Trials Books

This book has it all, strong characters, love story, and background. It will not disappoint you. Fans of Chaim Eliav will enjoy this one! I can't put this book down. I devoured it in one setting!

Written by senior economist Eric Helland and associate professor of economics Alexander Tabarrok, Judge and Jury: American Tort Law on Trial is a hard look at the overwhelming instances of inequality, corruption, and inefficiency plaguing American tort law. Drawing upon data from thousands of American tort cases, Judge and Jury explains in plain terms how the legal system really works, warning the reader that the driving factors behind huge awards are rarely law or economics, but rather jury composition and judicial elections. The authors' meticulous empirical research offers surprising findings, from the revelation that high contingent attorney fees actually reduce frivolous litigation, to an observation of extreme disparity in the size of tort awards in different regions of America. A careful discussion of options for reform rounds out this wake-up call to legal inequities and their consequences.

In this readable analysis of Selective Service cases in Minnesota during the Vietnam War Era, Ken Tilsen provides both an anecdotal and scholarly framework to track several resisters and four federal judges. The author quantifies the discrepancies in conviction rate and length of sentence between the four judges for each year, and provides a well-founded -- and ominous -- explanation for these differences. His explanation has particular poignancy and relevancy, as the same issues are on the docket today.

The anecdotal and biographical portions make the book easy to read, and the concise statements of the legal issues makes it most informative and convincing. Although the book contains a smattering of legalese, it is accessible even to any non-lawyer adult reader. The author represented many of the defendants, and tried numerous cases before these judges. His first-hand knowledge and careful research, his lucid commentary at crucial points, and the interesting period photographs, brings that era back to life.

The Judiciary on Trial

What happens when a playwright decides to write about the legal system of a country? He gives everyone a role in the grand production. This is what Rajesh Talwar does in this book. Far from being a dry, pedantic reading, all the characters come alive in this masterly portrayal of how injustice not justice is delivered at the step of the common man. The book opens with a section titled Dramatis Personae, which include, predictably The Judge, The Prosecutor, The Witness and not so predictably The Court Clerk and The Chess Pawn. All in all, a fine read, especially for one not well versed in the twists and turns that the system is likely to take for a wannabe litigant. Litigate at your own peril, seems to be the books conclusion, unless lawmakers step in to fix the falling edifice of an inherited colonial judicial apparatus.

A school teacher received a summons to jury service. Did CBS' "Sixty Minutes" libel General Westmoreland by saying he altered reports to present a more favorable political picture? The author tells of her experience as a juror, from initial summons to final verdict. The book has no index.

The "Introduction" (pp. 11-12) concisely tells the simple facts behind the case. It does NOT tell who was behind the "Capital Legal Foundation" and put up the millions of dollars for this unnecessary trial.

Page 131 gives an example of the problem. The defense lawyer would ask General Westmoreland if he made certain statements. The General would vehemently deny doing so. Then the lawyer would bring up several documents proving that the General had indeed said so.

Page 191 has a deposition: they "deliberately manipulated the figures of enemy strength to misguide the public, the press, and Congress. The documents they supplied were irrefutable proof that there was a conspiracy ... no one knew how high the conspiracy went."

Page 195 tells of Richard McArthur: when he complained about the changes to his figures he was transferred out to the field!

A number of witnesses said Westmoreland had a ceiling on enemy figures, no matter what the facts were ("One Little Lie"). The trial ended when Westmoreland dropped his charges.

Page 153 tells how the documentaries are staged. They record the subject with all questions and answers. Then they record the interviewer asking questions that have been answered previously. The questioner can change the tone and questions for the desired effect.

This book is like reading a section out of a Mark Twain or a Tennessee Williams novel, real enjoyalbe.
The Story titled Her Last Meal not only had me tear up with emotion yet also had my tastebuds tear up with joy after I cooked the recipes which are included in every one of the stories within this book.
I am a cookbook collector and can say that the foreward that was partly wriiten by a Knight indicating that this is a rare find in literature was correct !

Edgar Ray Killen! Philadelphia, Mississippi! The names strike fear into those who remember the brutal slaying of three civil rights workers on June 21, 1964. Author Howard Ball follows up his previous book entitled Murder in Mississippi with a retrial of "Preacher" Edgar Ray Killen who was one vote from conviction by a jury in 1967. A woman, who has since regretted her vote, said she couldn't bring herself to convict a preacher. The author provides us with the virulent atmosphere that prevailed in the deep south in the 1960's and the attitudes of those who resented anyone poking their collective noses into their way of life. Many of those who were convicted in the 1967 trial received light sentences and resumed their way of life upon release from prison. For 41 years Mr. Killen was able to enjoy the life of a quasi-celebrity in his home town while others feared to even mention the terrible deed that hung over the town of Philadelphia's reputation. Upon Killen's conviction in 2005 racist Richard Barrett requested a "Killen Appreciation Day" on the lawn of the Neshoba County Courthouse so people could come around and shake this terrorist's hand. Such actions make one wonder just how far we still have to go to bring individuals kicking and screaming out of their sordid past. This is a book that will absolutely disgust you while still providing you with some sense of justice in this country however belatedly it may have occurred.

This is a highly nuanced book that deals with all the complexities of an impossible situation. The characters are almost Shakepearean, some of them good, some of them foolish, some of them manipulative, some of them darkly evil. The situation is extraordinary. Temple-Raston has a wonderful ear and is able to let people tell their own stories, and make their own judgments. This is elegant, brilliant journalism, written with great moral clarity but without ever moralizing.

Excellent book written by a man who has traveled in the social circles of the guilty as well as the innocent. His status as the father of a murder victim entitles him to an insight that would be almost too much to bear. However, Dunne is objective in his reporting, generous with his knowledge as an "insider," and brave beyond reason in revealing facts about famous legal cases most of us know only through the newspapers. Dunne has put together an amazing collection of essays that will open one's eyes to the power that money can have to manipulate the American justice system. I recommend it.

I brougth this book for my Mother as a Mother' Day gift. We knew the people is this book and lived by them as I was growing up. My Mother really has enjoyed the book.