5 comments about To Punish and Protect: A DA's Fight Against a System That Coddles Criminals.

1. This was a very good short-intermediate length book, and it seems to have started lots of discussion - her name recognition in far-away places like Canada, California, and the Midwest seems to be huge, at least for a holder of a county office.



2. HATED IT ,SEEMS TO BE SELF ENDEARING FOR AN ARROGANT FAN BASE,I DIDNT SEEM TO COME ACROSS ANYTHING RELATING TO HER TRIP TO FL. WHERE SHE WAS SITED FOR ENDULGING HERSELF WITH EXOTIC CARS,ETC.
   NORE HER RESEMBLANCE TO THE CHARACTER IN CAPE FEAR,SHE STILL THINKS THE FBI ARE STEALTHALLY STALKING HER,THROUGH THE PHONES, AND WIRES IN HER CAR RADIO,SHE RELIES TO HEAVILLY ON PUBLICITY AND ,WELL, ETC.



3. excellent book ,i kind of had her figured out wrong.rub that lamp and she'll make it happen ..



4. This book provides a succinct view of the Criminal Justice System, from an angle which many outside of Law Enforcement rarely see: the plight of the victims to endure and relive the horrors brought on them by predators, in their quest for justice. "To Protect and Punish," screams for reform. With each story told, comes the need to advocate for changes in our penal laws which have become outdated.



5. I picked up this book expecting an exciting "Law and Order" overview of a prosecutor fighting the good fight against the criminals of society. While this book certainly covers that, it also includes heartfelt stories of victims overcoming the odds, and heartbreaking ones of victims being cheated by the system. It shows Mrs. Pirro's efforts to address the wrongs she writes about in this book, especially in regards to crimes against women, children, the elderly and minorities. Remarkably, it's also a pretty easy read - I was able to read it in 2 days. I would definitely encourage you to read this book.

3 comments about Leaving the Bench: Supreme Court Justices at the End.

1. I am a Supreme Court junkie but I confess this is one of the most curious books about the court that I have ever read. If you thought that there was no aspect of the lives of US Supreme Court justices too obscure for CQ's The Supreme Court Compendium to answer, think again.

   David Atkinson's book looks at only one thing - the circumstances in which US Supreme Court justices come to leave the bench and the details of their deaths. I suspect that some might consider this book the epitome of the scholarship of trivia but I would disagree. It has a very narrow focus but a larger and more important picture emerges from it - the reluctance of justices to leave the bench and the near impossibility of removing them against their will. By the time you have read it you may be surprised how many justices remained on the bench long past their "sell by" dates. It is also interesting to see the strange devices adopted by the court to work around the problems of coping with brain damaged, mentally unstable, or senile tenured colleagues.

   Atkinson's scholarship is impeccable - no justice is too obscure or their tenure too distant or too short for him to have unearthed nothing about them. The book details what is known about the circumstances in which each justice left the bench whether through death, resignation or retirement. For completeness Atkinson always gives details of the circumstances (both physical and medical) in which each justice died. The level of detail is extraodinary - it even includes details of members of the court attending their funerals or of justices who refused to sign their testimonials.

   My biggest headache was giving this book its star rating. I first considered a three star rating because in the ranks of Supreme Court studies this must bring up the rear. However, the book deserves to be judged in terms of what it set out to achieve: to catalog the circumsrtances in which justices leave the Supreme Court bench. Its achievement cannot be faulted in those terms and thus it earns its five stars.

   However, in quite different terms it also merits five stars. I bought this book mainly as a reference source but found myself reading it straight through. Because coverage is comprehensive and the section on each justice is short, the whole book is curiously addictive. 'Leaving the Bench' had to compete with my pleasure reading of John Grisham's novel The Brethren - and Mr Atkinson won. I'm not suggesting that University Press of Kansas has a dark horse best seller on its hands but this book really can be read with interest.




2. This book gives the details on the death and/or retirement of every Supreme Court justice, and gathers information not easily found any place else. The book is meticulously researched, and presents, after the examination of the problems sometimes encountered with Supreme Court justices who would not resign, a simple and I think probably effective solution which would not require a Constituional amendment. The book also includes an appendix which lists the burial site of each Justice. Ten are buried in Arlington Cemetery and none are buried west of Boulder, Colorado. Anyone interested in Supreme Court history will find this book hard to lay down. I did.



3. This was an approach studying indivdual justices rather than cases in describing the Supreme Court. Would highly recommend social science instructors use the material when discussing the workings of the Court. Would like to have seen more information on the problems and contributions of the many law clerks who are essential to the operation of the Court.

2 comments about A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal Rights.

1. When reading about the history of the NAACP's and the Legal Defense Fund's struggle for human rights, we tend to hear more about Thurgood Marshall and not enough about Robert Carter, who was a integral part of the fight. After many years, Robert Carter has shared his perspective with us.
   
   Tales from Carter's childhood and schooling are simply stated. Given the discrimination and hardship with which he grew up, these tales are more aptly labeled, "simply understated. His accomplishments through adversity are clearly laudable, but we don't get all the detail we would hope for. He does discuss a falling out between Marshall and him, and he also discusses grabs for power as Thurgood left. However, we don't get this level of detail on the cases.
   
   Regardless of the level of detail, this is a very informative read. I would recommend that anyone wanting to know more about our continuing struggle with civil rights should read this book.



2. Judge Robert Carter gives a blow by blow account of the legal fronts of the civil rights struggle: the personalities involved, the infighting among them, the battles won, lost, and nearly neglected. Brown v. Board is well-told elsewhere, while other struggles receive overdue attention (e.g., the battle for the NAACP to preserve its member lists from scrutiny by officials striving to break the organization's back).
   
   Carter perceives himself as the uncharismatic technocrat of the struggle, an unheralded leader in a fight who was unceremoniously jettisoned from its core despite his impressive contributions.
   Accordingly, his account is that of a dutiful documentarian, rather than a labor of love, and the writing suffers for a dearth of passion.

No comments about Gods and Lawyers.

No comments about The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas: A Legacy of Place.

No comments about Reminiscences Of An Old Georgia Lawyer.

1 comments about The Passion of My Times: An Advocate's Fifty-Year Journey in the Civil Rights Movement.

1. William Taylor is a gifted writer and one of the great civil rights lawyers of our time. His leadership/insider view of the multiple dimensions of civil rights advocacy [data and testimony collection, Congressional hearings, the courts, regulation enforcement, executive orders, judicial appointment fights, etc.]is must reading for all, particularly people of color, women, people with disabilities, and others who still aspire to justice and the American dream.
   
   Bill McCrone, Ph.D., J.D.

1 comments about Taming the Storm.

1. "Hero in war and peace, implacable enemy of sham and duplicity, living symbol of courage and fairness, jurist par excellence. Through tides of emotion surged menacingly about you, you have read the law as it was, not as other might have wished it to be" (Bass, Taming the Storm, pg. 403)
   
   These words inscribed on an honorary degree from Saint Michael's College hung on the wall of Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr.'s chambers and personified the legacy of one of the most significant judges within the last century of American history. In his 1993 book, "Taming the Storm," Dr. Jack Bass goes to great lengths to reveal this modest hero to a generation not necessarily familiar with the judge who stood behind the traditional historic scene in the Civil Rights Movement. Judge Johnson's deeply held beliefs of personal and judicial integrity as well as a strong sense of justice can be seen in his landmark verdicts toward Civil Rights, prison reform, and state mental health care.
   
   I felt a bit like Bill Moyers' crew who had interviewed him in 1980. He said, "The only Johnson they'd ever heard of was Andrew and Lyndon. And to find such impregnable character in such a winsome form was like a discovery of a new hero" (Bass, Taming the Storm, pg 370). The book, more than anything, renews an optimism of finding legitimate Southern heroes - men and women of true integrity.
   
   The story of Judge Johnson, and consequently Dr. Bass's book, are essential not only to scholars but perhaps more importantly to a new generation of Southern men and women. Those who may look back on twentieth century southern history with a certain level of embarrassment can know that a beacon of rationale and justice derived from the south.

5 comments about In the Teeth of the Wind: A Study of Power and How to Fight It.

1. In the Teeth of the Wind is a comprehensive look into the legal mind and principles of a practicing attorney who unwittingly fell into some monumental cases and became involved with some very unusual people. However, the book is not written for lawyers and is easy for the layman to understand. The book relates one man's quest to fight for the underdog and challenge the establishment. It provides an inspirational account of how a former Assistant U.S. Attorney fell out of favor with the Establishment and became a fighter for freedom. It provides a tour of the Court system and exposes corruption on a incredible scale. It is a natural flowing read, yet riveting. No fluff. Stops you dead in your tracks and says, 'Pay attention this is important.' Fascinating and told with wit and understanding of the human condition.



2. "In the Teeth of the Wind' should be of interest to the estimated 70 million Americans who have been termed "tax protestors" at one time or another, and to the more than 110 million Americans who are disaffected, and in all other ways turned off, by the Government and its process.

   Waxman's insightful, insider tales of woe reveal that "ethics in action" has become ethic's inaction, and 'due process' has become DO process, as the reader begins "to realize that the thing that most oppresses people is the law."

   Ironically turning the phrase of Associate Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said that the "jury should render its verdict in the teeth of the law," Waxman attests to the devolution of the practice of law, and the descent and decay of all legal process to the putrid state it's in today. I'm glad I read this book! I hope millions of others will read it and take action to stop the degeneration of our once great nation.

   For Liberty in Our Lifetime, R.J. Tavel, J.D. Founder: Liberty's Educational Advocacy Forum at Freedomlaw.com promoting 'action that raises the cost of State violence for its perpetrators . . . lay(ing) the basis for institutional change.' [Noam Chomsky]




3. This book is interesting, informative and easy to read.

   If you've ever had contact with what we are pleased to call the 'Justice System' in this country, you were probably not pleased with the results. Well, this book shows you that it is even worse than you thought. Written in shirt sleeve english, it is a series of short stories by a former insider, exposing the failures of the government and our justice system to provide justice. In a simple and interesting style, the book gives example after example of what happens to the little guy when people with access to the levers of power want a particular result from the 'Justice System.' Contains some thoughtful insights on our personal freedom or whats left of it, reforming our laws, and how we will do business with each other in the future. I enjoyed it and I think you will too.




4. In a series of case-centered vignettes that range from bizarre to historic
   (often both), establishment-turned-rebel lawyer Shelly Waxman intends
   to expose massive and unfortunately routine corruption and unfairness
   in the legal system and the threat these pose to our freedom. This he
   does, in spades. However, the book is also a treasure trove of slices of
   "unknown" history. Spooks, Chicago "plumbers" (in Latin America they'd
   be called right-wing death squads, no?), Black Panthers, the Belanco
   Religious Order, IRS hearings -- 'tis amazing what Waxman encountered
   and became entangled in over the course of one career. At times I wished
   Waxman had an editor. By book end, I only wanted more. Waxman's stranger
   than fiction true stories and crunchy, biting, learned-the-hard-way
   observations about power, corruption and freedom had me hooked.



5. Are you one of the millions who think there is no such thing as an honest lawyer who cares more for righteousness, reason, and reality than for process, payoff, and power? You'd be wrong. Shelly Waxman was a made man, an insider who had only to protect the powerful and sacrifice the expendable to become a highly placed Federal lawyer, perhaps someday a judge. Instead he blew the whistle on prejudice, corruption, and even murder taking place behind the bar, for which act of justice he was thrown from the halls of power. Eschewing the paneled office, the Armani and the Rolex, and the favor of such luminaries as the paranoid J.Edgar Hoover, Shelly devoted himself to defending the truth. This book is not a tale of only one such courageous act, but of many such cases, some you will recognize from the front pages of the last thirty years of our history. "In The Teeth Of The Wind" reads like pulp fiction, exciting and surprising, with a cast of quirky characters, but it is all true. If you care about the degeneration of the American system of justice, and you would like to know about one man's lifelong struggle to keep it the honorable institution it was created to be, then put this book in your shopping cart now.

1 comments about A Rift in the Clouds: Race and the Southern Federal Judiciary, 1900-1910.

1. This was a truly insightful and inspiring read. Highly informative and well-written as it reveals the strength and challenges of 3 unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. Speer, Jones and Treiber were no doubt pioneers of righteousness in a society that at the time lacked basic principles of virtue and morality. I highly recommend this book to all students of American and particularly Civil Rights history. I honestly can't wait for the author's next book!