Our ‘Broken System’ of Criminal Justice - by John Paul Stevens

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, writing in the New York Review of Books, reviews William Stuntz's The Collapse of American Criminal Justice (Belknap Press/Harvard University Press).

"William Stuntz was the popular and well-respected Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law at Harvard University. He finished his manuscript of The Collapse of American Criminal Justiceshortly before his untimely death earlier this year. The book is eminently readable and merits careful attention because it accurately describes the twin problems that pervade American criminal justice today—its overall severity and its disparate treatment of African-Americans.

The book contains a wealth of overlooked or forgotten historical data, perceptive commentary on the changes in our administration of criminal justice over the years, and suggestions for improvement." Read more ...