An examination of privacy and the evolution of communication,from broken sealing wax to high-tech wiretapping A sweeping story of the right to privacy as it sped alongcolonial postal routes, telegraph wires, and even today’sfiber-optic cables, American Privacy traces the lineage of culturalnorms and legal mandates that have swirled around the FourthAmendment since its adoption. Legally, technologically, andhistorically grounded, Frederick Lane’s book presents a vivid andpenetrating exploration that, in the words of people’s historianHoward Zinn, “challenges us to defendour most basic rights.”--Fromthe Trade Paperback edition.
An English court in 1736 described rape as an accusation“easily to be made and hard to be proved, and harder to be defendedby the party accused, though never so innocent. ”To prove thecrime, the law required a woman to physically resist, to put up a“hue and cry,” as evidence of her unwillingness. Beginning in the1970s, however, feminist and victim-advocacy groups began changingattitudes toward rape so the crime is now seen as violent initself: the legal definition of rape now includes everything fromthe sadistic serial rapist to the eighteen-year-old who hasconsensual sex with a fourteen-year-old. This inclusiveness means there are now more rapists among us. Andmore of rape’s camp followers: the prison-makers, the communitywatchdogs, law-and-order politicians, and the real-crime/real-timeentertainment industry. Vanessa Place examines the ambiguity ofrape law by presenting cases where guilt lies, but lies uneasily,and leads into larger ethical questions of what defines guilt, whatis justice, and wh
For more than two decades, Vanity Fair has published DominickDunne’s brilliant, revelatory chronicles of the most famous crimes,trials, and punishments of our time. Here, in one volume, areDominick Dunne’s mesmerizing tales of justice denied and justiceaffirmed. Whether writing of Claus von Bülow’s romp through twotrials; the Los Angeles media frenzy surrounding O.J. Simpson; thedeath by fire of multibillionaire banker Edmond Safra; or theGreenwich, Connecticut, murder of Martha Moxley and theindictment—decades later—of Michael Skakel, Dominick Dunne tells ithonestly and tells it from his unique perspective. His search forthe truth is relentless.
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
When Closed Chambers was first published, it was met with afirestorm of controversy—as well as a shower of praise—for beingthe first book to break the code of silence about the innerworkings of this country’s most powerful court. In this eloquent,trailblazing account, with a new chapter covering Bush v. Gore,Guantanamo, and other recent controversial court decisions, EdwardLazarus, who served as a clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun, presentsa searing indictment of a court at war with itself and often inneglect of its constitutional duties. Combining memoir, history,and legal analysis, Lazarus reveals in astonishing detail therealities of what takes place behind the closed doors of the U.S.Supreme Court—an institution that through its rulings holds thepower to affect the life of every American.
“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
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
Peter Irons introduces 16 Americans who had the courage andperseverance to pursue a belief in their constitutional rights allthe way to the Surpreme Court. Their cases, decided by the SurpremeCourt between 1940 and 1986, raise four major issues of our time --religion, race, protest, and privacy.
The Religious Right has dedicated much of the last thirty years to molding the federal judiciary, always with an eye toward casting the Supreme Court in its image. Through broad political work that has involved grassroots campaigns as much as aggressive lobbying, and a welltended career path for conservative law students and attorneys, the Right has been incredibly effective in influencing major Court decisions on everything from laws banning prayer in school to women's secure access to abortion and birth control. How will the courts set in place in recent decades confront stem cell research, gay rights, or euthanasia in a new era? In The Court and the Cross, attorney and legal journalist Frederick Lane draws on legal history and savvy political analysis to expose, in layperson's terms, the Religious Right's unrelenting efforts to declare the United States a Christian nation.
Presenting a sophisticated narrative historyof the Supreme Court, Irons (The Courage of Their Convictions,etc.) illustrates the beguiling legacy left by the Constitution'sframers, who conjured up the high Court without providing aninstruction manual. Irons is clear about where his ideologicalsympathy lies, calling Justice William Brennan "my judicial idealand inspiration" and quoting Brennan's famous formulation that "thegenius of the Constitution" rests in "the adaptability of its greatprinciples to cope with current problems and current needs." Ironstraces the development of the Court's peculiar institutionalworkings from its first proceedings under Chief Justice John Jay tothe struggle for individual liberties during the successive Warren,Burger and Rehnquist Courts. In characterizing the Court as abastion of racism, classism and sexism prior to Earl Warren'sascendancy, he often tends to use extended arguments when quickjabs would suffice. But as he delves into the personalities oflitigants, justi
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.
TAO TE CHING IS ANCIENT CHINA'S GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITERATURE OF PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND MYSTICISM. TAO TE CHING CONTAINS THE TIME-HONORED TEACHINGS OFTAOISM AND BRINGSA MESSAGE OF LIVING SIMPLY, FINDING CONTENTMENT WITH A MINIMUM OFCOMFORT, AND PRIZING CULTURE ABOVE ALL ELSE. THIS IS THE LAUDED TRANSLATION OF THE EIGHTY-ONE POEMS CONSTITUTING AN EASTERN CLASSIC, THE MYSTICAL AND MORALTEACHINGS OF WHICH HAVE PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED THE SACRED SCRIPTURES OF MANY RELIGIONS--AND THE LIVES AND HAPPINESS OF COUNTLESS MEN AND WOMEN THROUGH THE CENTURIES. TRANSLATED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BYR. B. BLAKNEY AND WITHANEWAFTERWORD BY RICHARD JOHN LYNN
The Sanskrit text of this work was first translated into Englishin 1794, and translations into other European languages swiftlyfollowed. No understanding of modern India is possible without it.Wendy Doniger provides a landmark translation, the firstauthoritative English rendering this century. It is also the firstto set the unadulterated text in narrative form, making itaccessible and enjoyable both to specialist scholars and to a wideraudience. Includes an illuminating introduction.
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
People with disabilities forging the newest and last humanrights movement of the century.
