San Antonio College Library

"From an award-winning legal scholar, a stirring argument about the central role of citizen activists in shaping our nation's constitutional law Who determines whether gay Americans can marry? Who says whether citizens can own guns? And who decides on the fate of prisoners taken in the War on Terror? Most Americans would answer: the Supreme Court. While the rest of us stand by waiting for their decisions, the nine justices decide the fate of our freedoms....

Distressing, disturbing, devastatingly detailed--this examination of how modern laws are diminishing America exposes the drawbacks of rule-bound government, tells why nothing gets done, reveals the phony pretensions of law, and shows why well-intentioned laws have actually devalued rights. In short, this book demonstrates how the buck never stops and how well-meaning laws are creating a nation of enemies.--From publisher description.

This book is a ... for thoughtful legislators and all the rest of us who seek justice for persons charged with crimes-proportional punishment of the guilty, and exculpation of the morally blameless. The authors demonstrate, with remarkable lucidity, how and why the criminal law sometimes deliberately sacrifices justice for other goals, and they provide thoughtful, controversial, and often persuasive suggestions on how we can redesign our legal system...

"Providing the first fundamental reform of its kind for the adversarial legal system, The Plea of Innocence introduces a new method through which to free innocent people from prison, a search for truth through the discovery of exonerating facts"-- "We rely on the adversarial legal system to hold offenders accountable, ensure everyone is playing by the same rules, and keep our streets safe. Unfortunately, a grave condition lingers under the surface:...