No comments about Champion of Civil Rights: Judge John Minor Wisdom (Southern Biography Series).

3 comments about Earl B. Dickerson: A Voice for Freedom and Equality (Chicago Lives).

1. Earl Dickerson is a name unknown to most civil rights activists today,but without his contributions that started nearly eighty years ago the United States would still be "a third world country" in regards to race relations.As Chicago aldermen(the First black Democrat),activist member of FDRs FEPC,member and President(1951-'54) of the progressive National Lawyers Guild(labeled "subversive" by the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. House Un-Americans)Why is it ALL organizations that want to extend freedom,in the U.S., are labeled "RED"?Mr Dickerson(deceased 1985) was a pioneer and visionary that ALL Americans should get to know and admire.
   In this excellent biography you will learn that NOT ALL opponents of expanding Civil Rights to Black Americans were Southern Demcrats(Dixiecrats), and reactionary Republicans,but also so-called "liberals",who did not hesitate to use red-baiting against the wealthy businessman(insurance and the law).In the name of anti-communism many sins have been committed by the U.S. government at home and abroad.A worthy addition to any serious student of recent U.S. history,especially anyone wanting to know more regarding the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties battles of the twentieth-century.You will also learn a lot about the ins and outs of Chicago politics,by reading this book.Gideons Army(3vol.Marzani and Munsell)by the late NU professor of Journalism Curtis MacDougal is a invaluable contribution in getting a look at Illinois,and in general,U.S.leftwing politics in the late 1940s.This book came out in the middle 1960s,it MAY still be available.The role of the U.S. Communist Party,in the Henry Wallace campaign for President in 1948,of which Mr. Dickerson was a supporter, is fully discussed by Prof.MacDougall, who also was a Wallace backer.In the '48 elections Illinois Demcrats made sure that FDRs former Vice President WAS NOT On the ballot.



2. Prominent journalist Robert J. Blakely and freelance writer Marcus Shepard present Earl B. Dickerson: A Voice for Freedom and Equality, the first ever biography of Earl B. Dickerson (1891-1986), an independent-minded African-American who spent his life struggling against racial injustice. The racial oppression in his native Mississippi forced him to flee to Chicago at age fifteen; yet Chicago was no utopia. Dickerson worked his way through preparatory schools and college, a segregated officers' training school, and law school at the University of Chicago. His distinguished career included membership in FDR's first Fair Employment Practices Committee; leadership in the movement that broke the color barrier to membership in the Illinois State Bar Association; and his driving role behind the Hansberry v. Lee U.S. Supreme Court case that brought about the beginning of the end of restrictive real estate covenants, used as a legal tool of segregation in the North. A thoroughly researched, engagingly told life story that brings to life the man behind the pitched legal battles for social progress.



3. Earl B Dickerson is to the Nupes as Thurgood Marshall is to the Alphas. This a well written book that displays how another Black man (besides Dusable) had a great influence on how chicago was developed. Lawyer, Activist, millionaire, and one of the founders of my beloved "Greater" Beta chapter makes Earl B one of the most powerful black men in history. Men like this need more exposure to the masses so that more young black men will have an idol/ role model to pattern themselves after.This is a book that is not only good for black history but is also a very good history of chicago. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No comments about May It Please the Court!.

No comments about My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin.

5 comments about 100 Words per Minute: Tales from Behind Law Office Doors.

1. I have been a legal assistant/paralegal for over 15 years and was excited to find a book about my life. I read it in one sitting. I loved it! I laughed a lot and cried too. Thank you for the wonderful tribute to our profession.



2. A masterpiece of workplace sociology! To begin with, Sara is an absolutely amazing writer: the poetry throughout, even in the prose, is stunningly beautiful. And the service she has provided to clerical workers and their bosses by writing "100 Words Per Minute" is immeasurable and invaluable.
   
   Alice Kisch
   Editor, Retired Legal Secretary



3. Several years ago I read Ms. Sara's book of poetry, To Be Filed, which I enjoyed quite a bit. So I was very happy to find she'd published a new book of both poems and stories, 100 Words per Minute.
   
   Like "To Be Filed", this book focuses on her experiences working in various law offices since the 70's. The stories are a blend of the funny, nostalgic, and reflective. For anyone who works in a law office, you'll recognize many of these characters. For anyone who hasn't, this will be a revealing peek into the real world of law. The egos, the conflicts, the deadlines and stress. It's all here. Sara weaves together tales from all over to create a coherent whole, held together by her constant longing for something different, and her continual return back to the belly of the beast.
   
   Those who enjoy this book will also like "Legal Tilt" which also looks inside the legal world and exposes the truths hidden there.



4. 100 words per minute is a lively fast read that tells stories of what it's really like to work in a Law office. Besides the crazy and wonderful characters Adina Sara describes, there is a profound message underneath about how sometimes a career finds you and that can turn out fine. A job is something that you do to pay the rent and a career is supposed to be an area where you have much interest and grow and develop. But a job can turn into a career and sometimes it can do more for you than make money. The people you work for and work with are often where the most learning lies. Adina Sara was appreciated for her skills and that is what kept her in the Law field. This is a good read for all office workers.



5. Part short fiction anthology, part memoir, 100 Words Per Minute: Tales From Behind Law Office Doors is a collection of ultra-brief, wry, witty, sometimes nasty, always insightful short stories by veteran law office worker Adina Sara. From backbiting coworkers to clueless bosses to litigators of all flavors from megalomaniacal to nearly-dead from exhaustion, 100 Words Per Minute offers a wry glimpse into trials and tribulations, and what working within America's legal system is really like. 100 Words Per Minute is a singularly delectable collection, whether the stories are savored a few at a time or all at once.

1 comments about Criminal Justice Pioneers in U.S. History.

1. We learn by example and the profiles in this book have much to teach us. Among the significant examples is Penny Harrington, the first woman in America to lead a major metropolitan police department. As said by police historian Dorthy Moses Schulz, "Penny Harrington is one of only a handful of people who can claim to have changed American policing forever...." The lessons learned by Penny - and the important lessons she shares with others - can be read in her highly intimate autobiography, "Triump of Spirit," which was published in 1999. Penny is not only a criminal justice pioneer, she is a shining example of a woman who beat the odds and paved the way for all women who strive for a career in law enforcement. (The reviewer is the author of "Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command," which also profiled Penny and 12 other brave women who broke through the brass ceiling of policing.)

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.

No comments about Climbing Jacob's Ladder: From Queens to Tuskegee: A Trial Lawyer's Journey on Behalf of 'the Least of These'.

5 comments about Truth at Any Cost: Ken Starr and the Unmaking of Bill Clinton.

1. I just finished reading the Hunting of the President by Conanson and Lyon, and Truth at Any Cost. These books provide an instructive contrast. Thus, while Hunting provides copious footnotes for factual assertions, Truth far too often presents the judgments, feelings, assessments and views of Starr and his staff in subtle substitution for attributed facts and as though those statements were the complete truth and not worthy of further examination. This fault becomes more clear when combined with the artful and disingenuous sorting and choice of facts to support its assertions.

   Some readers have expressed approval of the discussion of legal stategy presented by Truth and there certainly is plenty of discussion of these subjects which can serve to inform. But what a critical comparision of Hunting and Truth reveals is how an advocate's ordering of facts, use of conclusions in lieu of facts and reference to subjective views, judgments etc. as facts can present the distorted picture sought only by an advocate. Happily enough, in the context of appellate advocacy, such biased presentation of a factual or legal case is quickly dispelled by reply briefs of one's opponent before an appellate tribunal.

   As an example of the difficulty with the facts presented in support of the author's presentation is that involving David Hale. Mr. Hale's statement are presented at one point to debunk critics of the Staff investigation. Yet, as Hunting points out, Hale has a long history of lying about anything involving Clinton, to say nothing of stealing, all of which Truth ignores.

   Lastly, the book goes to on at length to justify Starr's expenditure of public funds to uncover Clinton's sexual behavior and lies about that. However, one striking thing to any civil litigator must be the number of times perjury is clear in an ordinary civil proceeding, and yet there is complete disinterest from prosecutorial authorities. I suggest that perjury is generally considered worthy of prosecution in the abstract by our society, but apparently not in the real world when compared against other crimes deemed more damaging to society. Yet when Starr as an independent prosecutor assigned to investigate only Clinton learns of possible future perjury in litigation he previously particpated in as an advocate for Clinton's opponent, that limitation on prosecutorial discretion goes out the window and requires the investment of millions of dollars and countless FBI agents. Clinton's behavior was unseemly. Despite Schmidt's and Weisskopf's efforts to portray Starr otherwise, his actions were also quite unseemly.




2. Truth At Any Cost does not pretend to be evenhanded. Instead, co-authors Susan Schmidt and Michael Weisskopf examine the Lewinsky affair from the standpoint of those inside the Office of Independent Counsel. The result is a new perspective on an exhaustively covered scandal.

   This book dwells little on Whitewater and the other investigations that led to the appointment of Independent Counsel Ken Starr. The authors instead concentrate on the sexual scandal that led to Clinton's impeachment and how Starr and his subordinates responded. It would have been nice to know more about the men and women who investigated the president, but the focus is on personality rather than biography. The authors depict Starr in a much different light than the oft-demonized caricature that was spoon-fed the public. Again, it would have been nice to know more about Starr's background, but the concentration is on his character. Starr is presented here as a conscientious but politically naive lawyer better suited to the bench than to the OIC.

   Although relatively brief, the book drags a bit but picks up steam in the latter chapters as the independent counsel gathers and compiles evidence against the president. A few new revelations emerge along the way. Among them is Hillary Clinton's central role in the defense of her husband and in the counteroffensive against his opponents.

   This book is worth reading just to see why, as well as how, the prosecutors pursued this case so vigorously. Their motivations often run counter to the stereotypes floated at the time, and this makes for a new spin on an old story.




3. This smarmy little work of personal opinion, conjecture and gossip fits in neatly with its subject: independent counsel Kenneth Starr and the private lives of any human being that had any contact with President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. Highly recommend wearing your gloves to keep the oil off your hands.



4. So Bill Clinton had his men muscle poor Ken Starr who did a fabulous job exposing this infidel. Clinton was disbarred and impeached but still allowed to finish his term, hand out pardons to criminals, steal furniture from the white house and take the economy right down the toilet.

   I gues that saying about the golden rule: "the man with gold makes the rules" is very true.

   Another reason why I am glad that I am no longer a democrat. Or is that democ(rat).




5. Let's see. Ken Starr wastes the public money attacking Bill Clinton with false accusations while at the same time siding with KON-servative Mitch Mcconnel of KY to allow for more corrupt campaigns as if there aren't any already !!! This book is a perfect tool for neconservative NAZIS to enjoy and drool over but is otherwise useless trash for the rest of us who are already facing mass destruction by Bush/Cheney/Rove/Delay and GOP with of course a spineless opposition that barely got together to defend Clinton but easily caved into and defended Bush the liar-in-chief !

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.