Guilty:: The Collapse of Criminal Justice

by Rothwax and Harold J. Rothwax

Book Overview

Describes the breakdown of the American criminal justice system, arguing that criminals and defense attorneys hide behind problematic laws and technicalities and calling for a number of major reforms... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067943867X
• ISBN13: 9780679438670
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Astonishing and Frightening

This book pulls no punches and contains no fancy words. Harold Rothwax tells it like it is....When the criminal justice system fails, and the obviously and often admittedly guilty go free to wreak more havoc on innocent citizens, we should feel outraged... and I'd guess that we do, when we hear about it as we do infrequently. But the sympathy extended to the perpetrators of violent crimes is both misplaced and as wrong as the crimes themselves. Rothwax, a judge, sees these decisions made routinely, as he deals with their aftermath. He is outraged. He is beyond outraged.He makes a compelling case for a modification in our criminal justice system. Criminal juries shouldn't need 100% agreement to deliver a verdict, which they already don't need in civil cases. One lone kook shouldn't hold up what's obvious to a clear majority. He suggests forgetting Miranda... if someone is screaming confessions, it's a CONFESSION. What a lot of effort, time, and money those confessions save! Getting criminals off on technicalities -- especially technicalities that lawyers search for painstakingly with the sole goal of getting their clients off -- is a perverse and morally reprehensible function of the court, and it should be inadmissable when the parties involved behaved with logic and discretion to the satisfaction of the court.The cases that Rothwax cites, cases in which innocent adults and children suffered at the hands of a meticulous and ill-advised court, will break your heart and make you scream for justice.For this is a book about justice. It is not a book about law. Unfortunately, the two diverge more than the American public would like to acknowledge.

A frightening reality of justice gone awry. A page turner.

Judge Rothwax says it all in this remarkable thesis about America's failing criminal justice system. He gives his views on important aspects of the process such as Miranda, the exclusionary rule, discovery rules, and then incorporates them into cases he has presided over.Judge Rothwax's book is very informative, especially to those students studying for a law degree. America cannot ignore "Guilty: The Collapse of the Criminal Justice System."

The truth about the law to the American people

Judge Rothwax has done an excellent work of telling us the truth in an easy to read format. The text reads well and was worth the effort to read it non-stop in four hours. If you had doubts about the current judical system this should scare the hell out of you to hear from the bench how criminals are often the winners in our judical system while law abiding citizens are the victims. I wish Judge Rothwax would have given some of his personal history on how a former legal aid lawyer and card carring member of the ACLU changed into what most would call a hard nosed conservative. This missing part in no way detracts from the book.An absolute must buy!!!!

The Frightening Reality of our Criminal Justice System

Judge Rothwax has masterfully documented the reality of a criminal justice system gone mad. His examples of how the criminal element in our society can use the system to escape justice is frightening. As a former police officer I witnessed suspects leaving the police station before I was finished with my arrest reports. Judge Rothwax gives examples of how difficult it is for a police officer to know if what he is doing is even legal on any given day. This book gives disturbing true stories of how the court system has chosen to ignor the question of "is he guilty," and instead focus with how evidence was gathered. This book is a must read for anyone even slightly interested in our justice system.

disturbing and unexpected revelations about American justice

Judge Rothwax relates how the antics that let O.J. and Terry Nichols "walk" have bubbled down even to the level of common criminals. They lie, cheat, fabricate details of the story to fit the circumstances, and dance around the courtroom in an absolute mockery of justice. Simple, common-sense ideas such as demanding that the defendant write down a sealed account of the crime BEFORE he gets to mold his story to the cross-examination are not resorted to in America. This book made me so jaded about the hopes of bringing criminals to justice that I think they ought to return to the old techniques: the rack, the thumbscrew, and broiling feet over hot coals.