-
Punishment Without Crime
- How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
A revelatory account of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals
Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans—most of them poor and people of color—are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing.
For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Shielded
- How the Police Became Untouchable
- By: Joanna Schwartz
- Narrated by: Joanna Schwartz
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In recent years, the high-profile murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others have brought much-needed attention to the pervasiveness of police misconduct. Yet it remains nearly impossible to hold police accountable for abuses of power—the decisions of the Supreme Court, state and local governments, and policy makers have, over decades, made the police all but untouchable. In Shielded, University of California, Los Angeles, law professor Joanna Schwartz exposes the myriad ways in which our legal system protects police at all costs.
-
-
essential reading for engaged citizens
- By SLD on 02-24-23
By: Joanna Schwartz
-
Punishment Without Trial
- Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal
- By: Carissa Byrne Hessick
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly every aspect of our criminal justice system encourages defendants-whether innocent or guilty-to take a plea deal. Punishment Without Trial showcases how plea bargaining has undermined justice at every turn and across socioeconomic and racial divides. It forces the hand of lawyers, judges, and defendants, turning our legal system into a ruthlessly efficient mass incarceration machine that is dogging our jails and punishing citizens.
-
-
Near perfect look at a broken even corrupt system!
- By Bobbi Jensen, Criminal Justice Consultant, Educator and Reform Activist on 10-26-21
-
Locked In
- The True Causes of Mass Incarceration - and How to Achieve Real Reform
- By: John F. Pfaff
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.
-
-
The true causes of Mass Incarceration
- By Ekaterinya Vladinakova on 04-17-20
By: John F. Pfaff
-
Charged
- The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration
- By: Emily Bazelon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charged follows the story of two young people caught up in the criminal justice system: Kevin, a 20-year-old in Brooklyn who picked up his friend’s gun as the cops burst in and was charged with a serious violent felony, and Noura, a teenage girl in Memphis indicted for the murder of her mother. Bazelon tracks both cases - from arrest and charging to trial and sentencing - and with her trademark blend of deeply reported narrative, legal analysis, and investigative journalism illustrates just how criminal prosecutions can go wrong and, more important, why they don’t have to.
-
-
For any fan of wrongful conviction podcasts
- By L. H. Arnold on 05-13-19
By: Emily Bazelon
-
The New Jim Crow
- Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition
- By: Michelle Alexander
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times best seller list.
-
-
Shocking, Important and Brilliant
- By Tim on 10-06-14
-
Presumed Guilty
- How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presumed Guilty reveals how the Supreme Court allows the perpetuation of racist policing by presuming that suspects, especially people of color, are guilty.
-
-
Required Reading
- By Robert Bragaw on 02-26-23
-
Shielded
- How the Police Became Untouchable
- By: Joanna Schwartz
- Narrated by: Joanna Schwartz
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In recent years, the high-profile murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others have brought much-needed attention to the pervasiveness of police misconduct. Yet it remains nearly impossible to hold police accountable for abuses of power—the decisions of the Supreme Court, state and local governments, and policy makers have, over decades, made the police all but untouchable. In Shielded, University of California, Los Angeles, law professor Joanna Schwartz exposes the myriad ways in which our legal system protects police at all costs.
-
-
essential reading for engaged citizens
- By SLD on 02-24-23
By: Joanna Schwartz
-
Punishment Without Trial
- Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal
- By: Carissa Byrne Hessick
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly every aspect of our criminal justice system encourages defendants-whether innocent or guilty-to take a plea deal. Punishment Without Trial showcases how plea bargaining has undermined justice at every turn and across socioeconomic and racial divides. It forces the hand of lawyers, judges, and defendants, turning our legal system into a ruthlessly efficient mass incarceration machine that is dogging our jails and punishing citizens.
-
-
Near perfect look at a broken even corrupt system!
- By Bobbi Jensen, Criminal Justice Consultant, Educator and Reform Activist on 10-26-21
-
Locked In
- The True Causes of Mass Incarceration - and How to Achieve Real Reform
- By: John F. Pfaff
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.
-
-
The true causes of Mass Incarceration
- By Ekaterinya Vladinakova on 04-17-20
By: John F. Pfaff
-
Charged
- The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration
- By: Emily Bazelon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charged follows the story of two young people caught up in the criminal justice system: Kevin, a 20-year-old in Brooklyn who picked up his friend’s gun as the cops burst in and was charged with a serious violent felony, and Noura, a teenage girl in Memphis indicted for the murder of her mother. Bazelon tracks both cases - from arrest and charging to trial and sentencing - and with her trademark blend of deeply reported narrative, legal analysis, and investigative journalism illustrates just how criminal prosecutions can go wrong and, more important, why they don’t have to.
-
-
For any fan of wrongful conviction podcasts
- By L. H. Arnold on 05-13-19
By: Emily Bazelon
-
The New Jim Crow
- Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition
- By: Michelle Alexander
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times best seller list.
-
-
Shocking, Important and Brilliant
- By Tim on 10-06-14
-
Presumed Guilty
- How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presumed Guilty reveals how the Supreme Court allows the perpetuation of racist policing by presuming that suspects, especially people of color, are guilty.
-
-
Required Reading
- By Robert Bragaw on 02-26-23
-
You Have the Right to Remain Innocent
- By: James Duane
- Narrated by: James Duane
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Law professor James J. Duane became a viral sensation thanks to a 2008 lecture outlining the reasons why you should never agree to answer questions from the police - especially if you are innocent and wish to stay out of trouble with the law. In this timely, relevant, and pragmatic new book, he expands on that presentation, offering a vigorous defense of every citizen's constitutionally protected right to avoid self-incrimination.
-
-
Good to know and remember
- By Marie on 11-04-16
By: James Duane
-
Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills
- By: Steven Novella, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Steven Novella
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No skill is more important in today's world than being able to think about, understand, and act on information in an effective and responsible way. What's more, at no point in human history have we had access to so much information, with such relative ease, as we do in the 21st century. But because misinformation out there has increased as well, critical thinking is more important than ever. These 24 rewarding lectures equip you with the knowledge and techniques you need to become a savvier, sharper critical thinker in your professional and personal life.
-
-
Same Material Different Title
- By rkeinc on 09-21-14
By: Steven Novella, and others
-
Nine Nasty Words
- English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant part of our lexicon, an integral part of being human. In fact, our ability to curse comes from a different part of the brain than other parts of speech - the urgency with which we say "f--k!" is instead related to the instinct that tells us to flee from danger. Language evolves with time, and so does what we consider profane or unspeakable. Nine Nasty Words is a rollicking examination of profanity, explored from every angle: historical, sociological, political, linguistic.
-
-
Wonderful book!
- By BrittPet on 06-25-21
By: John McWhorter
-
The Color of Law
- A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
- By: Richard Rothstein
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein explodes the myth that America's cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation - that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, he incontrovertibly makes clear that it was de jure segregation - the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments - that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.
-
-
Better suited to print than audio
- By ProfGolf on 02-04-18
-
The Shadow Docket
- How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic
- By: Stephen Vladeck
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Supreme Court has always had the authority to issue emergency rulings in exceptional circumstances. But since 2017, the Court has dramatically expanded its use of the behind-the-scenes “shadow docket,” regularly making decisions that affect millions of Americans without public hearings and without explanation, through cryptic late-night rulings that leave lawyers—and citizens—scrambling. But Americans of all political stripes should be worried about what the shadow docket portends for the rule of law, argues Supreme Court expert Stephen Vladeck.
-
-
Where was Vladeck?
- By SorenKMiller on 05-25-23
By: Stephen Vladeck
-
The Philosopher's Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room
- By: Patrick Grim, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Patrick Grim
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taught by award-winning Professor Patrick Grim of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, The Philosopher’s Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room arms you against the perils of bad thinking and supplies you with an arsenal of strategies to help you be more creative, logical, inventive, realistic, and rational in all aspects of your daily life.
-
-
This should NOT be an audio book
- By Brooks Emerson on 03-21-20
By: Patrick Grim, and others
-
Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System
- By: M. Chris Fabricant
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From CSI to Forensic Files to the celebrated reputation of the FBI crime lab, forensic scientists have long been mythologized in American popular culture as infallible crime solvers. Juries put their faith in "expert witnesses", and innocent people have been executed as a result. Innocent people are still on death row today, condemned by junk science.
-
-
Awesome read ! Amazing !
- By Michael on 08-21-24
-
Your Face Belongs to Us
- A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It
- By: Kashmir Hill
- Narrated by: Kashmir Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill was skeptical when she got a tip about a mysterious app called Clearview AI that claimed it could, with 99 percent accuracy, identify anyone based on just one snapshot of their face. The app could supposedly scan a face and, in just seconds, surface every detail of a person’s online life: their name, social media profiles, friends and family members, home address, and photos that they might not have even known existed.
-
-
Pretty Balanced
- By Lisa Zolman on 10-22-24
By: Kashmir Hill
-
The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy
- And the Path to a Shared American Future
- By: Robert P. Jones
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning with contemporary efforts to reckon with the legacy of white supremacy in America, Jones returns to the fateful year when a little-known church doctrine emerged that shaped the way five centuries of European Christians would understand the “discovered” world and the people who populated it. From this vantage point, Jones illuminates how the enslavement of Africans was not America’s original sin but, rather, the continuation of acts of genocide and dispossession flowing from the first European contact with Native Americans.
-
-
The Doctrine of discovery matters to our history
- By Adam Shields on 09-13-23
By: Robert P. Jones
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
Nine Black Robes
- Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences
- By: Joan Biskupic
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic provides an urgent and inside look at the history-making era in the Supreme Court during the Trump and post-Trump years, from its seismic shift to the Right to its controversial decisions, including its reversal of Roe v. Wade, based on access to all the key players.
-
-
Another 3 star effort from Biskupic
- By Richard Spitaleri Jr. on 04-16-23
By: Joan Biskupic
-
Critical Race Theory, Fourth Edition: An Introduction
- Critical America, Book 87
- By: Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking note of all these developments, this fourth edition covers a range of new topics and events, addressing the rise of a fierce wave of criticism from right-wing websites, think tanks, and foundations, some of which insist that America is now colorblind and has little use for racial analysis and study. Award-winning authors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic also address the rise in legislative efforts to curtail K–12 teaching of racial history.
-
-
Great text on CRT and well narrated!
- By Audible Listener on 10-06-23
By: Richard Delgado, and others
Critic reviews
"A sweeping look at the misdemeanor system and its impact on the American people.... Misdemeanor courts wield the bluntest, dumbest and cruelest instruments of the justice system, a host of biased codes called 'order-maintenance' crimes. What Punishment Without Crime makes clear is whose order, exactly, is being maintained."—Paste
Related to this topic
-
Locked In
- The True Causes of Mass Incarceration - and How to Achieve Real Reform
- By: John F. Pfaff
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.
-
-
The true causes of Mass Incarceration
- By Ekaterinya Vladinakova on 04-17-20
By: John F. Pfaff
-
Policing the Black Man
- Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment
- By: Angela J. Davis - editor
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Policing the Black Man explores and critiques the many ways the criminal justice system impacts the lives of African American boys and men at every stage of the criminal process, from arrest through sentencing. Essays range from an explication of the historical roots of racism in the criminal justice system to an examination of modern-day police killings of unarmed black men.
-
-
A Book Every Young White Male Should Read
- By danielwead on 08-04-17
-
Chokehold
- Policing Black Men
- By: Paul Butler
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Good but not amazing
- By Andrew on 12-16-17
By: Paul Butler
-
The Nonsense Factory
- The Making and Breaking of the American Legal System
- By: Bruce Cannon Gibney
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our trial courts conduct hardly any trials, our correctional systems do not correct, and the rise of mandated arbitration has ushered in a shadowy system of privatized "justice". Meanwhile, our legislators can't even follow their own rules for making rules while the rule of law mutates into a perpetual state of emergency. The legal system is becoming an incomprehensible farce. How did this happen? In The Nonsense Factory, Bruce Cannon Gibney shows that over the past 70 years, the legal system has dangerously confused quantity with quality and might with legitimacy.
-
-
Ruined by obvious bias
- By M. E. Blackman on 10-07-19
-
Presumed Guilty
- How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presumed Guilty reveals how the Supreme Court allows the perpetuation of racist policing by presuming that suspects, especially people of color, are guilty.
-
-
Required Reading
- By Robert Bragaw on 02-26-23
-
Unwarranted
- Policing Without Permission
- By: Barry Friedman
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2013, documents leaked by Edward Snowden sparked widespread debate about secret government surveillance of Americans. Just over a year later, the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, set off protests and triggered concern about militarization and discriminatory policing. In Unwarranted, Barry Friedman argues that these two seemingly disparate events are connected - and that the problem is not so much the policing agencies as it is the rest of us.
-
-
Insightful book
- By laserpro on 03-02-17
By: Barry Friedman
-
Locked In
- The True Causes of Mass Incarceration - and How to Achieve Real Reform
- By: John F. Pfaff
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.
-
-
The true causes of Mass Incarceration
- By Ekaterinya Vladinakova on 04-17-20
By: John F. Pfaff
-
Policing the Black Man
- Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment
- By: Angela J. Davis - editor
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Policing the Black Man explores and critiques the many ways the criminal justice system impacts the lives of African American boys and men at every stage of the criminal process, from arrest through sentencing. Essays range from an explication of the historical roots of racism in the criminal justice system to an examination of modern-day police killings of unarmed black men.
-
-
A Book Every Young White Male Should Read
- By danielwead on 08-04-17
-
Chokehold
- Policing Black Men
- By: Paul Butler
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Good but not amazing
- By Andrew on 12-16-17
By: Paul Butler
-
The Nonsense Factory
- The Making and Breaking of the American Legal System
- By: Bruce Cannon Gibney
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our trial courts conduct hardly any trials, our correctional systems do not correct, and the rise of mandated arbitration has ushered in a shadowy system of privatized "justice". Meanwhile, our legislators can't even follow their own rules for making rules while the rule of law mutates into a perpetual state of emergency. The legal system is becoming an incomprehensible farce. How did this happen? In The Nonsense Factory, Bruce Cannon Gibney shows that over the past 70 years, the legal system has dangerously confused quantity with quality and might with legitimacy.
-
-
Ruined by obvious bias
- By M. E. Blackman on 10-07-19
-
Presumed Guilty
- How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presumed Guilty reveals how the Supreme Court allows the perpetuation of racist policing by presuming that suspects, especially people of color, are guilty.
-
-
Required Reading
- By Robert Bragaw on 02-26-23
-
Unwarranted
- Policing Without Permission
- By: Barry Friedman
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2013, documents leaked by Edward Snowden sparked widespread debate about secret government surveillance of Americans. Just over a year later, the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, set off protests and triggered concern about militarization and discriminatory policing. In Unwarranted, Barry Friedman argues that these two seemingly disparate events are connected - and that the problem is not so much the policing agencies as it is the rest of us.
-
-
Insightful book
- By laserpro on 03-02-17
By: Barry Friedman
-
Lies the Government Told You
- Myth, Power, and Deception in American History
- By: Andrew P. Napolitano
- Narrated by: Andrew Napolitano
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Lies the Government Told You, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano reveals how America's freedom, as guaranteed by the US Constitution, has been forfeited by a government more protective of its own power than its obligations to preserve our individual liberties.
-
-
A Must Read America 🇺🇸
- By Jamie Schaible on 05-30-23
-
Gideon's Trumpet
- How One Man, a Poor Prisoner, Took His Case to the Supreme Court - and Changed the Law of the United States
- By: Anthony Lewis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A history of the landmark case of Clarence Earl Gideon's fight for the right to legal counsel.
-
-
best book on the subject
- By J.B. Price on 06-12-18
By: Anthony Lewis
-
We the People
- A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From gun control to reproductive health, a conservative Supreme Court will reshape the lives of all Americans for decades to come. The time to develop and defend a progressive vision of the US Constitution that protects the rights of all people is now.
-
-
Hypocritical evaluation of the constitution
- By surya on 03-23-19
-
The Law of Superheroes
- By: James Daily J.D., Ryan Davidson J.D.
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Could Superman sue if someone exposed his identity as Clark Kent? Is a life sentence for an immortal like Apocalypse "cruel and unusual punishment"? Is X-ray vision a violation of search and seizure laws? Is the Joker legally insane? And who foots the bill when a hero destroys a skyscraper or two while defending Metropolis? Fear not, gentle listener! The answers to these questions and a multitude more are contained inside this audiobook.
-
-
Legal Pedantry Has Never Been This Much Fun
- By Troy on 07-31-14
By: James Daily J.D., and others
-
How to Read the Constitution - and Why
- By: Kim Wehle
- Narrated by: Kim Wehle
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution is the most significant document in America. But do you fully understand what this valuable document means to you? In How to Read the Constitution - and Why, legal expert and educator Kimberly Wehle spells out in clear, simple, and common-sense terms what is in the Constitution and most importantly, what it means. In compelling terms and including text from the United States Constitution, she describes how the Constitution’s protections are eroding.
-
-
very biased
- By Anonymous User on 01-25-20
By: Kim Wehle
-
Locking Up Our Own
- Crime and Punishment in Black America
- By: James Forman Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics - and their impact on people of color - are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime.
-
-
Outstanding Book
- By Andrew on 12-13-17
By: James Forman Jr.
-
The Supremes' Greatest Hits, 2nd Revised & Updated Edition
- The 44 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life
- By: Michael G. Trachtman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Supreme Court's rulings have shaped American life and justice and allowed Americans to retain basic freedoms such as privacy, free speech, and the right to a fair trial. This revised and updated edition of Michael G. Trachtman's riveting work includes 10 important cases from 2010 to 2015.
-
-
Nice review overall.
- By "freeindeed4ever" on 02-10-20
-
Big Dirty Money
- The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime
- By: Jennifer Taub
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How ordinary Americans suffer when the rich and powerful use tax doges or break the law to get richer and more powerful - and how we can stop it. There is an elite crime spree happening in America, and the privileged perps are getting away with it. Selling loose cigarettes on a city sidewalk can lead to a choke-hold arrest, and death, if you are not among the top one percent.
-
-
The Loss of Glass-Steagal has led to Cheating
- By Rajiv on 05-23-21
By: Jennifer Taub
-
Automating Inequality
- How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
- By: Virginia Eubanks
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the dawn of the digital age, decision-making in finance, politics, health, and human services has undergone revolutionary change. Today, automated systems control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain needed resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor. In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America.
-
-
Outstanding, Through, Well Researched Book!
- By LISA on 07-11-24
By: Virginia Eubanks
-
Tough Cases
- Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They've Ever Made
- By: Russell F. Canan - editor, Gregory E. Mize - editor, Frederick H. Weisberg - editor
- Narrated by: Isabel Keating, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tough Cases, judges from different kinds of courts in different parts of the country write about the case that proved most difficult for them to decide. Some of these cases received international attention: the Elián González case in which Judge Jennifer Bailey had to decide whether to return a seven-year-old boy to his father in Cuba after his mother drowned trying to bring the child to the United States, or the Terri Schiavo case in which Judge George Greer had to decide whether to withdraw life support from a woman in a vegetative state over the wishes of her parents.
-
-
Puts being a judge in perspective
- By David Bigelow Stouffer on 01-14-20
By: Russell F. Canan - editor, and others
-
To Protect and Serve
- How to Fix America's Police
- By: Norm Stamper
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American policing is in crisis. The last decade witnessed a vast increase in police aggression, misconduct, and militarization, along with a corresponding reduction in transparency and accountability. Nowhere is this more noticeable and painful than in African American and other ethnic minority communities. Racism - from raw, individualized versions to insidious systemic examples - appears to be on the rise in our police departments.
-
-
Truth mixed with liberal rhetoric
- By Eric G. on 11-19-16
By: Norm Stamper
-
Supreme Power
- 7 Pivotal Supreme Court Decisions That Had a Major Impact on America
- By: Ted Stewart
- Narrated by: Art Allen
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Ted Stewart explains how the Supreme Court and its nine appointed members now stand at a crucial point in their power to hand down momentous and far-ranging decisions. Today's Court affects every major area of American life, from health care to civil rights, from abortion to marriage. This fascinating book reveals the complex history of the Court as told through seven pivotal decisions.
-
-
Polemical, downright ridiculous at times
- By Joe Igla on 11-04-17
By: Ted Stewart
What listeners say about Punishment Without Crime
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mastiff Enthusiast
- 10-02-21
concerning look at our misdemeanor justice system
makes a lot of good points, and backs it up with data. this is well written with some compelling illustrations. I knew a lot of this, but didn't really how bad the fee system has gotten, or is, in some states. it's a good reminder of the history of legislating poverty, and she points out some good hypocrisies. Definitely worth a read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kay M Hawklee
- 07-21-21
Must read!
The is a very important book and should by a must read on any social justice reading list. Very well researched!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 04-15-21
Very informative
This book really lays out really just how destructive misdemeanors are in this country and how it shapes communities. Communities that are predominantly people of color and also poor communities. I feel like majority of these laws are put into place to purposely destroy those community by making sure that these people had records. It clogged up our courts and filled up our jails. It forced people to lose their jobs, their housing, Sometimes their children. Some people think it’s just a misdemeanor but it’s so much more and can be so devastating and destructive to so many. Again that’s why voting is so important especially at the local and state level. Time to make some real changes in our communities.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 06-08-19
American "Justice"?
Everyone should listen to this book before commenting on how "great" this justice system is.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Colton Amos
- 03-12-20
Informative and very interesting!
educational and relatable for everyone. definitely recommend. the stories helped me understand and it really sheds light on our misdemeanor system.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-03-20
sometimes we don't think!
When reading about crime and punishment one never thinks about the misdemeanor system.
This work certainly brings that to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-08-19
This Book Should Be A Required Read For All
Amazing and necessary read for all individuals doing criminal injustice work. Law students, sociology, political science, public policy and psychology should be required to read this as well as judges, lawyers, paralegals, police depts, sheriff depts and prosecutors.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jenny
- 05-05-19
Insightful
Narrator was great. Loved her passion & story telling skills. Everyone in the court system should buy this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary Ellen
- 10-24-19
Don't wait until this happens you..get in the know
Loved it! Narrator very easy to listen to and caring. She is a thoughtful human.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jody
- 01-05-24
The information on the justice system
The book did not have any draw to keep me reading. It made good points and had some good information. But was presented so dry that I lost interest in the content quickly. I was hoping in some more case examples of the failures of the justice system. The book gave a lot of general stats but nothing that woul want me to pick up another book and find out more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!