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...

"Failed, biased, hostile: these are the words many use to describe the condition of the U.S. court system today. In The Power of Dignity, acclaimed criminal justice reformer Victoria Pratt offers a path forward to restoring public trust in the courts: procedural justice, the simple idea that people will obey the law if they are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness by the justice system. Growing up as the daughter of an African-American sanitation...

"In 1991, Shaka Senghor was sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today, he is a lecturer at the University of Michigan, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and an inspiration to thousands. In life, it's not how you start that matters. It's how you finish. Shaka Senghor was raised in a middle class neighborhood on Detroit's east side during the height of the 1980s crack epidemic. An honor roll student and a natural leader, he dreamed of...

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.

"Tens of thousands of innocent people are behind bars for offenses ranging from misdemeanors to capital crimes. But proving their innocence in the court of law is extraordinarily difficult. After conviction, the presumption of innocence vanishes, and a new presumption of guilt forms and ossifies over time. Our criminal justice system values finality over accuracy, even if it comes at the cost of an innocent person's wrongful conviction and even when...

"An original and consequential argument about race, crime, and the law today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics--and their impact on people of color--are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role...

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 child of an incarcerated father, Antong Lucky grew up in an impoverished, crime-ridden neighborhood in East Dallas, Texas, born at the same time as East Dallas experienced an alarming rise in crack cocaine and heroin use. Despite his high grades and strong love for learning, Antong is introduced to gang life and its consequences when confronted by law enforcement. Antong eventually forms the Dallas Bloods gang, inaugurating a period in the 1990s...