Mello just doesn't seem to be a terribly competent attorney. His official legal writings (those we see) are poorly written and filled with invective. His oral arguments are even worse--I've seen more professional presentations in Moot Court. Spaziano chose to take a no-contest plea which ensures he will spend the rest of his life in prison--way to go, Mello!
   All told, this is a story of a man--the lawyer, not the criminal--who turned everyone against himself and his cause, doing his client a huge disservice. He probably should have been disbarred, as he feared at one point he would be. Much like the film "The Life of David Gale," this is anti-death penalty propaganda which makes the activists look even sicker than the over-zealous cops and prosecuters who often pervert the process. A far better examination of a death penalty case which was reversed (and the client freed) is William Costopoulous' "Principal Suspect," about the Jay Smith case in Pennsylvania. Costopoulous is an excellent writer and extremely professional, gifted attorney--a further opposite from Mello is impossible to find. Also excellent is Mark Fuhrman's recent "Death and Justice," which describes how Fuhrman, once a death penalty advocate, changed his mind. Don't waste your time with the pitiful, sad, and seemingly delusional Mr. Mello.