Books
Chokehold by
With the eloquence of Ta-Nehisi Coates and the persuasive research of Michelle Alexander, a former federal prosecutor explains how the system really works, and how to disrupt it Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it s supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread - all with the support of judges and politicians. In his no-holds-barred style, Butler, whose scholarship has been featured on 60 Minutes, uses new data to demonstrate that white men commit the majority of violent crime in the United States. For example, a white woman is ten times more likely to be raped by a white male acquaintance than be the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by a black man. Butler also frankly discusses the problem
Call Number: HV8141 .B88 2017ISBN: 9781595589057Publication Date: 2017-07-11
Above the Law by
* A police officer kills a twelve-year-old boy. It's caught on video. The officer gets off. * A police officer strangles a man selling cigarettes. It's caught on video. The officer gets off. * A police officer shoots a man in his car. It's live-streamed. The officer gets off. It happens over and over again. The culprit here, alongside the cops, is Qualified Immunity (QI), a legal principle which Reuters describes as "a nearly failsafe tool to let police brutality go unpunished and deny victims their constitutional rights." Originally intended to protect cops from being sued over good faith mistakes, courts have interpreted QI so broadly that police are shielded from accountability in all but the rarest of circumstances. Only when the exact same abusive behavior was already deemed unconstitutional by a court in the exact same jurisdiction can victims succeed in a prosecution. Above the Law recounts 12 cases in which justice was denied because of QI. The stories are accompanied by infographics, timelines, and contextualizing background to create a concise and compelling indictment of an outrageously unjust legal principle that must be changed.
Call Number: HV7936.R3 C6393 2021ISBN: 9781682192573Publication Date: 2021-06-15
Profiles in Injustice by
Harris makes his case powerfully in this well-reasoned and easily understood work. Important and timely reading for criminal-justice professionals and students and for those interested in law-enforcement policy.
ISBN: 1565846966Publication Date: 2002-02-01
Usual Cruelty by
Alec Karakatsanis does not believe there should be two different justice systems for the rich and for the poor. And he certainly doesn't think people who have gone to law school, passed the bar, and sworn to uphold the Constitution should be complicit in the mass caging of human beings. Usual Cruelty is a profoundly radical reconsideration of the American 'injustice system' by someone who is actively, wildly successfully, challenging it.
Call Number: eBook KF9223 .K37 2019ISBN: 9781620975275Publication Date: 2019-10-29
Policing Black Bodies by
In this provocative book, the authors connect the regulation of African American people in many settings into a powerful narrative. Completely updated throughout, the book now includes a new chapter on policing black athletes' bodies, and expanded coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement, policing trans bodies, and policing Black women's ......
ISBN: 9781538142547Publication Date: 2021-03-01
The Black and the Blue by
During his 28-year career, Matthew Horace rose through the ranks from a police officer working the beat to a federal agent working criminal cases in some of the toughest communities in America to a highly decorated federal law enforcement executive managing high-profile investigations nationwide. Yet it was not until seven years into his service- when Horace found himself face down on the ground with a gun pointed at his head by a white fellow officer-that he fully understood the racism seething within America's police departments. Through gut-wrenching reportage, on-the-ground research, and personal accounts from interviews with police and government officials around the country, Horace presents an insider's examination of archaic police tactics. He dissects some of the nation's most highly publicized police shootings and communities to explain how these systems and tactics have hurt the people they serve, revealing the mistakes that have stoked racist policing, sky-high incarceration rates, and an epidemic of violence. "Horace's authority as an experienced officer, as well as his obvious integrity and courage, provides the book with a gravitas." -- The Washington Post "The Black and the Blue is an affirmation of the critical need for criminal justice reform, all the more urgent because it comes from an insider who respects his profession yet is willing to reveal its flaws." -- USA Today
Call Number: HV7911.H617 A3 2018ISBN: 9780316440080Publication Date: 2018-08-07
PBS Frontline Documentary Series: Policing the Police with Jelani Cobb
False Arrests, False Confessions and False Testimonies
DVD Film Documentaries (On Shelf)
- Profiled
Knits the stories of mothers of Black and Latino youth murdered by the NYPD into a powerful indictment of racial profiling and police brutality, and places them within a historical context of the roots of racism in the U.S. (DVD on reserve at the Essex Library Information Desk)
The Central Park Five / a film by Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah BurnsDocumentary film that retrospectively explores the infamous 1989 case of systemic law enforcement misconduct and the eventual DNA exoneration of five men who were wrongfully convicted as teenagers of beating and raping a jogger in New York's Central Park. The misconduct in the case began with police intimidation of these youth while in custody which ultimately led to their incarceration due to false confessions. (DVD On Shelf at the Dundalk Library, Call No: HV6568.N5 C457 2013)
Articles
- Good Luck Mr. Rice by Jake TapperA feature story in The Atlantic illustrating how a conviction resulted in the Philadelphia case of C.J. Rice. The article highlights how a blatant disregard for the lack of credible police evidence combined with ineffective and negligent defensive counsel are treated as an acceptable and routine practice in the criminal justice system.