From one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time comes an unforgettable true story about the redeeming potential of mercy. Bryan Stevenson was a gifted young attorney when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending the poor, the wrongly condemned, and those trapped in the furthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man sentenced...

Offers an overview of crime and the American criminal justice system, using extensive examples of real cases to illustrate difficult questions about what is considered criminal and what punishment is appropriate for different types of crimes.

"As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status - much like their grandparents before them." "In this incisive critique, former...

Using actual case histories of innocent men and women exonerated after decades in prison because of information they voluntarily gave to police, Professor Duane demonstrates the critical importance of a constitutional right not well or widely understood by the average American.

At the age of nine, Issac J. Bailey saw his hero, his eldest brother, taken away in handcuffs, not to return from prison for thirty-two years. Bailey tells the story of their relationship and of his experience living in a family suffering from guilt and shame. Drawing on sociological research as well as his expertise as a journalist, he seeks to answer the crucial question of why Moochie and many other young black men--including half of the ten boys...

The former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York recounts captivating tales of true crime from his years atop the most storied prosecutor's office in the country -- inside stories of terrorists threatening America, mob hit men, billion-dollar fraudsters, corrupt politicians, and even a "cannibal cop". Bharara entertains us, but also inspires us to aim high, laying out a path for how to think and act to reach fair and morally...

The author relates how her cousin was imprisoned at the age of fifteen for attempted carjacking and how she took him in upon his release, only to lose him to the deadly streets of South Central L.A.

"An Emmy Award-winning news anchor and New York Times best-selling author argues that there are really two Americas--a Colony and a Nation,"--NoveList. "America likes to tell itself that it inhabits a postracial world, yet nearly every empirical measure--wealth, unemployment, incarceration, school segregation--reveals that racial inequality has barely improved since 1968, when Richard Nixon became our first "law and order" president. With the clarity...