Justice must be served when a chief clerk is killed in this mystery by the New York Times–bestselling author. When Clarence Sutherland, chief clerk of the Supreme Court, is found dead, Lt. Martin Teller of the DC police and Susanna Pinscher of the Justice Department are pulled together to find the killer. It turns out that Sutherland had a lot of confidential information on important people, and any one of them could be responsible for his death. But one startling clue seems to implicate the high court itself: Sutherland was found slumped over in the chief justice’s chair. Did the clerk know something that the top judge, and perhaps even the president himself, didn’t want revealed? Teller and Pinscher intend to find out . . . From the daughter of President Harry Truman, an expert at depicting the details of life inside the beltway, Murder in the Supreme Court provides an intriguing peek into the world of Washington’s powerful justice system. “Truman’s hints as to the real state of Washington are terrifying if true.” —Chicago Sun-Times “A dazzling series.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Offers a unique behind the scenes look at the capital punishment cases that made it to the highest court in the land.

Before constitutional regulation -- The Supreme Court steps in -- The invisibility of race in the constitutional revolution -- Between the Supreme Court and the states -- The failures of regulation -- An unsustainable system? -- Recurring patterns in constitutional regulation -- The future of the American death penalty -- Life after death

From Pulitzer Prize winner Raymond Bonner, the gripping story of a grievously mishandled murder case that put a twenty-three-year-old man on death row. In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally retarded black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim's body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Elmore had been on death row for eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. With the exemplary moral commitment and tenacious investigation that have distinguished his reporting career, Bonner follows Holt's battle to save Elmore's life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. Moving, enraging, suspenseful, and enlightening, Anatomy of Injustice is a vital contribution to our nation's ongoing, increasingly important debate about inequality and the death penalty.

If you've ever seen an episode of Law and Order, you can probably recite your Miranda rights by heart. But you likely don't know that these rights had their roots in the case of a young Chinese man accused of murdering three diplomats in Washington DC in 1919. A frantic search for clues and dogged interrogations by gumshoes erupted in sensational news and editorial coverage and intensified international pressure on the police to crack the case. Part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, and part landmark legal case, The Third Degree is the true story of a young man's abuse by the Washington police and an arduous, seven-year journey through the legal system that drew in Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John W. Davis, and J. Edgar Hoover. The ordeal culminated in a sweeping Supreme Court ruling penned by Justice Louis Brandeis that set the stage for the Miranda warning many years later. Scott D. Seligman argues that the importance of the case hinges not on the defendant's guilt or innocence but on the imperative that a system that presumes one is innocent until proven guilty provides protections against coerced confessions. Today, when the treatment of suspects between arrest and trial remains controversial, when bias against immigrants and minorities in law enforcement continues to deny them their rights, and when protecting individuals from compulsory self-incrimination is still an uphill battle, this century-old legal spellbinder is a cautionary tale that reminds us how we got where we are today and makes us wonder how far we have yet to go.

Death Penalty Cases presents significant verbatim excerpts of death-penalty decisions from the United States Supreme Court. The first chapter introduces the topics discussed throughout the book. It also includes a detailed history of the death penalty in the United States. After this introduction, the remaining eighteen chapters are divided into five parts: Foundational Cases, Death-Eligible Crimes and Persons, The Death Penalty Trial, Post-Conviction Review, and Execution Issues. The first part, consisting of five chapters, talks about the mandatory death penalty, mitigating evidence and racial bias. The next part covers death-eligible crimes, such as rape and other crimes that do not involve homicide and murder. The middle part presents the trial process, from choosing the appropriate decision-makers through the sentencing decision. Followed by this is a chapter focusing on the aftermath of conviction, such as claims of innocence. The book concludes by exploring issues related to execution, such as not executing insane convicts. Finally, execution methods are presented. - Provides the most recent case material--no need to supplement - Topical organization of cases provides a more logical organization for structuring a course - Co-authors with different perspectives on the death penalty assures complete impartiality of the material - Provides the necessary historical background, a clear explanation of the current capital case process, and an impartial description of the controversies surrounding the death penalty - Provides the latest statistics relevant to discussions on the death penalty - Clearly explains the different ways in which the states process death penalty cases, with excerpts of the most relevant statutes

Special agent George Pritchard was nobody's favorite at the FBI. But when his murdered body is found, agents Ross Lizenby and Christine Saksis look for answers--only to find that the bureau wants questions kept to a suspicious minimum....

A senator’s death sends shock waves through Washington, DC, in this mystery by the New York Times–bestselling author and presidential daughter. Sen. Cale Caldwell and his blue-blooded wife maintained a far-reaching and powerful grip on Capitol Hill society, but not powerful enough to save him from foul play. The influential senator’s life is cut short in brutal fashion at a glamorous reception held in his honor. It happens just two short years after tragedy struck the Caldwell family in the form of the unsolved murder of his niece, but when attorney Lydia James suggests a connection, she’s shut down, and fast. Who stands to benefit from the Caldwells’ tragedies, and James’s silence—the senator’s political rivals, the media, or perhaps even the family’s closest allies? “A dazzling series.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Murder on Capitol Hill proves that the author is much more than a one-term mystery writer . . . All the insider’s knowledge and gossip that made Murder in the White House so captivating.” —Booklist “Truman has settled firmly into a career of writing murder mysteries, all evoking brilliantly the Washington she knows so well.” —The Houston Post

The true and gripping account of the nine-year struggle by a small band of lawyers to abolish the death penalty in the United States. Its new edition features a 2011 Foreword by death-penalty author Evan Mandery of CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, as well as a new Preface by the author.The mission, plotted out over lunch in New York's Central Park in the early 1960s, seemed as impossible as going to the moon: abolish capital punishment in every state. The approach would fight on multiple fronts, with multiple strategies. The people would be dedicated, bright, unsure, unpopular, and fascinating. This is their story: not only the cases and the arguments before courts, the death row inmates and their victims, the judges and politicians urging law and order, this is the true account of the real-life lawyers from the inside. The United States indeed went to the moon, and a few years later the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. The victory was long-sought and sweet, and the pages of this book vividly let the reader live the struggle and the victory. And while the abolition eventually became as impermanent as the nation's presence on the moon, these dedicated attorneys certainly made a difference. This is their tale.As Evan Mandery writes in his new Foreword, "In these pages, Meltsner lays bare every aspect of his and his colleaguesi thinking. You will read how they handicapped their chances, which arguments they thought would work (you may be surprised), and what they thought of the Supreme Court justices who would decide the crucial cases. You will come to understand what they perceived to be the basis for support for the death penalty, and, with Meltsner's unflinching honesty, what they perceived to be the inconsistencies in their position."Mandery concludes: "It is my odd lot in life to have read almost every major book ever written about the death penalty in America. This is the best and the most important. Every serious scholar who wants to advance an argument about capital punishment in the United States--whether it is abolitionist or in favor of the death penalty, or merely a tactical assessment--cites this book. It is open and supremely accessible." And the author's "constitutional vision was years ahead of its time. His book is timeless." Part of the Legal History and Biography Series from Quid Pro Books, the new ebook editions feature embedded pagination from previous editions (consistent with the new paperback edition as well, allowing continuity in all formats), active TOC and endnotes, and quality digital formatting.