Justice Provocateur

Justice Provocateur PDF Author: Gray Cavender
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 025209431X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Justice Provocateur focuses on Prime Suspect, a popular British television film series starring Oscar and Emmy award-winning actress Helen Mirren as fictional London policewoman Jane Tennison. Gray Cavender and Nancy C. Jurik examine the media constructions of justice, gender, and police work in the show, exploring its progressive treatment of contemporary social problems in which women are central protagonists. They argue that the show acts as a vehicle for progressive moral fiction--fiction that gives voice to victim experiences, locates those experiences within a larger social context, transcends traditional legal definitions of justice for victims, and offers insights into ways that individuals might challenge oppressive social and organizational arrangements. Although Prime Suspect is often seen as a uniquely progressive, feminist-inspired example within the typically more conservative, male-dominated crime genre, Cavender and Jurik also address the complexity of the films' gender politics. Consistent with some significant criticisms of the films, they identify key moments in the series when Tennison's character appears to move from a successful woman who has it all to a post-feminist stereotype of a lonely, aging career woman with no strong family or friendship ties. Shrewdly interpreting the show as an illustration of the tensions and contradictions of women's experiences and their various relations to power, Justice Provocateur provides a framework for interrogating the meanings and implications of justice, gender, and social transformation both on and off the screen.

Justice Provocateur

Justice Provocateur PDF Author: Gray Cavender
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 025209431X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Get Book Here

Book Description
Justice Provocateur focuses on Prime Suspect, a popular British television film series starring Oscar and Emmy award-winning actress Helen Mirren as fictional London policewoman Jane Tennison. Gray Cavender and Nancy C. Jurik examine the media constructions of justice, gender, and police work in the show, exploring its progressive treatment of contemporary social problems in which women are central protagonists. They argue that the show acts as a vehicle for progressive moral fiction--fiction that gives voice to victim experiences, locates those experiences within a larger social context, transcends traditional legal definitions of justice for victims, and offers insights into ways that individuals might challenge oppressive social and organizational arrangements. Although Prime Suspect is often seen as a uniquely progressive, feminist-inspired example within the typically more conservative, male-dominated crime genre, Cavender and Jurik also address the complexity of the films' gender politics. Consistent with some significant criticisms of the films, they identify key moments in the series when Tennison's character appears to move from a successful woman who has it all to a post-feminist stereotype of a lonely, aging career woman with no strong family or friendship ties. Shrewdly interpreting the show as an illustration of the tensions and contradictions of women's experiences and their various relations to power, Justice Provocateur provides a framework for interrogating the meanings and implications of justice, gender, and social transformation both on and off the screen.

Just Pursuit

Just Pursuit PDF Author: Laura Coates
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982173777
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
This instant New York Times bestseller offers “a firsthand, eye-opening story of a prosecutor that exposes the devastating criminal punishment system” (Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of How to Be an Antiracist) in this “compelling collection of engaging, well-written, keenly observed vignettes from [Laura Coates’s] years as a lawyer with the US Department of Justice” (The New York Times Book Review). When Laura Coates joined the Department of Justice as a prosecutor, she wanted to advocate for the most vulnerable among us. But she quickly realized that even with the best intentions, “the pursuit of justice creates injustice.” Coates’s experiences show that no matter how fair you try to fight, being Black, a woman, and a mother are identities often at odds in the justice system. She and her colleagues face seemingly impossible situations as they teeter between what is right and what is just. On the front lines of our legal system, Coates saw how Black communities are policed differently; Black cases are prosecuted differently; Black defendants are judged differently. How the court system seems to be the one place where minorities are overrepresented, an unrelenting parade of Black and Brown defendants in numbers that belie their percentage in the population and overfill American prisons. She also witnessed how others in the system either abused power or were abused by it—for example, when an undocumented witness was arrested by ICE, when a white colleague taught Coates how to unfairly interrogate a young Black defendant, or when a judge victim-blamed a young sexual assault survivor based on her courtroom attire. Through these “searing, eye-opening” (People) scenes from the courtroom, Laura Coates explores the tension between the idealism of the law and the reality of working within the parameters of our flawed legal system, exposing the chasm between what is right and what is lawful.

Let's Get Free

Let's Get Free PDF Author: Paul Butler
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1595583297
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Paul Butler was an ambitious federal prosecutor, a Harvard graduate - until he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. His stint on the other side of the law confirmed his belief that the legal system wasn't working. He gives an insider's view into the easiness with which people are imprisoned, a trend creating more crime than it prevents. Butler offers innovative methods for citizens to resist complicity and introduces the concept of jury nullification as a powerful protest to unjust laws.

The Humanity of Justice

The Humanity of Justice PDF Author: Burke E. Strunsky
Publisher: Burke Strunsky
ISBN: 1620958813
Category : Criminal justice, Administration of
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Against the backdrop of his most haunting, high-profile murder and child abuse cases, a veteran prosecutor goes beyond an insider's reflection to shine a light on the humanlike qualities personified in the U.S. criminal justice system and what this means for our future.The Humanity of Justice is a procedural true-crime book told through the eyes and heart of a veteran criminal prosecutor who cares about the people he meets and their life-altering circumstances. Burke E. Strunsky, a senior deputy district attorney in southern California, takes the reader inside the courtroom for some of the most haunting criminal cases in the state as well as the nation, including: a highly respected church leader who brutally murders his wife for the insurance money while their baby sleeps peacefully in another room; a twisted father who sexually molests his daughter's own friends at her slumber parties; a former police chief who drowns his wife of thirty years in their backyard spa; and a young man who sadistically tortures and kills a helpless three-year-old boy, yet manages to dodge the death penalty.Strunsky's own impassioned social and moral commentary is woven throughout this thought-provoking book on issues significant to the world of criminal justice. Even in the midst of the darkest stories, the voices and courage of the victims and those who love them will leave the reader touched and inspired.100% of the proceeds from this book will be donated to The Humanity of Justice Foundation, a non-profit organization, to help prevent child abuse and neglect.

Doing Justice

Doing Justice PDF Author: Preet Bharara
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0525562931
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
*A New York Times Bestseller* An important overview of the way our justice system works, and why the rule of law is essential to our survival as a society—from the one-time federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, and host of the Doing Justice podcast. Preet Bharara has spent much of his life examining our legal system, pushing to make it better, and prosecuting those looking to subvert it. Bharara believes in our system and knows it must be protected, but to do so, he argues, we must also acknowledge and allow for flaws both in our justice system and in human nature. Bharara uses the many illustrative anecdotes and case histories from his storied, formidable career—the successes as well as the failures—to shed light on the realities of the legal system and the consequences of taking action. Inspiring and inspiringly written, Doing Justice gives us hope that rational and objective fact-based thinking, combined with compassion, can help us achieve truth and justice in our daily lives. Sometimes poignant and sometimes controversial, Bharara's expose is a thought-provoking, entertaining book about the need to find the humanity in our legal system as well as in our society.

Blind Injustice

Blind Injustice PDF Author: Mark Godsey
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520287959
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
In this unprecedented view from the trenches, prosecutor turned champion for the innocent Mark Godsey takes us inside the frailties of the human mind as they unfold in real-world wrongful convictions. Drawing upon shocking, yet true, stories from his own career, Godsey shares how innate psychological flaws and the “tough on crime” political environment experienced by judges, police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and juries can cause investigations to go awry, leading to the convictions of innocent people. Each chapter explores a distinct psychological human weakness inherent in the criminal justice system—confirmation bias, memory malleability, credibility-determining errors, tunnel vision, cognitive dissonance, bureaucratic denial, "group think" mindsets, and dehumanization—and then illustrates each human weakness with true stories from Godsey's time as a prosecutor and innocence lawyer. Part confessional, Godsey takes us back to his days as a hard-nosed prosecutor and brings to life the law enforcement mindset that leads to wrongful convictions in a way unprecedented. This book also analyzes the criminal justice system’s internal political pressures. How does the fact that judges, sheriffs, and prosecutors are elected officials impact how they view cases, especially since re-elections are based on showing tough stance on crime? How can defense attorneys provide appropriate support for their clients when many are overworked and underpaid? And how do juries overcome their own bias that those in power or with influence—police, prosecutors, and expert witnesses—know more about what the evidence means? Godsey sheds a harsh light on the unintentional yet routine injustices committed by those charged with upholding justice. Yet in the end, he recommends structural, procedural, and attitudinal changes that can hopefully restore justice to the criminal justice system.

The Parlor Provocateur or From Salon to Soap-Box

The Parlor Provocateur or From Salon to Soap-Box PDF Author: Kate Crane Gartz
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1787209512
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
Kate Crane Gartz delighted in describing herself as the first ‘parlor Bolshevik.’ The daughter of Chicago industrialist and philanthropist Richard T. Crane, sister of Chicago Socialist and strike activist Frances Crane Lillie, Gartz moved from reform to revolution with the currents of the Russian Revolution and World War I. Her unique form of protest was letter-writing.

Mean Justice

Mean Justice PDF Author: Edward Humes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476711720
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
This national bestseller from the Pulitzer Prize-winner catapults readers to the dark side of the justice system with the powerful true story of one man's battle to prove his innocence. Besieged by murder, rape, and the vilest conspiracies, the all-American town of Bakersfield, California, found its saviors in a band of bold and savvy prosecutors who stepped in to create one of the toughest anti-crime communities in the nation. There was only one problem: many of those who were arrested, tried, and imprisoned were innocent citizens. In a work as taut and exciting as a suspense novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Edward Humes embarks on a chilling journey to the dark side of the justice system. He reveals the powerful true story of retired high-school principal Pat Dunn's battle to prove his innocence, and how he was the victim of a case tainted by hidden witnesses, concealed evidence, and behind-the-scenes lobbying by powerful politicians. Humes demonstrates how the mean justice dispensed in Bakersfield is part of a growing national trend in which innocence has become the unintended casualty of today's war on crime.

Just Mercy

Just Mercy PDF Author: Bryan Stevenson
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0812994523
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. “[Bryan Stevenson’s] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country.”—John Legend NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • Esquire • Time Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction • Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize • An American Library Association Notable Book “Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.”—David Cole, The New York Review of Books “Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America’s Mandela.”—Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times “You don’t have to read too long to start cheering for this man. . . . The message of this book . . . is that evil can be overcome, a difference can be made. Just Mercy will make you upset and it will make you hopeful.”—Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review “Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.”—The Washington Post “As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.”—The Financial Times “Brilliant.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Certainty of Justice

Certainty of Justice PDF Author: Frank Weed
Publisher: Social Problems & Social Issues
ISBN: 9780202305172
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Since the late 1970s, the movement portrayed in this volume has been demanding that the law stand in for society as a whole, and use its authority to demonstrate the triumph of good over evil rather than simply to bear out the bureaucratic process. In so doing, its proponents are changing our concept of justice by defining a role for crime victims beyond the evidentiary need of the prosecution in a court of law. Weed examines the complex organizational system and grass roots groups affiliated with the movement, and takes a look from within at their leaders and agendas. His study also details the recent changes in state and federal laws and the legal decisions rendered in the name of "victims' rights".