Our
Sunday Book Review Round-up recently mentioned a new release from
W.W. Norton & Co.: A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America, by Evan J. Mandery (John J. College of Criminal Justice). Here's a fuller description, from the publisher:
Drawing on never-before-published original source detail, the epic
story of two of the most consequential, and largely forgotten, moments
in Supreme Court history.
For two hundred years, the constitutionality of capital punishment
had been axiomatic. But in 1962, Justice Arthur Goldberg and his clerk
Alan Dershowitz dared to suggest otherwise, launching an underfunded
band of civil rights attorneys on a quixotic crusade. In 1972, in a most
unlikely victory, the Supreme Court struck down Georgia’s death penalty
law in Furman v. Georgia. Though the decision had sharply divided the justices, nearly everyone, including the justices themselves, believed Furman would mean the end of executions in America.
Instead, states responded with a swift and decisive showing of
support for capital punishment. As anxiety about crime rose and public
approval of the Supreme Court declined, the stage was set in 1976 for Gregg v. Georgia, in which the Court dramatically reversed direction.
A Wild Justice is an extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at
the Court, the justices, and the political complexities of one of the
most racially charged and morally vexing issues of our time.
A few blurbs:
“With a powerful story and an exceptional cast of
characters—including Arthur Goldberg, Alan Dershowitz, and Robert Bork
at their best—A Wild Justice is a rare achievement. At once
entertaining and deeply instructive, it is a piece of legal history that
grapples brilliantly with capital punishment, one of the fundamental
issues of American justice.” — Sean Wilentz
“A Wild Justice is sensational—a revealing and
illuminating behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important
chapters in the history of the Supreme Court. After reading it, you may
never look at the death penalty, or the justices, the same way again.” —
Jeffrey Toobin
