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Illinois Justice
By John Paul Stevens, Kenneth A. Manaster. 2001
Illinois political scandals reached new depths in the 1960s and '70s. In Illinois Justice, Kenneth Manaster takes us behind the…
scenes of one of the most spectacular. The so-called Scandal of 1969 not only ended an Illinois Supreme Court justice's aspirations to the US Supreme Court, but also marked the beginning of little-known lawyer John Paul Stevens's rise to the high court. In 1969, citizen gadfly Sherman Skolnick accused two Illinois Supreme Court justices of accepting valuable bank stock from an influential Chicago lawyer in exchange for deciding an important case in the lawyer's favor. The resulting feverish media coverage prompted the state supreme court to appoint a special commission to investigate. Within six weeks and on a shoestring budget, the commission mobilized a small volunteer staff to reveal the facts. Stevens, then a relatively unknown Chicago lawyer, served as chief counsel. His work on this investigation would launch him into the public spotlight and onto the bench. Manaster, who served on the commission, tells the real story of the investigation, detailing the dead ends, tactics, and triumphs. Manaster expertly traces Stevens's masterful courtroom strategies and vividly portrays the high-profile personalities involved, as well as the subtleties of judicial corruption. A reflective foreword by Justice Stevens himself looks back at the case and how it influenced his career. Now the subject of the documentary Unexpected Justice: The Rise of John Paul Stevens, this fascinating chapter of political history offers a revealing portrait of the early career of a Supreme Court justice.True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa
By Michael Finkel. 2005
In the haunting tradition of Joe McGinniss's Fatal Vision and Mikal Gilmore's Shot in the Heart, True Story: Murder, Memoir,…
Mea Culpa weaves a spellbinding tale of murder, love, and deceit with a deeply personal inquiry into the slippery nature of truth.The story begins in February of 2002, when a reporter in Oregon contacts New York Times Magazine writer Michael Finkel with a startling piece of news. A young, highly intelligent man named Christian Longo, on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for killing his entire family, has recently been captured in Mexico, where he'd taken on a new identity--Michael Finkel of the New York Times.The next day, on page A-3 of the Times, comes another bit of troubling news: a note, written by the paper's editors, explaining that Finkel has falsified parts of an investigative article and has been fired. This unlikely confluence sets the stage for a bizarre and intense relationship. After Longo's arrest, the only journalist the accused murderer will speak with is the real Michael Finkel. And as the months until Longo's trial tick away, the two men talk for dozens of hours on the telephone, meet in the jailhouse visiting room, and exchange nearly a thousand pages of handwritten letters.With Longo insisting he can prove his innocence, Finkel strives to uncover what really happened to Longo's family, and his quest becomes less a reporting job than a psychological cat-and-mouse game--sometimes redemptively honest, other times slyly manipulative. Finkel's pursuit pays off only at the end, when Longo, after a lifetime of deception, finally says what he wouldn't even admit in court--the whole, true story. Or so it seems.Crime seen: from patrol cop to profiler, my stories from behind the yellow tape
By Kate Lines. 2015
A criminal profiler, former Chief Superintendent of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), recounts her remarkable story using pivotal cases she…
worked on during the course of her career. Always taking care not to aggrandize in any way the notorious criminals whose names we know all too well, Kate knows that it is much more important to focus on the courage of the victims and their families. Bestseller. 2015.The pemmican eaters
By Marilyn Dumont. 2015
Combining free verse and metered poems, Dumont’s latest collection aims to recreate a palpable sense of the Riel Resistance period…
and evoke the geographical, linguistic/cultural, and political situation of Batoche during this time, through the eyes of those who experienced the battles. Included in this collection are poems about the bison, seed beadwork, and the Red River Cart, and some poems employ elements of the Michif language, which, along with French and Cree, was spoken by Dumont’s ancestors. Winner of the 2016 Alberta Literary Award. 2015.Ceremonies for the dead
By Daniel Heath Justice, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Giles Benaway. 2013
These poems examine the haunting themes of inter-generational trauma, cyclical abuse, and inherited grief. Four generations of the dead take…
turns narrating these themes, navigating from the Great Lakes through the Appalachian Mountains, and examining the fur trade, an exile from Minnesota, the experiences of West Virginia coal miners, and the legacy of mission schools. Black humour and satire fill the collection, illuminating a fierce determination to survive and resist colonization and the endurance of culture and identity under extreme duress. Winner of the 2014 Young Authors Award. 2013.Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story
By R. Kent Newmyer. 1985
The primary founder and guiding spirit of the Harvard Law School and the most prolific publicist of the nineteenth century,…
Story served as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1811 to 1845. His attitudes and goals as lawyer, politician, judge, and legal educator were founded on the republican values generated by the American Revolution. Story's greatest objective was to fashion a national jurisprudence that would carry the American people into the modern age without losing those values.Without Precedent
By Anna R. Hayes. 2008
The first woman judge in the state of North Carolina and the first woman in the United States to be…
elected chief justice of a state supreme court, Susie Marshall Sharp (1907-1996) broke new ground for women in the legal profession. When she retired in 1979, she left a legacy burnished by her tireless pursuit of lucidity in the law, honesty in judges, and humane conditions in prisons.Anna Hayes presents Sharp's career as an attorney, distinguished judge, and politician within the context of the social mores, the legal profession, and the political battles of her day, illuminated by a careful and revealing examination of Sharp's family background, private life, and personality. Judge Sharp was viewed by contemporaries as the quintessential spinster, who had sacrificed marriage and family life for a successful career. The letters and journals she wrote throughout her life, however, reveal that Sharp led a rich private life in which her love affairs occupied a major place, unsuspected by the public or even her closest friends and family. With unrestricted access to Sharp's abundant journals, papers, and notes, Anna Hayes uncovers the story of a brilliant woman who transcended the limits of her times, who opened the way for women who followed her, and who improved the quality of justice for the citizens of her state. Without Precedent also tells the story of a complicated woman, at once deeply conservative and startlingly modern, whose intriguing self-contradictions reflect the complexity of human nature.Mi mundo adorado
By Sonia Sotomayor. 2013
La primera latina y la tercera mujer designada a la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos, Sonia Sotomayor se ha convertido…
en un ícono contemporáneo. Ahora, con un candor e intimidad inusitados, Sonia nos narra el viaje de su vida -desde los proyectos del Bronx hasta la corte federal- en una inspiradora celebración del poder de creer en uno mismo.Ésta es la historia de una niñez precaria, con un padre alcohólico que moriría cuando ella tenía nueve años y una madre devota pero sobrecargada, y del refugio que una niña tomó de la confusión del hogar con su enérgica abuela. Pero no fue hasta que le diagnosticaron diabetes juvenil cuando la precoz Sonia reconoció que, en última instancia, dependía de sí misma. Pronto aprendería a ponerse a sí misma las inyecciones de insulina necesarias para sobrevivir y forjar un camino hacia una vida mejor.Con personajes de televisión como modelo y con poca idea sobre lo que en realidad implicaba, Sonia decidió ser abogada, unsueño que la sostendría en su improbable recorrido, desde su brillante paso por la escuela secundaria, la Universidad de Princeton y la Escuela de Derecho de Yale hasta la Fiscalía de Distrito del Condado de Nueva York, la práctica privada, y el nombramiento a la Corte Federal de Distrito, todo antes de llegar a los cuarenta años.A lo largo del camino vemos cómo Sonia fue formada por diversas experiencias, mentores invaluables, y la versión moderna de familia que creó con sus amigos y sus hijos. Todos esos elementos se hilvanan en un libro cálido y honesto, destinado a convertirse en un clásico de la autoformación y el autodescubrimiento.Enlightenment 2.0: restoring sanity to our politics, our economy, and our lives
By Joseph Heath. 2014
Over the last twenty years, the political systems of the western world have become increasingly divided - not between right…
and left, but between crazy and non-crazy. What’s more, the crazies seem to be gaining the upper hand. Rational thought cannot prevail in the current chaotic social and media environment, where elections are won by appealing to voters’ hearts rather than their minds. Argues that we should nurture a new “slow politics.” The only way to restore sanity is by engaging in collective action against the social conditions that have crowded it out. Winner of the 2014 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. 2014.The Supreme Court
By Brian Lamb, Susan Swain. 2010
The Supreme Court grew out of a unique opportunity to interview all nine sitting Supreme Court Justices plus retired Justice…
O'Connor for a documentary on the Supreme Court. Through Brian Lamb and Susan Swain's interviews with our country's most influential judges, the book offers portraits of the Justices that introduces readers to the closed world of the Supreme Court, and what's it's really like to serve on the nation's highest Court. Accompanying the Justices around the Supreme Court, and through offices steeped in historic memorabilia, Lamb and Swain offer readers a window into a fascinating world to which few have had access. In these pages, Justice Sotomayor reflects on her first impressions of the job and the acclimation process. Justice Breyer takes us behind the scenes on a private tour of his Chambers as he describes how the Court works. And Chief Justice Roberts talks about the role of the Court in Society, the role of the Chief Justice, and the process of deciding cases. Enriching this unique material are interviews with journalists, court historians, and other experts on the Court. Journalists Joan Biskupic and Lyle Denniston (the longest serving Supreme Court reporter) talk about the process that unfolds in the Court and the impact of a new member of the Court. Clerk of the Supreme Court William Suter provides insights into the traditions of the Court. Historian Jim O'Hara discusses the Supreme Court building and its history. Two attorneys who have argued numerous cases in front of the Supreme Court tell readers what it's like facing the justices in fast paced oral arguments. Vividly illustrated with color photographs, the book is a perfect gift for anyone interested in the makings of this powerful institution.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 Supreme Court
By Brian Lamb, Susan Swain. 2010
The Supreme Court grew out of a unique opportunity to interview all nine sitting Supreme Court Justices plus retired Justice…
O'Connor for a documentary on the Supreme Court. Through Brian Lamb and Susan Swain's interviews with our country's most influential judges, the book offers portraits of the Justices that introduces readers to the closed world of the Supreme Court, and what's it's really like to serve on the nation's highest Court. Accompanying the Justices around the Supreme Court, and through offices steeped in historic memorabilia, Lamb and Swain offer readers a window into a fascinating world to which few have had access. In these pages, Justice Sotomayor reflects on her first impressions of the job and the acclimation process. Justice Breyer takes us behind the scenes on a private tour of his Chambers as he describes how the Court works. And Chief Justice Roberts talks about the role of the Court in Society, the role of the Chief Justice, and the process of deciding cases. Enriching this unique material are interviews with journalists, court historians, and other experts on the Court. Journalists Joan Biskupic and Lyle Denniston (the longest serving Supreme Court reporter) talk about the process that unfolds in the Court and the impact of a new member of the Court. Clerk of the Supreme Court William Suter provides insights into the traditions of the Court. Historian Jim O'Hara discusses the Supreme Court building and its history. Two attorneys who have argued numerous cases in front of the Supreme Court tell readers what it's like facing the justices in fast paced oral arguments. Vividly illustrated with color photographs, the book is a perfect gift for anyone interested in the makings of this powerful institution.Black Mass
By Dick Lehr, Gerard O'Neill. 2012
John Connolly and James "Whitey" Bulger grew up together on the tough streets of South Boston. Decades later in the…
mid-1970s, they met again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI's Boston office and Whitey had become godfather of the Irish Mob. Connolly had an idea, a scheme that might bring Bugler into the FBI fold and John Connolly into the Bureau's big leagues. But Bulger had other plans. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, Black Mass is the chilling true story of what happened between them--a dark deal that spiraled out of control, leading to drug dealing, racketeering, and murder.In the heart of the sea: the tragedy of the whaleship Essex
By Nathaniel Philbrick. 2000
The epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the nineteenth century which was the inspiration…
for Herman Melville's classic novel "Moby Dick". The author uses a hitherto unknown diary of one of the survivors discovered in an attic in Connecticut in 1998 to tell the tale. Winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction. 2000.Street Poison
By Justin Gifford. 2015
The first and definitive biography of one of America's bestselling, notorious, and influential writers of the twentieth century: Iceberg Slim,…
né Robert Beck, author of the multimillion-copy memoir Pimp and such equally popular novels as Trick Baby and Mama Black Widow. From a career as a, yes, ruthless pimp in the '40s and '50s, Iceberg Slim refashioned himself as the first and still the greatest of "street lit" masters, whose vivid books have made him an icon to such rappers as Ice-T, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and a presiding spirit of "blaxploitation" culture. You can't understand contemporary black (and even American) culture without reckoning with Iceberg Slim and his many acolytes and imitators. Literature professor Justin Gifford has been researching the life and work of Robert Beck for a decade, culminating in Street Poison, a colorful and compassionate biography of one of the most complicated figures in twentieth-century literature. Drawing on a wealth of archival material--including FBI files, prison records, and interviews with Beck, his wife, and his daughters--Gifford explores the sexual trauma and racial violence Beck endured that led to his reinvention as Iceberg Slim, one of America's most infamous pimps of the 1940s and '50s. From pimping to penning his profoundly influential confessional autobiography, Pimp, to his involvement in radical politics, Gifford's biography illuminates the life and works of one of American literature's most unique renegades.Peace pipe dreams: the truth about lies about Indians
By Darrell Dennis. 2014
Employing pop culture examples, personal anecdote and a cutting wit, Dennis deftly weaves history with current events to entertain, inform…
and provide a convincing, readable overview of First Nations issues and why they matter today. Winner of First Nation Communities Read 2015 - 2016. 2014.The Skies Belong to Us
By Brendan I. Koerner. 2013
In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of '60s idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine.…
Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when shattered Army veteran Roger Holder and mischievous party girl Cathy Kerkow managred to comandeer Western Airlines Flight 701 and flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom--a heist that remains the longest-distance hijacking in American history.More than just an enthralling story about a spectacular crime and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath, The Skies Belong to Us is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail. tale, which involves a cast of characters ranging from exiled Black Panthers to African despots to French movie stars. He combed through over 4,000 declassified documents and interviewed scores of key figures in the drama--including one of the hijackers, whom Koerner discovered living in total obscurity. Yet The Skies Belong to Us is more than just an enthralling yarn about a spectacular heist and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath. It is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent, and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.Detachment: an adoption memoir
By Maurice Mierau. 2014
Mierau probes not only the process of adoption but what comes after - the challenges of becoming a family, the…
strain on his marriage. While one of his sons acts out and gets in trouble at school, Maurice feels removed, detached, thinking instead about his own emotionally distant father. Also born in Ukraine, Maurice’s father has a traumatic and mysterious past of his own. If Maurice can come to understand his father's life, perhaps he can start to make sense of his new sons. Winner of the 2015 Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-fiction. 2014.Finding me: a decade of darkness, a life reclaimed
By Michelle Knight, Michelle Burford. 2014
Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For…
more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004. Their escape on May 6, 2013, made headlines around the world. Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished. Castro tormented her with these facts, reminding her that no one was looking for her, that the outside world had forgotten her. But Michelle would not be broken. Bestseller. 2014.As It Was: A Memoir
By Robert M Pennoyer. 2015
"Robert M. Pennoyer was born into a storied family - his maternal grandfather was the legendary J. P. Morgan. His…
irresistible memoir traces his sheltered childhood on the Gold Coast of Long Island; an adolescence overshadowed by the gathering clouds of World War II; and a young adulthood that survived one of the decisive engagements of the Pacific Theater - Iwo Jima. The author gives us as well a heartwarming account of a romance that blossomed into a lifelong matrimonial partnership and a close family life, tested nonetheless by crisis. And he chronicles a distinguished career, the early part of which was spent in the service of President Eisenhower and the latter part in private law practice and pro bono work. As It Was begins in an era of unprecedented wealth and privilege for some and great misery and poverty for others, - one that Mark Twain lampooned as the "Gilded Age," and ends, coming in effect full circle, in our own era of the One Per Cent, as the income chasm in America reopens. What divides these periods, and is so impressively portrayed here, is the rise of American Progressivism led by the two Roosevelts. Most importantly, this book is itself a demonstration of the values that boosted America on its path to greatness and for which no finer exemplar could be found than its author. It bespeaks a belief in democracy that is passionate and unshakable, and builds on a deep appreciation of the institutions that enable it. The spirit that flows through these pages may be modest, but it is also filled with an irrepressible optimism and a faith in simple values that are both uplifting and marvelously contagious. As It Was is a lesson in a life well lived, and a tonic for dark and troubled times."-- Scott Horton, author of Lords of Secrecy: The National Security Elite and America's Stealth Warfare (2015), contributing editor,Harper's Magazine.