In the US, almost 90% of state judges have to run in popular elections to remain on the bench. In the past decade, this peculiar American institution has produced vicious multimillion-dollar election campaigns and high-profile allegations of judicial bias and misconduct. Traces the history of judicial elections and America’s quest for an independent judiciary – one that would ensure fairness for all before the law. Nineteen century reformers embraced popular elections as a way to make politically appointed judges less susceptible to partisan patronage and more independent of the legislative and executive branch of government. Merit selection has emerged as the most promising means of reducing partisan and financial influence. It has also proved vulnerable to pressure from party politics and special interest groups, but nevertheless has more potential for protecting judicial independence than either political appointment or popular election. (also as e-book)

(CRIME/JUSTICE * JUDICIAL ELECTIONS VS. APPOINTMENTS * GOVERNMENT)

Flawed investigations can produce erroneous evidence, and well-meaning juries send innocent people to prison and set the guilty free. Shows how: 1) investigators draw faulty conclusions, conduct coercive interrogations, and get false confessions; 2) eye witnesses’ identification of perpetrators and detailed recollections of criminal events rely on cognitive processes that are often mistaken, and can easily be skewed by investigative procedures used; and 3) in the courtroom, jurors and judges are ill-equipped to assess the accuracy of testimony. Recommends ways to improve the accuracy of criminal investigations and trials.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS: ACCURACY)

Theft claims more victims and causes greater economic injury than any other criminal offense. Our economy increasingly commodifies intangibles and the means of committing theft become even more sophisticated. The last major reforms in Anglophone theft law, almost 50 years ago, flattened moral distinctions, so that the same punishments are now assigned to vastly different offenses. Fundamental questions about what should count s stealing remain unresolved in the law, especially regarding misappropriations of intellectual property, information, ideas, identities, and virtual property. Calls for upgrading the t theft law, to favor gradations in blames according to what is stolen and under what circumstances.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * LAW IN INFORMATION AGE * THEFT LAW OUTDATED * INFORMATION AGE THEFT LAW)

Explicit collusion is an agreement among competitors to suppress rivalry that relies on interfirm communication and/or transfers. Many cartels and bidding rings function for years in a stable and peaceful manner despite the illegality of their agreements and incentives for deviation by their members. The authors, who have studied collusion for two decades, explain what collusion is, why it is profitable, how it is implemented, and how it might be detected.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * BUSINESS * COLLUSION: ECONOMICS OF * CARTELS)

Addresses violent and nonviolent crimes committed by and against the state – including political corruption, illegal domestic surveillance, and human rights violations – in the US and other industrialized democracies since the 1960s. Ross explores the causes of state crime, ways to control it, and effects of different types of political crime.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * STATE CRIME)

People who once committed murder do not commit crimes when they get out after demonstrating rehabilitation to extremely thorough parole boards. Of the thousand prisoners paroled by the state of California in the past 21 years, who were serving a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for committing murder, not one has committed murder again. An award-winning journalist tells the personal stories of five convicted murderers, offering a new perspective on guilt, forgiveness, and second chances in America.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * MURDER * REDEMPTION AFTER MURDER)

Los Zetas, ruled over by Heriberto Lazcano (“The Executioner”), continues to carve a parallel state across Mexico and Central America. Criminals control networks of police, politician, and businessmen spanning the American continent. The Mexican government is losing its “war on drugs” despite the military, technical, and intelligence resources provided by the US. Subcontracted street gangs operate in hundreds of US cities, purchasing weapons, delivering products, executing targeted foes, and bribing the US Border Patrol. Many of the poor and destitute across the region cooperate with Los Zetas, sometimes for money, often because of coercion.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * WAR ON DRUGS * MEXICO: DRUG WARS. * LOS ZETAS)

Analyzes the growing trend towards specialization in the federal and state court systems; explores the scope, causes, and consequences of specialization in four areas: foreign policy and national security, criminal law, economic issues involving government, and economic issues in the private sector. Shows how the movement towards greater specialization affects the policies that courts make, and constitutes “a major change in the judiciary.”

(JUDICIARY CHANGES * CRIME/JUSTICE * COURT SPECIALIZATION)

Shareholder litigation and class action suits play a key role in protecting investors and regulating big business. But Directors and Officers liability insurance shields corporations and their managers for the financial consequences of many illegal acts, thus undermining the impact of securities laws. This need not be the case. The authors show instances where insurance companies could step in and play a constructive role in strengthening corporate governance, and propose “readily implementable reforms that could significantly rehabilitate the system.”

(CRIME * BUSINESS * LIABILITY INSURANCE * SHAREHOLDER LITIGATION)

A leading criminologist notes that one-third of young black men are controlled by the justice system and black men are seven times likelier than whites to be in prison. These patterns result from crime and drug control policies that disproportionately affect black Americans. The criminal justice system is simply the latest in a series of devices that maintain white dominance over blacks. Pushes for changes in racial profiling and sentencing to reduce their huge human and social costs.

(CRIME/JUSTICE * SOCIETY RACE * RACIAL PROFILING)