The Criminal Justice Club: A Career Prosecutor Takes on the Media--and More |  | Author: Walt Lewis
Publisher: Walbar Books
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
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Seller: luigimm
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1,289,258
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 424
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 0978787005
Dewey Decimal Number: 343
EAN: 9780978787004
ASIN: 0978787005
Publication Date: April 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A 32-year career prosecutor in the Los Angeles County DA's Office reveals the inside story of how the criminal justice system really works, and debunks many media-created myths about the system. The book documents many years of liberal media bias against the system. This is a story that needs to be told because the public only knows what the media tell us.
It is also the author's personal story, a high school dropout raised in a liberal household who grew up believing the media myths about the criminal justice system. He joined the ACLU and became a prosecutor only to learn how the police and prosecutors operated. His goal was to take this knowledge into his private law practice and defend those he believed were the real victims of society: minorities, the poor, the downtrodden and yes, the criminals. The author discusses his emotional attachment to his liberal views and tracks his slow conversion from a liberal Democrat to a moderate conservative.
The Criminal Justice Club reveals many startling facts about the criminal justice system, facts that are unknown to much of the public. For examples:
How few crimes are ever solved by the police: the chances of a reported serious crime in California leading to a prison sentence for the perpetrator are about 5%, which is about the national average;
Why California, for thirteen years (1965-1978), paid its 58 counties $4,000 for each convicted felon who was not sentenced to prison;
The real reason California's death row inmates wait about twenty years from conviction to execution--while the delay in other states is far less;
The lack of truth in sentencing: how little prison time convicted criminals really serve for felony crimes in California and around the country. The median prison term actually served by convicted murderers in the United States in 2001 was eight years, eight months--up from 5 1/2 years in 1988-even though the media correctly reported the sentence the judge gave the murderer in court: life in prison or a maximum sentence of life. The media rarely reports the likely parole dates of convicted felons.
About 630,000 illegal aliens enter our nation's jails and prisons each year for crimes committed in this country;
The consequences of the Los Angeles Police Department's hiring of a person to be a police officer who had been arrested five times for felony crimes, and who had been convicted of attempted burglary--to meet affirmative action goals;
Reveals whether career criminals really suffer from low self-esteem;
Answers the question so often asked of criminal defense attorneys: How can you defend a person charged with murder, rape or child molestation when you believe, or know, your client is guilty?
The author discusses many of his courtroom experiences, some humorous, some gratifying, some heartbreaking and some frustrating.
The Criminal Justice Club is guaranteed to entertain, shock and educate the reader.
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| Customer Reviews:
This book tells the truth. November 12, 2008
Sierra S. (Nevada City, CA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who wants to know how the criminal justice system really works in California must read this book.
The author spent his career as a prosecutor in Los Angeles. Over the years, he became especially annoyed by the reporting of criminal justice issues in the Los Angeles Times. After he retired, he pulled out his scrapbook of clippings and went to work. This book is the result.
The book's structure is episodic. Mr. Lewis mixes tales of trials with autobiographical anecdotes, which are actually quite fascinating.
If you think you want to be a lawyer dealing with criminal issues in California, you must read this book. If you are a lay person with an interest in such issues, you will want to read this book.
Just don't ever expect to read a review of this book in the Los Angeles Times.
Very interesting read December 27, 2009
Cristina Z. (Los Angeles, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very interesting insight into how the criminal court system in Los Angeles really works. I found the author to be very credible in his writing and I didn't feel like he had any agenda other than to give us lay people insight into what really happens in the criminal justice system. I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the media and this book provides even more support to be skeptical of how the media spins stories.
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