Title search results
Showing 101 - 120 of 1599 items
My Prison Without Bars
By Pete Rose, Rick Hill. 2004
Pete Rose holds more Major League Baseball records than any other player in history He stands alone as baseball…
s hit king having shattered the previously unbreakable record held by Ty Cobb He is a blue-collar hero with the kind of old-fashioned work ethic that turned great talent into legendary accomplishments Pete Rose is also a lifelong gambler and a sufferer of oppositional defiant disorder For the past 13 years he has been banned from baseball and barred from his rightful place in the Hall of Fame-- accused of violating MLB s one taboo Rule 21 states that no one associated with baseball shall ever gamble on the game The punishment is no less than a permanent barring from baseball and exclusion from the Hall of Fame Pete Rose has lived in the shadow of his exile He has denied betting on the game that he loves He has been shunned by MLB investigated by the IRS and served time for tax charges in the U S Penitentiary in Marion Illinois But he s coming back Pete Rose has never been forgotten by the fans who loved him throughout his 24-year career The men he played with have stood by him In this his first book since his very public fall from grace Pete Rose speaks with great candor about all the outstanding questions that have kept him firmly in the public eye He discloses what life was like behind bars discusses the turbulent years of his exile and gives a vivid picture of his early life and baseball career He also confronts his demons tackling the ugly truths about his gambling and his behavior My Prison Without Bars is Pete Rose s full accounting of his life No one thinks he s perfect He has made mistakes--big ones And he is finally ready to admit themLas esposas del cártel
By Mia Flores, Olivia Flores. 2017
La historia real de los gemelos Flores quienes derrumbaron al Chapo Guzm n Vivieron en la riqueza…
m s exuberante y en el terror m s absoluto Forjaron familias de ensue o y envenenaron a miles de personas Construyeron un imperio binacional y luego lo atravesaron corriendo por sus vidas Fueron socios de Joaqu n el Chapo Guzm n y se convirtieron en la pieza clave para que cayera La historia de los gemelos Peter y Junior Flores resume todo lo alucinante y b rbaro del narcotr fico En esta obra sus esposas relatan con un detalle inaudito la carrera criminal de sus maridos desde sus or genes en Chicago cuentan los episodios m s ins litos de sus vidas en com n delinean las redes de corrupci n que campean a ambos lados del r o Bravo y explican por qu sus compa eros decidieron colaborar con el gobierno estadounidense justo cuando gozaban de un poder gigantesco Aunque nosotras los conoc amos -y conocemos- como los hombres dulces cari osos y corteses que nos trataron siempre con amor y respeto la ley los tiene como los narcoinformantes m s importantes de la historia de Estados Unidos -De la introducci nThe Big Red Fox: The Incredible Story of Norman "Red" Ryan, Canada's Most Notorious Criminal
By Peter Mcsherry. 1999
Short-listed for the 2000 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction Norman "Red" Ryan was a notorious bank robber, safecracker, and…
killer. He escaped from Kingston Penitentiary twice - first by force, and then years later by gulling the credulous into believing that he was "reformed." The dupes of Ryan’s second emancipation included the prison’s Roman Catholic chaplain, several nationally prominent citizens, the country’s largest newspaper, and, ultimately, R.B. Bennett, the prime minister of Canada, who made the mistake of arranging a "political parole" for Ryan. Six people - three of them innocent victims - died as a result of Red Ryan’s freedom. Dubbed "the Jesse James of Canada" and "Canada’s most notorious criminal," Ryan had compiled a record of nineteen convictions for crimes of theft and violence, and had been in nine shooting affrays with police and citizens. He was a "lifer" in an era when "life" meant just that. Yet he got out of Kingston after just eleven and a half years and returned to Toronto, the city of his birth, amid fanfare befitting a national hero. His death in a liquor store robbery in Sarnia on May 23, 1936, just ten months after his release, was a huge jolt to Canada, and especially Toronto. How could such an obvious threat to society be paroled from prison as a paragon of reform? This question is central to The Big Red Fox. The answer lies not with Ryan himself - not even the cunning and deceitful Red Ryan could have hoodwinked his way out of a life sentence - but with those who helped him, and who benefited from his release.Lord Mansfield
By Norman Poser. 2013
In the first modern biography of Lord Mansfield (1705-1793), Norman Poser details the turbulent political life of eighteenth-century Britain's most…
powerful judge, serving as chief justice for an unprecedented thirty-two years. His legal decisions launched England on the path to abolishing slavery and the slave trade, modernized commercial law in ways that helped establish Britain as the world's leading industrial and trading nation, and his vigorous opposition to the American colonists stoked Revolutionary fires. Although his father and brother were Jacobite rebels loyal to the deposed King James II, Mansfield was able to rise through English society to become a member of its ruling aristocracy and a confidential advisor to two kings. Poser sets Mansfield's rulings in historical context while delving into Mansfield's circle, which included poets (Alexander Pope described him as "his country's pride"), artists, actors, clergymen, noblemen and women, and politicians. Still celebrated for his application of common sense and moral values to the formal and complicated English common law system, Mansfield brought a practical and humanistic approach to the law. His decisions continue to influence the legal systems of Canada, Britain, and the United States to an extent unmatched by any judge of the past. An illuminating account of one of the greatest legal minds, Lord Mansfield presents a vibrant look at Britain's Age of Reason through one of its central figures.Summary and Analysis of The Stranger Beside Me: Based on the Book by Ann Rule
By Worth Books. 2016
So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Stranger Beside Me tells you what you need…
to know—before or after you read Ann Rule’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule includes: Historical contextSection-by-section summariesDetailed timeline of important eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule: Among American serial killers, Ted Bundy is infamous not just for his crimes, but for the way he was able to charm his victims. Bundy’s friendly demeanor fooled many, including Ann Rule, bestselling true crime author and former law enforcement officer. Rule and Bundy met while working together at a suicide hotline. The two remained friends throughout the period of Bundy’s crimes, trials, and fight against execution. This friendship gives the reader an intimate window into a man countless psychiatrists struggle to explain. Get to know Ted Bundy, a true sociopath, and learn about his reign of terror in the Pacific Northwest, Florida, and perhaps beyond. Rule’s police background adds compelling perspective to one of the most popular, detailed, and personal books written about Ted Bundy. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.The Job
By Steve Osborne. 2015
"HOW YA DOIN'?" With these four syllables, delivered in an unmistakably authentic New York accent, Steve Osborne has riveted thousands…
of people at the legendary storytelling venue The Moth (and many tens of thousands more via YouTube) with his hilarious, profane, and touching tales from his twenty years as an NYPD street cop. Steve Osborne is the real deal, people: the tough, streetwise New York cop of your dreams, one with a big, big heart. Kojak? NYPD Blue? Law & Order? Fuggedaboudem! The Job blows them out of the water. Steve Osborne has seen a thing or two in his years in the NYPD--some harmless, some definitely not. In "Stakeout," Steve and his partner mistake a Manhattan dentist for an armed robbery suspect, and reduce the man to a puddle of snot and tears when questioning him. In "Mug Shot," the mother of a suspected criminal makes a strange request and provides a sobering reminder of the humanity at stake in his profession. And in "Home," the image of Steve's family provides the adrenaline he needs to fight for his life when assaulted by two armed and violent crackheads. From stories about his days as a rookie cop to the time spent patrolling in the Anti-Crime Unit--and his visceral, harrowing recollections of working during the weeks after 9/11--The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop captures the humanity, the absurdity, and the dark humor of police work, as well as the bravery of those who do it. These stories will speak to those nostalgic for the New York City of the 1980s and '90s, a bygone era when the city was a crazier, more dangerous (and possibly more interesting) place.From the Hardcover edition.Philadelphia Freedom
By David Kairys. 2008
"David Kairys is one of the grand long-distance runners in the struggle for justice in America. His brilliant legal mind…
and superb lawyerly skills are legendary. This marvelous book is his gift to us!" ---Cornel West, Professor of Religion and African American Studies, Princeton University, and award-winning author of Race Matters Philadelphia Freedom is the spellbinding tale of an idealistic young lawyer coming of age in the political cauldron of the 1960s and 1970s. From his immersion in the civil rights movement to his determined court battles to quell criminal violence by Philadelphia police, Kairys recounts how he helped make history in the city of brotherly love." ---William K. Marimow, Editor and Executive Vice President, Philadelphia Inquirer, and recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes "In the current climate of political deception and the trampling of our civil rights, Kairys's compelling book is a clenched fist, a prayer for social justice and a call to conscience." ---Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times columnist and former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist "With engaging, insider stories of innovative legal strategies of a truly creative lawyer, this book evokes the ebullient spirit of progressive social change launched in the 1960s and should be read by aspiring and practicing lawyers as well as anyone interested in American social history. Philadelphia Freedom reads like a suspense novel and reveals how novel legal and political thinking can and does make a real difference to individuals and to the quality of justice." ---Martha L. Minow, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard University "David Kairys's compelling book properly explains the vital role that civil rights attorneys play in our system of justice." ---Judge John E. Jones III, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and presiding judge in the landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case A memoir that is also a compelling page-turner, Philadelphia Freedom is the poignant, informative, often inspiring account of renowned civil-rights lawyer David Kairys's personal quest for achieving social justice during the turbulent 1960s and 70s. Philadelphia Freedom brings us intimately and directly into Kairys's burgeoning law career and the struggles of the 60s as his professional and private life navigated the turmoil and promise of the civil rights and antiwar movements. Many of the cases Kairys took on involved discrimination and equal protection, freedom of speech, and government malfeasance. Kairys is perhaps most well known for his victory in the Camden 28 draft board case, in which the FBI set up a sting of the Catholic anti-war left at the behest of the highest levels of government. The stories and cases range from nationally important and recognizable---the family of the scientist the CIA unwittingly gave LSD in the 1950s; the leading race discrimination case against the FBI; Dr. Benjamin Spock's First Amendment case before the Supreme Court; the city handgun lawsuits Kairys conceived---to those he encountered in his early work as a public defender. The characters include public figures such as FBI Directors J. Edgar Hoover and Louis Freeh; CIA Director William Colby; Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter; New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; U.S. Attorneys General Edward Levi and John Mitchell; Georgia Governor Lester Maddox; Pennsylvania Governor, former Philadelphia Mayor, and Democratic National Committee chair Ed Rendell; Philadelphia Mayor and Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. But some of the most memorable are not well known, involving regular people caught up in the often heartless machinery of the courts and legal system. Though it reads like a novel, with all the elements of character, plot, and suspense, Philadelphia Freedom also has historical significance as a firsthand account of the 1960s and 70s and contains social commentary about race as well as insights and major perspectives on the nature and social rCleveland Police (Images of America)
By Cleveland Police Historical Society Museum. 2005
When Cleveland, Ohio, was incorporated as a city on March 5, 1836, the population numbered less than 6,000. In its…
heyday, the city was touted as the "Sixth City" when the population soared to 560,663. Today, the Cleveland Division of Police serves and protects 478,403 souls. Over the years, the division has been a pioneer in many aspects of policing, including criminal identification, scientific investigation, and communications. In the 1920s and 1930s, Cleveland had one of the most progressive and efficient departments in the country. The first use of a surveillance camera to identify bank robbers, which led to their quick arrest, occurred in Cleveland on April 12, 1957. However, the job of protecting and serving the people has never been easy--to date, 107 Cleveland police officers have died in the line of duty.Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mob Boss
By Dick Lehr, Gerard O'Neill. 2013
From the bestselling authors of Black Mass comes the definitive biography of Whitey Bulger, the most brutal and sadistic crime…
boss since Al Capone. Drawing on a trove of sealed files and previously classified material, Whitey digs deep into the mind of James J. "Whitey" Bulger, the crime boss and killer who brought the FBI to its knees. He is an American original --a psychopath who fostered a following with a frightening mix of terror, deadly intimidation and the deft touch of a politician who often helped a family in need meet their monthly rent. But the history shows that despite the early false myths portraying him as a Robin Hood figure, Whitey was a supreme narcissist, and everything--every interaction with family and his politician brother Bill Bulger, with underworld cohorts, with law enforcement, with his South Boston neighbors, and with his victims--was always about him. In an Irish-American neighborhood where loyalty has always been rule one, the Bulger brand was loyalty to oneself. Whitey deconstructs Bulger's insatiable hunger for power and control. Building on their years of reporting and uncovering new Bulger family records, letters and prison files, Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill examine and reveal the factors and forces that created the monster. It's a deeply rendered portrait of evil that spans nearly a century, taking Whitey from the streets of his boyhood Southie in the 1940s to his cell in Alcatraz in the 1950s to his cunning, corrupt pact with the FBI in the 1970s and, finally, to Santa Monica, California where for fifteen years he was hiding in plain sight as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted. In a lifetime of crime and murder that ended with his arrest in June 2011, Whitey Bulger became one of the most powerful and deadly crime bosses of the twentieth century. This is his story.The Valley of the Shadow of Death
By Jeff Snipes, Kermit Alexander, Alex Gerould. 2015
In this heart-wrenching memoir, former NFL star Kermit Alexander tells the devastating true story of the horrific massacre of his…
family and his subsequent years of despair, followed by a spiritual renewal that showed him a way to rebuild his family and reclaim his life.On the morning of August 31, 1984, in the South Central section of Los Angeles, three armed men broke into a house, brutally murdering two women and two young boys. The victims were Ebora Alexander, Dietra Alexander, Damani Garner, and Damon Bonner--the mother, sister, and nephews of retired All-Pro cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers Kermit Alexander. In his own words, Kermit Alexander finally shares the full story of what happened to his loved ones and the aftermath of that tragic day. He recounts the hours leading up to the massacre, and how afterward he lost himself in the LA underworld, pleading, bribing, and threatening in a search for answers. He describes his journey through the "wilderness" of despair--the years of isolation living out of his car, broke, depressed, and sick. We also learn about his coming-of-age in 1950s LA, the following decade he spent in the NFL, the events leading up to that fateful August day, and finally the shocking truth behind the murders. Kermit opens up about his darkest hours, but also what it took to turn his life around, rebuild his family, and ultimately find peace. Ominous and intense, powerful and uplifting, tragic and triumphant, The Valley of the Shadow of Death is more than a rendering of one man's adversity; it's testament to the value of family and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming loss.Black Mass
By Dick Lehr, Gerard O'Neill. 2000
Two boys - John Connolly and James "Whitley" Bulger - grew up together on the streets of South Boston. Decades…
later, in the mid-1970s, they would meet again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI's Boston office and Whitley had become godfather of the Irish mob. Connolly had an idea, a scheme that might bring Bulger into the FBI fold and John Connolly into the Bureau's big leagues. But Bulger had other plans. "Black Mass" is the story of what happened beween them - a dark deal to trade secrets and take down Boston's Italian Mafia in exchange for "immunity" - that spiralled out of control, leading to murders, drug dealing and racketeering indictments. Ultimately, in what would become the biggest internal scandal in the history of the FBI, Bulger would find himself at the top of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Told in gripping narrative style by the "Boston Globe" reporters who covered the case from the beginning, "Black Mass" is a riveting epic crime story that is also a book about Irish America, about the pull of place, and about the ties that bind.The Dark Art
By Douglas Century, Edward Follis. 2014
A highly decorated veteran DEA agent recounts his incredible undercover career and reveals the shocking links between narcotics trafficking and…
terrorismWhat exactly is undercover? From a law-enforcement perspective, undercover is the art of skillfully eliciting incriminating statements. From a personal and psychological standpoint, it's the dark art of gaining trust--then manipulating that trust. In the simplest terms, it's playing a chess game with the bad guy, getting him to make the moves you want him to make--but without him knowing you're doing so. Edward Follis mastered the chess game--The Dark Art--over the course of his distinguished twenty-seven years with the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he bought eightballs of coke in a red Corvette, negotiated multimillion-dollar deals onboard private King Airs, and developed covert relationships with men who were not only international drug-traffickers but--in some cases--operatives for Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Shan United Army, or the Mexican federation of cartels.Follis was, in fact, one of the driving forces behind the agency's radical shift from a limited local focus to a global arena. In the early nineties, the DEA was primarily known for doing street-level busts evocative of Miami Vice. Today, it uses high-resolution-optics surveillance and classified cutting-edge technology to put the worst narco-terror kingpins on the business end of "stealth justice" delivered via Predator drone pilots.Spanning five continents and filled with harrowing stories about the world's most ruthless drug lords and terrorist networks, Follis's memoir reads like a thriller. Yet every word is true, and every story is documented. Follis earned a Medal of Valor for his work, and coauthor Douglas Century is a pro at shaping and telling just this kind of story. The first and only insider's account of the confluence between narco-trafficking and terrorist organizations, The Dark Art is a page-turning memoir that will electrify you from page one.Policing the Fringe
By Charles Scheideman. 2009
From the 1960s through the 1980s, RCMP Sergeant Charlie Scheideman spent much of his time patrolling the "dark corners of…
the Interior of British Columbia" where "the citizens would meet the modern criteria for redneck: if their veranda collapsed it would kill more than four dogs; they think 'harrass' is two words, and so on." Such places weren't much fun to police but they were full of characters, many of whom make their way into Charlie's entertaining book, Policing the Fringe. We meet Walter and Wilbur, two Hixon hillbillies who went on a bender and decided it would be fun to stagger out onto the Cariboo Highway with a rifle and hold up passing cars, which worked well enough until they held up a motorhome from Alaska that turned out to be better armed than they were. We meet Petre, the hard-working hermit who was cheated out of his savings by three slick-talking mining promoters and waited to take his revenge-with an axe.With wry humour and a policeman's eye for relevant detail, Scheideman recounts events that range from the ridiculous to the horrific to the tragic. Once he stopped a car in the Fraser Canyon driven by three normally responsible American fishermen, who on this occasion were careening wildly from one guard rail to another. Their defence? They had failed to allow for the added kick of Canadian beer. His most searing memory was of waiting for the embers of a burned house to cool enough so he could retrieve the bodies of two small victims while in a nearby house, party-goers kept right on partying. One of the most revealing accounts ever written about policing in small-town Canada, this book bristles with unforgettable stories about the author's 27 years working on the RCMP's front lines. It will give readers new respect for the men and women who patrol Canada's backroads-both because of the extremely taxing work they do and the good spirit with which they do it.Sixty Miles of Border
By Terry Kirkpatrick. 2012
The border between the United States and Mexico is a no-man's land. Drugs, guns, and human beings are the cargo…
of choice in a multi-billion dollar illegal empire dominated by powerful cartels, murderous street gangs, and corrupt government officials. Against them stand the Special Agents of the United States Customs Service--men and women who fight to uphold the law and protect the U.S. on both sides of the border. Terry Kirkpatrick worked one of the toughest jobs in America: a U.S. Customs agent on the border between Arizona and Mexico. He's seen it all and done more for over twenty years in a job that many officers quit before they make it six months. These are the gritty and graphic true stories of Terry and his fellow "Border Rats" as they patrol America's modern badlands, where bullets are currency and blood is taken as payment. From the inhuman conditions people suffer under to get onto American soil, to working with blatantly crooked military leaders, to some of the most insane and unbelievable situations ever survived, readers will experience the chaos that has engulfed the U.S. border in the words of a man who has been there. 60 Miles of Border sheds an unsparing light into the life of customs agents, their dealings on the border, the effect on their daily lives--and an unsparing look at one of the most hotly debated and controversial topics in modern America.Scalia
By Bruce Allen Murphy. 2014
An authoritative, deeply researched biography of the most controversial and outspoken Supreme Court justice of our time and how he…
chose to be "right" rather than influential.Antonin Scalia knew only success in the first fifty years of his life. His sterling academic and legal credentials led to his nomination by President Ronald Reagan to the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in 1982. In four short years there, he successfully outmaneuvered the more senior Robert Bork to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986. Scalia's evident legal brilliance and personal magnetism led everyone to predict he would unite a new conservative majority under Chief Justice William Rehnquist and change American law in the process. Instead he became a Court of One. Rather than bringing the conservatives together, Scalia drove them apart. He attacked and alienated his more moderate colleagues Sandra Day O'Connor, then David Souter, and finally Anthony Kennedy. Scalia prevented the conservative majority from coalescing for nearly two decades. Scalia: A Court of One is the compelling story of one of the most polarizing figures ever to serve on the nation's highest court. It provides an insightful analysis of Scalia's role on a Court that, like him, has moved well to the political right, losing public support and ignoring public criticism. To the delight of his substantial conservative following, Scalia's "originalism" theory has become the litmus test for analyzing, if not always deciding, cases. But Bruce Allen Murphy shows that Scalia's judicial conservatism is informed as much by his highly traditional Catholicism, mixed with his political partisanship, as by his reading of the Constitution. Murphy also brilliantly analyzes Scalia's role in major court decisions since the mid-1980s and scrutinizes the ethical controversies that have dogged Scalia in recent years. A Court of One is a fascinating examination of one outspoken justice's decision not to play internal Court politics, leaving him frequently in dissent, but instead to play for history, seeking to etch his originalism philosophy into American law.Tragedy on Jackass Mountain
By Charles Scheideman. 2011
Former RCMP Sergeant Charlie Scheideman, author of Policing the Fringe: The Curious Life of a Small-Town Mountie, is back with…
the same wry humour and a new collection of incredible stories drawn from his twenty-seven years of patrolling the small communities of the interior of British Columbia.These new adventures have him re-polishing his boots and relaying untold tales, such as the lone officer who takes on three legendary hard-fighting drunks, earning him the respect of the citizens of Prince George including the louts he single-handedly flattened. An escape from a youth detention centre takes a troubled young man to new heights-in a stolen airplane-that he narrowly survives after crashing into a mountainside. Here too are stories conveying the sad truth and tragic consequences of all-too-common alcohol abuse, such as when an innocent man survives an alcohol-induced multi-vehicle accident on Jackass Mountain-twice-only to be taken by a determined Grim Reaper as he aids another motorist. Scheideman illustrates that "fate looks after some of us" in another story where the extremely drunk driver and passengers of a violent single car accident miraculously survive.The strangest things seem to happen in isolated towns, and Scheideman's latest assortment of intriguing tales recounts more of his experiences from the absurd to tragic. This new collection leaves the reader with renewed admiration and wonder for the men and women who uphold the law in some of BC's more lawless regions.Memoirs and Reflections
By Roy Mcmurtry. 1945
From "the Kid" on the Varsity Blues football team to "the Chief" at Osgoode Hall, R. Roy McMurtry has had…
a remarkably varied and influential career. As reformist attorney general of Ontario, one of the architects of the agreement that brought about the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, high commissioner to the United Kingdom, and chief justice of Ontario, he made a large and enduring contribution to Canadian law, politics, and life.These memoirs cover all these facets of his remarkable career, as well as his law practice, his work on various commissions of inquiry, and his reflections on family, sport, and art. This volume is both an account of his life in public service and a portrait of a humane, humorous, still optimistic, and always decent man.Willow in a Storm
By Kathy Murphy Taylor, James Peter Taylor. 2007
Written in a stark, unsentimental style, this compelling memoir shows how one man survived a seemingly impossible existence. As a…
child, "Jimmy Pete" was repeatedly abused by his adoptive father and family acquaintances. He married young, had a daughter, drifted into crime and ultimately killed a banker accidentally in a botched robbery.Jailed for four decades, Taylor didn't join a gang. Instead, though heterosexual, he adopted a traditionally female role, depending on men for protection and ultimately becoming so comfortable as a woman that he considered changing his sex.Taylor colors his surprising story with vivid anecdotes, never shying away from the sexual and physical violence endemic to prison. The victim of attacks that left him blind and brain-impaired, he nonetheless finds the spiritual safety valve that filigrees this remarkable book, learning to live by "bending like the willow."Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark
By Mimi Clark Gronlund. 2010
An associate justice on the renowned Warren Court whose landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education overturned racial segregation…
in schools and other public facilities, Tom C. Clark was a crusader for justice throughout his long legal career. Among many tributes Clark received, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger opined that "no man in the past thirty years has contributed more to the improvement of justice than Tom Clark. " Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark is the first biography of this important American jurist. Written by his daughter, Mimi Clark Gronlund, and based on interviews with many of Clark's judicial associates, friends, and family, as well as archival research, it offers a well-rounded portrait of a lawyer and judge who dealt with issues that remain in contention today--civil rights, the rights of the accused, school prayer, and censorship/pornography, among them. Gronlund explores the factors in her father's upbringing and education that helped form his judicial philosophy, then describes how that philosophy shaped his decisions on key issues and cases, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the investigation of war fraud, the Truman administration's loyalty program (an anti-communist effort), the Brown decision, Mapp v. Ohio (protections against unreasonable search and seizure), and Abington v. Schempp (which overturned a state law that required reading from the Bible each day in public schools).The Dark Art
By Douglas Century, Edward Follis. 2014
A highly decorated veteran DEA agent recounts his incredible undercover career and reveals the shocking links between narcotics trafficking and…
terrorismWhat exactly is undercover? From a law-enforcement perspective, undercover is the art of skillfully eliciting incriminating statements. From a personal and psychological standpoint, it's the dark art of gaining trust--then manipulating that trust. In the simplest terms, it's playing a chess game with the bad guy, getting him to make the moves you want him to make--but without him knowing you're doing so. Edward Follis mastered the chess game--The Dark Art--over the course of his distinguished twenty-seven years with the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he bought eightballs of coke in a red Corvette, negotiated multimillion-dollar deals onboard private King Airs, and developed covert relationships with men who were not only international drug-traffickers but--in some cases--operatives for Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Shan United Army, or the Mexican federation of cartels.Follis was, in fact, one of the driving forces behind the agency's radical shift from a limited local focus to a global arena. In the early nineties, the DEA was primarily known for doing street-level busts evocative of Miami Vice. Today, it uses high-resolution-optics surveillance and classified cutting-edge technology to put the worst narco-terror kingpins on the business end of "stealth justice" delivered via Predator drone pilots.Spanning five continents and filled with harrowing stories about the world's most ruthless drug lords and terrorist networks, Follis's memoir reads like a thriller. Yet every word is true, and every story is documented. Follis earned a Medal of Valor for his work, and coauthor Douglas Century is a pro at shaping and telling just this kind of story. The first and only insider's account of the confluence between narco-trafficking and terrorist organizations, The Dark Art is a page-turning memoir that will electrify you from page one.