There is an undercover war going on in America that impactseveryone's life far more than the legal issues that typically grabthe headlines. The conservative movement has been systematicallyturning back a century's worth of the evolving gains andprotections found in the common law-the areas of law that affectthe everyday activities of ordinary people. Throughout the twentieth century, contract, property, andpersonal injury law evolved to take more account of socialconditions and the needs of consumers, workers, and less powerfulmembers of American society. Contracts were interpreted in light ofcommon sense, property ownership was subjected to reasonable-useprovisions to protect the environment, and consumers were protectedagainst dangerous products. But all that is changing. Conservatives have a clear agenda toturn back the clock on the common law to maximize the profits ofbig business. Some significant inroads have already been made toprotect gun manufacturers from lawsuits, enforce form co

Sweeping and important.... Provides a fascinating vision ofjustice and history. --The Washington Post Book World From the head of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission comes alandmark study of the ways in which prejudice has shaped Americanjustice from the Civil War era to the present. With an ear tuned tothe social subtext of every judicial decision, Mary Frances Berryexamines a century's worth of appellate cases, ranging from anineteenth-century Alabama case in which a white woman was deniedher divorce petition because an affair between a white man (herhusband) and a black woman (his lover) was "of no consequence," tosuch recent, high-profile cases as the William Kennedy Smith andO.J. Simpson trials. By turns shocking, moving, ironic, and tragic,each tale ends in the laying down of law. And because the lawperpetuates myths of race, gender, and class, they are stories thataffect the lives of us all.

In 1787. . . We were given the right to practice the religion of ourchoice. We were given the right to say what we wanted withoutpersecution. It was written that our house and property were secure fromunreasonable search and seizure. We were given the right to apublic trial. Fifty-five men we will never know sat in a sweltering room andfought for us. We were given our rights as citizens of the United States. Every second fall, as we return again to the ballot box to decidethe course of our country’s leadership, every voter must find theirway back to that room in Philadelphia. Welcome Books is proud toprovide a map. The Constitution of the United States of America, inscribed andillustrated by the master calligrapher, Sam Fink, brings to lifethe issues underlying the triumphs of this abiding document.Originally published in pen and ink for Random House in 1987, Mr.Fink has gone back to his original black-and-white art and paintedit anew, created a full-color ma

For the first time, a collection of dissents from the mostfamous Supreme Court cases If American history can truly be traced through the majoritydecisions in landmark Supreme Court cases, then what about thedissenting opinions? In issues of race, gender, privacy, workers'rights, and more, would advances have been impeded or failuresrectified if the dissenting opinions were in fact the majorityopinions? In offering thirteen famous dissents-from Marbury v. Madison andBrown v. Board of Education to Griswold v. Connecticut and Lawrencev. Texas, each edited with the judges' eloquence preserved-renownedSupreme Court scholar Mark Tushnet reminds us that court decisionsare not pronouncements issued by the utterly objective, they are infact political statements from highly intelligent but partisanpeople. Tushnet introduces readers to the very concept of dissentin the courts and then provides useful context for each case,filling in gaps in the Court's history and providing an overview ofthe issues at

Located at the intersection of law, political science,philosophy, and literary theory, this is a work of constitutionaltheory that explores the nature of American constitutionalinterpretation through a reconsideration of the long-standingdebate between the interpretive theories of originalism andnonoriginalism. It traces that debate to a particular set ofpremises about the nature of language, interpretation, andobjectivity, premises that raise the specter of unconstrained,unstructured constitutional interpretation that has hauntedcontemporary constitutional theory. It presents the novel argumentthat a critique of the underlying premises of originalism dissolvesnot just originalism but nonoriginalism as well, which leads to therecognition that constitutional interpretation is already andalways structured. It makes this argument in terms of the firstprinciple of the American political system: by their fidelity tothe Constitution, Americans are a textual people in that they livein and through the terms of a fun

The bestselling business classic that Raytheon CEO William Swanson made famous . Every once in awhile, there is a book with a message so timeless,so universal, that it transcends generations. The Unwritten Lawsof Business is such a book. Originally published over 60 yearsago as The Unwritten Laws of Engineering , it has sold over100,000 copies, despite the fact that it has never been availablebefore to general readers. Fully revised for business readerstoday, here are but a few of the gems you’ll find in thislittle-known business classic: If you take care of your present job well, the future will takecare of itself. The individual who says nothing is usually credited with havingnothing to say. Whenever you are performing someone else’s function, you areprobably neglecting your own. Martyrdom only rarely makes heroes, and in the business world, suchheroes and martyrs often find themselves unemployed. Refreshingly free of the latest business fads and jargon, this is abook that is wise and insight

Can the police strip-search a woman who has been arrested fora minor traffic violation? Can a magazine publish an embarrassingphoto of you without your permission? Does your boss have the rightto read your email? Can a company monitor its employees'off-the-job lifestyles--and fire those who drink, smoke, or livewith a partner of the same sex? Although the word privacy does notappear in the Constitution, most of us believe that we have aninalienable right to be left alone. Yet in arenas that range fromthe battlefield of abortion to the information highway, privacy isunder siege. In this eye-opening and sometimes hair-raising book,Alderman and Kennedy survey hundreds of recent cases in whichordinary citizens have come up against the intrusions ofgovernment, businesses, the news media, and their own neighbors. Atonce shocking and instructive, up-to-date and rich in historicalperspective, The Right to Private is an invaluable guide toone of the most charged issues of our time.

In 1787, the American union was in disarray. The incompatibledemands of the separate states threatened its existence; somestates were even in danger of turning into the kind of tyranny theyhad so recently deposed. A truly national government was needed, one that could raisemoney, regulate commerce, and defend the states against foreignthreats–without becoming as overbearing as England. Sothirty-six-year-old James Madison believed. That summer, theVirginian was instrumental in organizing the ConstitutionalConvention, in which one of the world’s greatest documents would bedebated, created, and signed. Inspired by a sense of history in themaking, he kept the most extensive notes of any attendee. Now two esteemed scholars have made these minutes accessible toeveryone. Presented with modern punctuation and spelling, judiciouscuts, and helpful notes–plus fascinating background information onevery delegate and an overview of the tumultuous times–here is thegreat drama of how the Constituti

“The best legal read . . . in decades. A brilliantlyentertaining work, both for the lawyer and the layman.” Washington Times Robert S. Bennett has been a lawyer for more than forty years. Inthat time, he’s taken on dozens of high-pro?le and groundbreakingcases and emerged as the go-to guy for the nation’s elite. BobBennett gained international recognition as one of America’s bestlawyers for leading the defense of President Bill Clinton in thePaula Jones case. He has always fought for justice. This is hisstory. Born in Brooklyn and an amateur boxer in his youth, Bennett hasoften brought his street-?ghter’s mentality to the courtroom. Hiscase history is a who’s who of ?gures who have dominated legalheadlines: superlobbyist Tommy Corcoran, former secretaries ofdefense Clark Clifford and Caspar Weinberger, Marge Schott, and,most recently, New York Times reporter Judith Miller and formerWorld Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. Throughout the telling of his life in court, Be

Wilbert Rideau, an award-winning journalist who spentforty-four years in prison, delivers a remarkable memoir of crime,punishment, and ultimate triumph. After killing a bank teller in a moment of panic during a botchedrobbery, Wilbert Rideau was sentenced to death at the age ofnineteen. He spent several years on death row at Angola before hissentence was commuted to life, where, as editor of the prisonnewsmagazine The Angolite, he undertook a mission to expose andreformLouisiana's iniquitousjustice system from the inside. Vivid,incisive, and compassionate, this is a detailed account of prisonlife and a man who accepted responsibility for his actions andworked to redeem himself. It is a story about not giving up;finding love in unexpected places; the power of kindness; and theability to do good, no matter where you are.

There is no more powerful, detested, misunderstood AfricanAmerican in our public life than Clarence Thomas. SupremeDiscomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas is a hauntingportrait of an isolated and complex man, savagely reviled by muchof the black community, not entirely comfortable in white society,internally wounded by his passage from a broken family and ruralpoverty in Georgia, to elite educational institutions, to thepinnacle of judicial power. His staunchly conservative positions oncrime, abortion, and, especially, affirmative action have exposedhim to charges of heartlessness and hypocrisy, in that he ishimself the product of a broken home who manifestly benefited fromracially conscious admissions policies. Supreme Discomfort is a superbly researched and reportedwork that features testimony from friends and foes alike who havenever spoken in public about Thomas before—including a candidconversation with his fellow justice and ideological ally, AntoninScalia. It offers a long-overdue windo

The Real ACT is the only book with insider test-taking tipsand strategy, practice tests, and insight from the makers of theACT. This comprehensive guide has everything one needs to knowabout the ACT-test content, structure, and format info! The only guide that includes 5 previously administered,full-length ACT tests written by the actual test maker (including 2NEW practice tests) ACT content and procedures you'll follow when actually taking thetest Valuable information about tuition payment plans All the question types you can expect to find on the ACT Suggestions on how you might approach the questions andPeterson's tried-and-true test-taking strategies and tips

From prosecuting (and defending) murderers in the Bronx tohandling the public and private problems of Manhattan’s elite, Mouthpiece recounts the colorful adventures of New YorkCity’s ultimate legal operator. “In the pages before us, the Counselor tells a saga’s worth oftales of the city. As the saying goes, he’s got a million ofthem.” — Tom Wolfe, from his Introduction Edward Hayes is that unusual combination: the likable lawyer, onewho could have stepped off the stages of Guys and Dolls or Chicago . Mouthpiece is his story—an irreverent,entertaining, and revealing look at the practice of law in moderntimes and a social and political anatomy of New York City. Itrecounts Hayes’s childhood in the tough Irish sections of Queensand his eventual escape to the University of Virginia and then toColumbia Law School. Not at all white-shoe-firm material, Hayesheaded to the hair-raising, crime-ridden South Bronx of themidseventies—first as a homicide prosecutor and then as a defenseattor

People with disabilities forging the newest and last humanrights movement of the century.

In this remarkable book, a national bestseller in hardcover,Sandra Day O’Connor explores the law, her life as a Supreme CourtJustice, and how the Court has evolved and continues to function,grow, and change as an American institution. Tracing some of theorigins of American law through history, people, ideas, andlandmark cases, O’Connor sheds new light on the basics, exploringthrough personal observation the evolution of the Court andAmerican democratic traditions. Straight-talking, clear-eyed,inspiring, The Majesty of the Law is more than a reflection onO’Connor’s own experiences as the first female Justice of theSupreme Court; it also reveals some of the things she has learnedand believes about American law and life—reflections gleaned overher years as one of the most powerful and inspiring women inAmerican history.

On June 28, 1972 in a South Bronx subway station, John Skagen,a white off-duty policeman on his way home, suddenly and withoutapparent provocation, ordered James Richardson, a black man on hisway to work, to get against the wall and put his hands up.Richardson had a gun, and the two exchanged shots. In the meleethat followed, Skagen was fatally wounded by a cop who rushed tothe scene. In the ensuing trial, William Kunstler handledRichardson's defense and the author of this book, then assistantdistrict attorney, prosecuted the case. Here is a first-hand,behind-the-scenes account of every step of the proceedings.

?Over 3,000 legal terms defined ?Revised edition with the most up-to-date terminology

'We have no choice but to go fight,' WaLty said,his voice still hoarse, his delivery slow. 'We try to piecetogether some proof. We go to court and fight Likehell, and when we Lose we can tell our clients that we foughtthe good fight. In every Lawsuit,somebody wins, somebody Loses.Sure, we'll get our butts kicked, but at this point I'drather walk out of the courtroom with my head upthan deal with sanctions and malpractice claims.'

In this amazing story of high stakes competition between twotitans, Richard Moran shows how the electric chair developed notout of the desire to be more humane but through an effort by onenineteenth-century electric company to discredit the other. In 1882, Thomas Edison ushered in the “age of electricity” whenhe illuminated Manhattan’s Pearl Street with his direct current(DC) system. Six years later, George Westinghouse lit up Buffalowith his less expensive alternating current (AC). The two menquickly became locked in a fierce rivalry, made all the morecomplicated by a novel new application for their product: theelectric chair. When Edison set out to persuade the state of NewYork to use Westinghouse’s current to execute condemned criminals,Westinghouse fought back in court, attempting to stop the firstelectrocution and keep AC from becoming the “executioner’scurrent.” In this meticulously researched account of the ensuinglegal battle and the horribly botched first execution, Moran r

“We need a new idea of how to govern. The current system isbroken. Law is supposed to be a framework for humans to makechoices, not the replacement for free choice.” So notes Philip K.Howard in the new Afterword to his explosive manifesto The Deathof Common Sense . Here Howard offers nothing less than a fresh,lucid, practical operating system for modern democracy. America isdrowning—in law, lawsuits, and nearly endless red tape. Beforeacting or making a decision, we often abandon our best instincts.We pause, we worry, we equivocate, and then we divert our energyinto trying to protect ourselves. Filled with one too many examplesof bureaucratic overreach, The Death of Common Sense demonstrates how we—and our country—can at last get back ontrack.

In this updated and expanded edition of The Tyranny of GoodIntentions , Paul Craig Roberts and Lawrence M. Stratton renewtheir valiant campaign to reclaim that which is rightlyours–liberty protected by the rule of law. They show how crusadinglegislators and unfair prosecutors are remaking American law into aweapon wielded by the government and how the erosion of the legalprinciples we hold dear–such as habeas corpus and the prohibitionagainst self-incrimination–is destroying the presumption ofinnocence. A new introduction and new chapters cover recent marqueecases and make this provocative book essential reading for anyonewho cringes at the thought of unbridled state power and sees ourcivil liberties slowly slipping away in the name of the War onDrugs, the War on Crime, and the War on Terror.