Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. General    3. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Crime & criminology    8. Law / Criminal Law   

Editorial Review

Despite Americans' constitutional right to a free press, certain governmentinformation--particularly that concerning military affairs--has been placed beyond therealm of public access. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1971, however (brought aboutwhen the Nixon administration sued the the Read more

Reviews (4)

Fantastic
Fanatastic, detailed and scholarly account of the Pentagon papers case from a truly gifted legal academic

What About the Ellsberg-Russo Trial?
What's the author's problem?Alxheimer's or "selective memory?"He fails to mention the "joint trial of Dan Ellsberg AND Tony Russo" -- and Russo went to jail for civil resistance over thePentagon Papers! -- and the author fails to mention the participation ofrenowned international law scholar Richard Falk.Surely with all the booksFalk has in his home library here in Princeton, he must have purchased thisone.Where's his response?Or would he rather forget his participation inthis world-history-changing event?Further, there's nothing that wouldgive a readers even a clue that the leak of the Pentagon Papers begat thedownfall of Richard Nixon -- not just Watergate!Shame on you, Rudenstine!

What Rudenstine left out
Rudenstine, a lawyer leaves out any consideration of international law. For example, he fails to even mention Professor Richard Falk of Princeton University who edited three thick volumes on international law and the VietNam War. Falk is the lawyer who is the leading authority on the PentagonPapers. Rudenstine also gives short shrift to the trial that was the mainreason for Nixon's fall (much moreso than the Watergate burglary): theEllsberg- Russo Pentagon Papers Trial which came about as a result of mycivil disobedience (refusing to testify before the Pentagon Papers grandjury and thus going to jail) in the summer of 1971. As a result of theseomissions Rudenstine's book is seriously flawed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Law    3. Legal History    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal System    6. Military - Vietnam War    7. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    8. Central government    9. Constitutional & administrative law    10. Freedom of information & freedom of speech    11. Law / General    12. USA   

Subjects:  1. Civil Service    2. Correction Of Crime And Delinquency    3. Criminal Law - General    4. Educational Tests And Measurements (Higher Education)    5. Examinations    6. Parole officers    7. Probation officers    8. Study Aids    9. Study Guides    10. Test Prep    11. Testing & Measurement    12. United States   

Subjects:  1. Crime laboratories    2. Criminal Law    3. Criminal Law - General    4. Criminal investigation    5. Evidence, Criminal    6. Forensic Medicine    7. Forensic Science    8. Forensic sciences    9. Handbooks, manuals, etc    10. Legal Reference / Law Profession    11. Medical    12. Science/Mathematics    13. Criminal investigation & detection    14. Law / Forensic Science    15. Scientific equipment & techniques, laboratory equipment   

Editorial Review

The Internet has made many enterprises easier since its rise to popularity in the mid-90s: book sales, personal correspondence, and, in the case of John Robinson, serial murder. Even before he ever went online, Robinson had forged a life consistent with a killer's profile. Despite being fired and arrested numerous times for fraud and theft, he wriggled out of serious trouble thanks to a smooth charm and cunning intelligence. For decades, Robinson's more sinister activities escaped the notice of nearly everyone, including law enforcement and, incredibly, his own wife. But what makes Robinson's story, as told here by John Douglas and Stephen Singular, uniquely disturbing is the presence of the World Wide Web and the ease with which a murderer can use it. Online, Robinson frequented chat rooms and sites dedicated to the lurid underground world of bondage and sadomasochism. In this anonymous space, he was free to assume honey-tongued new identities that he used to lure women, especially those in vulnerable situations, to Kansas with promises of employment, protection, or sex. Their subsequent disappearances were explained away with letters that appeared to be written by the victims but were actually typed by the killer on pieces of paper the women had previously signed. Ultimately, dogged law enforcement officials were able to catch up with Robinson and put him on trial after finding gruesome evidence of his deeds. While they are skilled true-crime writers, Douglas and Singular occasionally stray into hyperbole, which is far from necessary given the elements already present in Robinson’s horrifying story. It is likely that any reader will walk a little more warily by their computer after reading this book and getting an idea of who might be hiding behind a given nickname. Read more

Reviews (48)

So powerful!
This book is a real horror story about serial killings, and cyber crime. John Douglas, a former FBI agent, who also worked several years as profiler for serial killers, is without doubt the best author anyone can be on this subject. The book is about the serial killer and internet criminal John Robinson. Douglas's story is well written, over documented and rings true with how criminal profiler works. However, sometimes the pace of the book gets too slow and looses the continuity and gives the feel of documentary, but then this happens with quiet a few non-fiction books.
You can't trust a book (or person) by its cover
I thought this was an excellent book and it dismays me that Robinson beat the system for years before finally being accountable for his crimes.Robinson was able to manipulate women, men and the legal system long before the internet was accessible to everyone.From fraud, embezzlement, theft, and forgery, to murder - he covered the gamut in crime and adapted himself and his crimes to what suited his needs.It amazes me that someone with no soul can tune into people and find their vulnerabilities.Unfortunately, the internet gave him access to the world to exploit.
Another good book from John Douglas
This book is the story of John E. Robinson, Sr. who, while pretending to be a prominent and successful Kansas City business man and loving husband, father, and grandfather, progressed from con man, embezzler, and swindler, to sadistic serial killer of needy women; Robinson is presented as the first such killer to use the Internet to find his victims. John Douglas is not a brilliant writer, and the book could benefit from a bit more editing to take out redundant passages and grammatical errors. But Douglas (and/or his co-author Stephen Singular) is able to put a sentence together correctly, for the most part, and I read this book from cover to cover, not wanting to put it down before I finished it, which is more than I can say for most of the books I attempt to read these days. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Law    3. Murder - Serial Killers    4. True Crime / Espionage    5. Fiction    6. True Crime / Murder    7. True Stories   

Reviews (4)

Provides a comprehensive guide for managing prisons.
Dr. Carlson has extensive background in correctional administration.His book provides the reader with numerous examples (both practical and theoretical) for managing correctional facilities.I plan to use this textteaching undergraduate studies in correctional administration. (Robert A.Hood - McMinnville, Oregon)

Very Good College Text
The book is well-suited for a semester course in correctional institution administration.Topics are well chosen and the various authors seem to know the prison business.Although the chapters are abbreviated, they allseem to cover the subjects adequately ... for a survey course.I would usethis as a text.

Great overview of correctional institution operations.
The collection of authors in this compendium is excellent...they seem to know the business and have a sense of what it's like on the inside of a prison.I was impressed with how the authors have organized the materialand their selection of academics (professors) and "pracademics"(practical world experts) who have contributed to the book.Overall....topnotch. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law    2. Criminal Law - General    3. History    4. Law    5. Penal Institutions    6. Penology    7. Prison administration    8. Prisons    9. Punishment    10. Sociology    11. United States    12. Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects   

Reviews (1)

Pretty Good service
The book arrived very quickly which I was very happy about. However I thought that I remember the book being classified as "Like New".If I were to describe the book it would have been "Very Used".But it was only for school, so looks don't ultimately matter.But the service overall was very good. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Procedure    2. Law    3. Courts & procedure    4. Criminal law   

Reviews (14)

The liberal Rush Limbaugh
When I embarked upon reading this book, I thought I would be getting a fair and precise look into the American legal system.What I got was anything but that.Anybody wanting to read this book should know that Parenti is an extreme left-winger and this book is an acidic ribbing of the Republican Party, police offers, etc. etc.I do admit that Parenti is quite knowledgeable about the justice system and he provides many examples -- this book is full of examples to back up his points.But there is a problem: the only examples he gives are examples of police malfeasance, he never tells police success stories. Indispensable
This is the best book I've ever read that deals with the burgeoning police-state in the U.S.Parenti ranges far and wide by giving a sound structural analysis as to why police and their paramilitary style tactics have oversaturated our streets.Economics and politics are often at the crux of most social problems; Parenti understands this and gives the reader an intellectually fascinating and stimulating journey documenting just how our country has been transformed over the last thirty years into a civil libertarians nightmare.
Indispensable
This is the best book I have ever read dealing with the burgeoning police state in the US.Parenti ranges far and wide by giving a sound structural analysis as to why police and their paramilitary style tactics have oversaturated our streets.Economics is often at the crux of most social problems; Parenti understands this and gives the reader an intellectually fascinating and stimulating journey, showing how our country has been transformed over the last thirty years into a civil libertarians nightmare. Read more

Subjects:  1. Correction Of Crime And Delinquency    2. Criminal Law    3. Criminal justice, Administration of    4. Imprisonment    5. Penology    6. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Prisons    10. Social Science    11. U.S. Government    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. Social history    15. USA   

Subjects:  1. Adult Children Of Narcotic Addicts    2. Clinical Psychology    3. Criminal Law - General    4. Criminology    5. Drug Abuse    6. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    7. Popular Culture - Counter Culture    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. Alcoholism    12. Crime & criminology    13. Drug addiction & substance abuse    14. Law / Jurisprudence   

Subjects:  1. Corporate    2. Criminal Law - General    3. Criminal Procedure    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession   

Reviews (11)

An accessible, left-leaning overview of first-amendment law
A very familiar, weak joke among my friends is to preface even the most self-apparent advice with the phrase "I am not a lawyer."For example, "I'm not a lawyer, but I'd advise against punching your neighbor in the face.""I'm not a lawyer, but I'd recommend renting The Incredibles instead of Friday the 13th Part 27."
Another necessary free speech book
There is little to add to the other reviews.Lewis writes well, on a important enough subject.He idealizes the court's creation of, and support for, free speech doctrine.The importance of the Sullivan case is the crux of the book.Justic Goldberg summed up the result: "A public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice'--that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."It was, according to Lewis, a victory for free speech and important component in the development of free speech doctrine.
Why press freedom matters...
A readable account of the libel case that dramatically defined and expanded the scope of press freedom.It's difficult to remember that it was only in the 1960's that these ideas were settled by the Supreme Court.Lewis backgrounds the history of press freedom, or rather government attempts to bridle it by various sedition acts that seemed to appear each generation [Ashcroft's current attempts to inhibit 1st Amendment rights is only the latest in a long series] The last chapters of the book cover libel cases through 1991 when the book went to press.The short section on the Pentagon Papers case is particularly timely.Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Freedom of the press    3. General    4. History: American    5. Libel and slander    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Press law    8. Sullivan, L. B    9. United States    10. Law / Constitutional    11. Modern fiction    12. Trials, litigation, etc    13. USA   

Reviews (1)

Thoroughly wonderful
This book, is one I bought for my Human Rights class. It is very clear and thorough. The chapters are not long, and each case shows both point of views so it comes off as neutral. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Financial    2. Criminal Law - General    3. Government - Legislative Branch    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Jurisprudence & General Issues    7. Law / Criminal Law   

Reviews (8)

Would make a great Hollywood Movie...
This is the historically true account of the execution of the Templars and the political circumstances surrounding it. If you have read books about the Salem Witch Trials then you will like this one too, but be warned Barber is a historian and so you will get the full blow by blow account of what went on. A Must Read
Barber's 'The Trial of the Templars' is the best and perhaps only serious academic study of the political machinations of French King Philip IV, "the Fair," which resulted in the trial and suppression of one of the most noble and powerful of the Medieval crusading orders. Excellent work centring on the trial of the Templars
I own many books on the Templars, but very few deal primarily on their downfall on the Friday 13th, and the gruelling, protracted trials afterwards. The Templars have always fascinated me, an order founded on a vow of poverty that rose to become one of the richest and most powerful organisations of their time, a religious order, yet it was politics and money that sealed their fate and brought about their destruction.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. France    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Inquisition    7. Medieval    8. Medieval Church (476-1517)    9. Roman Catholic Church    10. Templars    11. Trials (Heresy)    12. Trials, litigation, etc    13. Christian communities & monasticism    14. Europe    15. European history: c 500 to c 1500    16. History / Europe / General    17. History of religion    18. Templars--Trials, litigation, etc   

Reviews (6)

Nailing The Issue
Joel Dyer has done an excellent job of nailing how Congress has abused the issue of crime in America and why we allow it. He's also provided an excellent argument for abandoning the private prison industrial complex and ceasing the attack on urban America and the mentally ill. As someone who works in business and in finance, it bugged my eyeballs when I realized what government is doing, allowing prisoners for profit. I've worked 32 years in a profit driven capacity and doing this with human beings, given what I know about shareholder driven environments, is unconscionable in my mind. To intentionally profit from another's pain and misfortune is heinous. America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the worlds prisoners. We have over 1,000 prisons and 7 million people under penal control (2004). Over half of them non-violent offenders whose crime involves consenting adults (ie: life in prison for introducing a buyer to a seller of home grown pot in Indiana) or petty thievery (ie: stealing vitamins in California).

The Nation's Evil Prison-Industrial Complex
This is one of the most important books in many years that tells the truth about our prison system. We have over 2,000,000 citizens in prison in the land of the free. Most of these citizens are non-violent and about 15% are mentally ill in need medical care. With the tax dollars that we pay we treat some non-violent prisoners in ways that are just horrible. It is done by politicians who want to get reelected and understand a terrible fact that the uninformed citizens vote for politicians who advocate building more prisons and filling them to overcrowded capacity with more prisoners. Only a small percentage of the citizenship understand the terrible cost to our society with this practice. It is a cost in billions of dollars and much more. It is also a cost in respect, common sense, decency and the goodness of the American people.
Diverting Public Funds to Corporate Imprisonment
Dyer's well-researched expose reveals the inner workings of the nation's prison-industrial complex, the funding of which depends on the maintenance of a respectable, beneficent public image. He explains that real-world crime statistics do not support the war on crime's claimed need for massive increases in prison construction so, to justify the diversion of public funds into prison and jail expansion, politicians are relying on public opinion polls which reflect the pervasive societal effects of media-generated crime anxiety. Law makers, primarily right-wing, have responded to the public's media-hyped fears with reassurances in the form of hard-on-crime adjustments to the sentencing structure and consequent increases in law enforcement and prison spending, all financed by the angst-ridden taxpayers. Voters have been refusing to approve traditional general-obligation bond issues for increasing prison construction, so politicians are shrewdly using Wall Street intermediaries to divert tax revenues from public education and crime-preventive social programs into prison and jail construction by means of lease-revenue or lease-payment bonds, which are tax-exempt, high-interest debt-investment instruments issued without voter approval. These lucrative prison bonds reward the investor class with sizable profits from imprisonment, provide public-debt financing for construction of corporate-owned prisons, and they require taxpayers to repay more money than general-obligation bonds, which require voter approval. As major political campaign contributors, well-funded, right-wing special-interest groups such as police and prison-guard unions, and the NRA, back politicians who agree to promote hard-on-crime sentencing policies such as "three strikes," "mandatory sentencing" and "truth in sentencing," which substantially increase the prison population and sustain the widely-held perception of increasing need for prison and police funding. As a result, the number of prisons and police have grown rapidly, and police and prison guard pay has increased substantially. In California, for example, a prison guard is paid more than a tenured college professor in the state's university system which, like those in other states, has been decimated by the diversion of public funds into the prison-industrial complex. By 1994, prison spending had begun to exceed education spending for the first time in America's history. I think Dyer presents a well-articulated argument, backed with well-researched facts and figures, supporting the assertion that the prison-industrial complex is a self-serving, socially and economically destructive part of an officially sanctioned assault on the poor and people of color.
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Subjects:  1. Criminology    2. Penology    3. Public Policy - General    4. Reform Of Penal System    5. Social Policy    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Crime & criminology    9. Criminal law    10. USA   

Reviews (1)

A monumental study.
This is an utterly stunning work that should be required reading for all midwives, obstetrician-gynecologists, feminists of all persuasions--anybody involved in the health care of women.Not only does it take the wind outof the sails of those who believe childbirth is without consequences (partof the natural history of natural childbirth is maternal death), but itdemonstrates how the industrialized world dropped its maternal mortalityratios nearly 100-fold in a century.This has important policyimplications for international health work--providing that theinternational community can persuade developing countries to take women'shealth care needs seriously.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th century    3. Childbirth    4. Criminal Law - General    5. General    6. Gynecology & Obstetrics    7. History    8. History: World    9. Law    10. Medical / Nursing    11. Mortality    12. Mothers    13. Pregnancy    14. Prenatal care    15. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    16. Australasian & Pacific history: c 1750 to c 1900    17. Australia    18. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    19. Death & dying    20. Europe    21. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    22. Gynaecology & obstetrics    23. History / General    24. History, Other | History of Women    25. Medical anthropology    26. New Zealand    27. Social history    28. Social research & statistics    29. USA    30. United Kingdom, Great Britain    31. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law    2. Criminal Law - General    3. Jurisprudence    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. United States    7. Crime & criminology    8. Social Science / Criminology   

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Issues In Mass Communication    2. Criminal Justice Administration    3. Criminal Procedure    4. Criminology    5. Media Studies    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Courts & procedure    9. Criminal law    10. Law / Criminal Procedure   

Reviews (3)

into a scottish looking glass
Douglas MacGowan's book, Murder in Victorian Scotland..., depicts Madeline Smith's life and trial with a clarity and focus that allow the reader a glimpse into a bygone era.Using historical referencesand letters savedby the deceased to build the world of Madeline Smith and Emile L'Angelier,MacGowan takes his reader into the lives of these two figures in context of18th century Scotland and allow them to come to their own conclusionregarding the historic trial and its rather odd verdict of "NotProven". Overall, a fascinating look at another life, time, andjudicial system.

Murder Mystery - For Real!
Most mystery buffs relish the challenge of piecing together the clues and figuring out "who done it" before the author discloses the guilty party(ies).A smug satisfaction settles in after the reader wades througha complex set of circumstances and successfully solves the puzzle.Ofcourse, the fiction author always reveals the answers by the last page. Not so in the true crime story related in "Murder in VictorianScotland : The Trial of Madeleine Smith."We know that Emile died ofarsenic poisoning, and that his secret lover Madeleine was tried for hismurder, then released with the unusual verdict of "Not Proven."However, author Douglas MacGowan won't give us much more than that.Hisclever, 'diarist' style of chronologically detailing the available factsand surviving evidence puts readers smack in the middle of this intriguingstory -- to decide for themselves what really happened. Victorian Puzzle
In what was called "The Trial of the Century" in 1857, a young lady named Madeleine Smith was accused of poisoning a lover of a lower class so that she could marry a man her family deemed more suitable. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1835-1928    2. 19th century    3. Case studies    4. Criminal Justice Administration    5. Europe - General    6. History    7. Law    8. Legal History    9. Murder    10. Murder - General    11. Poisoning    12. Scotland    13. Smith, Madeleine Hamilton,    14. Sociology    15. Trials (Murder)    16. True Crime / Espionage    17. History / Europe / General   

Reviews (48)

Easy to believe!!
A very informative book. Recommend to anyone who wants to find out more about how our government can do what it wants to do without regard to ITS own laws. They can make the laws, but no one says they have to follow those laws!! It just goes to show how they (the Congress and other law makers)are not accountable for there actions!!

I'm from the government and I'm here to help--Danger, Danger
He is the Fox News senior judicial analyst, and former New Jersey judge.He calls himself a born again individualist.Napolitano reads the constitution just fine, why is it so hard for the rest.
Required reading for everyone
This book should be required reading for everyone.If you think we live in a free country, this book will open your eyes.Our forefathers are spinning in their graves.Judge Napolitano is right on the money and it is scary to think what is going to happen to our country and more importantly to our citizens.Because of the Patriot Act, law enforcement no longer has to get a search warrant issued by a judge.Nope, they can write it themselves and bust into your house at any time.If you don't believe anything in this book, you need to get out of town because my husband and I have been living this injustice every day for the last 6 years. I sent this book to him in prison and it has become the most popular book to read and every inmate can testify to the truth of this book because they too are living it every day.The only thing that Judge Napolitano doesn't tell us is what we as Americans can do about this besides vote in the next election.It is so hard to use your voting rights (one of the few rights we have left) when there is no one worth voting for anymore.Please read this book as soon as you can and together we can get our nation back on track!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Criminal Law    3. Essays    4. General    5. Government - U.S. Government    6. Political Science    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Political Science / General   

Reviews (1)

Excellent academic and philosophic view of violence
This book was required reading for me for a Master's course on violence.Being a person trained in the physical sciences, I must say I had a difficult time reading this book.I like equations and concepts that are right or wrong or a question I can calculate an answer that is either correct or incorrect.This book is a highly academic and philosophic view of violence, forgiveness, repentance, and vengeance.
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Subjects:  1. Clinical Psychology    2. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    3. Forgiveness    4. Mental Health    5. Philosophy    6. Psychology    7. Law / Criminal Law    8. Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy    9. Physiological & neuro-psychology