Overview

In compelling narrative, the authors probe the sensational cases of Nathan F. Leopold, Jr., and Richard A. Loeb, the Scottsboro ""boys,"" Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Alger Hiss, and O.J. Simpson, highlighting significant lessons about criminal behavior and the administration of criminal justice. Each case study details the crime, the police investigation, and the court proceedings, profiles the major players, and examines the outcome and aftermath of the trial. The authors untangle the perplexities surrounding the cases and illuminate the many mysteries that remain unsolved today. These celebrated trials reveal issues of overzealous prosecution, sloppy police work, judicial bias, race, class, and ethnic struggles, and the role of wealth in securing a competent defense. They also show how the temper of the times and frenzied media coverage heightened the intensity of drama in the cases.

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9781555534271

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What makes the book so enjoyable and worthwhile-beyond the riveting, sometimes gory details of the misdeeds it chronicles-is its sophisticated exploration of the myriad social and intellectual currents that combine to create a crime of the century. --Jonathan S. Shapiro, American Lawyer

For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read. --Booklist

A gripping book. --Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times A gripping book. Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times Kirkus Reviews American Lawyer Chicago Sun-Times Booklist A gripping book. Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times The authors offer a fair analysis of celebrated cases that address the need to see that true justice is done.-- Kirkus Reviews What makes the book so enjoyable and worthwhile-beyond the riveting, sometimes gory details of the misdeeds it chronicles-is its sophisticated exploration of the myriad social and intellectual currents that combine to create a crime of the century.--Jonathan S. Shapiro American Lawyer A gripping book.--Neil Steinberg Chicago Sun-Times For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read.--Neil Steinberg Booklist For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read. --Booklist A gripping book. --Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times What makes the book so enjoyable and worthwhile-beyond the riveting, sometimes gory details of the misdeeds it chronicles-is its sophisticated exploration of the myriad social and intellectual currents that combine to create a crime of the century. --Jonathan S. Shapiro, American Lawyer The authors offer a fair analysis of celebrated cases that address the need to see that true justice is done. --Kirkus Reviews -For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read.---Booklist -A gripping book.---Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times -What makes the book so enjoyable and worthwhile-beyond the riveting, sometimes gory details of the misdeeds it chronicles-is its sophisticated exploration of the myriad social and intellectual currents that combine to create a crime of the century.---Jonathan S. Shapiro, American Lawyer -The authors offer a fair analysis of celebrated cases that address the need to see that true justice is done.---Kirkus Reviews A gripping book. Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times

A look at five famous trials that transfixed a nation. Geis, a criminologist, and Bienen, who teaches at Northwestern School of Law, contend that the five cases they discuss - Leopold and Loeb, the Scottsboro boys, the Lindbergh baby, Alger Hiss, and O.J. Simpson - have left a major imprint on our collective consciousness because they represent a mystery - such as he ambiguity of rebuttable evidence or a defendant's unwavering claims to innocence, or, in the case of Alger Hiss, the impeaccable credentials the accused and the disreputableness of his accuser. Successful trials are overly dependent on skilled, high-priced lawyers - and on the passions of the times. They also argue that these cases highlight the tensions, the inadequacies, and the underlying processes of our justice system. The O.J. Simpson case, they argue, underscores the sloppiness with which judges give warrants to the police - a sloppiness that passes unremarked on until a high-priced legal team is able to publicize it. The authors offer a fair analysis of celebrated cases that address the need to see that true justice is dones. (Kirkus Reviews)

For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read. <i><b>Booklist</b></i>

Author Information

Gilbert Geis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, at the University of California, Irvine. He is a former President of the American Society of Criminology and recipient of its Edwin H. Sutherland Award for outstanding research. He is the co-author of A Trial of Witches: A Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft Prosecution. Leigh B. Bienen is a Senior Lecturer at the Northwestern University School of Law. A former public defender, she has published numerous articles on homicide, the death penalty, juries, and sex offenses. She is the co-author of Jurors and Rape.

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