Let's Get Free: How Ordinary Citizens Can Take Back American Justice

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Description

Paul Butler was an ambitious federal prosecutor, a Harvard graduate - until he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. His stint on the other side of the law confirmed his belief that the legal system wasn't working. He gives an insider's view into the easiness with which people are imprisoned, a trend creating more crime than it prevents. Butler offers innovative methods for citizens to resist complicity and introduces the concept of jury nullification as a powerful protest to unjust laws.

Reviews

"Useful analyses and original suggestions regarding the debate about how best to incarcerate fewer people . . . a debate that should have begun years ago." California Lawyer

"An intriguing volume . . . the building block for future scholarship and conversations about racial issues affecting real people." LA Daily Journal

"Provides a framework of solutions to a stressed and broken justice system that is in need of reform." purepolitics.com

"A cant-put-it-down call to action from a progressive former prosecutor. Butlers take on controversial topics like snitching and drug legalization is provocative . . . smart and very entertaining." Danny Glover

"A fresh and thought-provoking perspective on the war on drugs, snitches, and whether locking so many people up really makes Americans safer." —Anthony Romero, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union

Author Bio

A former federal prosecutor, Paul Butler is the countrys leading expert on jury nullification. He provides legal commentary for CNN, NPR, and the Fox News Network and has been featured on 60 Minutes and profiled in the Washington Post. A law professor at Georgetown University, he is the author of Lets Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice (The New Press). He has published numerous op-eds and book reviews, including in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in Washington, D.C.