America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation--From the Salem Witches to the Guantanamo Detainees

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Renowned attorney and bestselling author AlanM. Dershowitz reveals how notable trials throughout our history have helped to shape our nation. The Boston Massacre. The Dred Scott decision. The Chicago Seven. O.J.Simpson. These are some of the trials that have both shaped and fascinated American society since our nation began. Alan M. Dershowitz, who has been either a lawyer, consultant, or commentator on some of the most celebrated cases of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, highlights the trials he believes to be the most significant in our history, and discusses how they were central to the development of America's political and social structure. Offering insights into the human condition, these trials serve as a historical document, chronicling the struggles and passions of their time. Ultimately, AMERICA ON TRIAL reveals what America-and in turn, Americans-are truly about.

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Was Clarence Darrow a hero or a jury tamperer? Was the ""evolution"" taught in the Scopes ""monkey"" trial really disguised racism? Did the Nuremberg trials free more Nazi war criminals than they convicted? Was Mike Tyson really guilty of rape? Great trials not only make great headlines, but also hold the keys to the passions and struggles of their times. In this fascinating and provocative survey, renowned defense attorney and bestselling author Alan M. Dershowitz aims a startlingly fresh spotlight on many of the most significant (and still controversial) cases in our nation's history, from the Salem witch trials to the ""witch-hunting"" trials of the McCarthy era.from the impeachment of Andrew Johnson to that of Bill Clinton.from the Dred Scott decision to Brown v. Board of Education.from Sacco and Vanzetti to the Rosenbergs.from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the McMartin day care scandal.from Lizzie Borden to Jean Harris...from the Nuremberg defendants to the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. And he reexamines the high-profile trials of recent decades in which he himself participated: the Pentagon Papers, the Chicago Seven, Claus von Bulow, O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, and Bush v. Gore. Through his eyes, we begin to understand how these trials-with their drama and profound legal implications-tell us much about where we as a nation have been, and where we are going. With both the authority of a preeminent legal scholar and the iconoclasm of a celebrated courtroom strategist, he shows how our constitutionally guaranteed rights are often flouted by even the highest courts of law. Defending these rights, sharing his unique insider perspective, and offering insights into both the human condition and the evolution of America through these trials, Alan M. Dershowitz once again is certain to arouse debate and controversy. Ultimately, AMERICA ON TRIAL goes far beyond the legal. It reveals what America-and, in turn, Americans-are truly about."

Customer Reviews:

An Extremely Dishonest Book.......2007-04-03

This book purports to be about famous legal cases. Mostly, it's actually about Alan Dershowitz's politics.

For instance, in the section on the "McCarthy Era," we hear how a poor anti-communist named William Remington made the understandable mistake of committing perjury, was convicted, and was murdered by evil anti-communists in prison. You'd never know from reading Dershowitz that Alger Hiss was in the same prison every single day of Remington's sentence, and was well liked by the prisoners. You'd never know that the reason Remington was tried was because he was accused of being a former espionage agent of the Soviet Union by Elizabeth Bentley, and almost certainly was one. Why did the same prisoners who liked commie perjuror/spy Hiss murder commie perjuror/spy Remington? Who cares! Propoganda wouldn't be served by asking that question.

You also read, in that section, about how the evil FBI got Ethel Rosenberg executed, even though they weren't sure she was even involved in espionage. In fact, in THE SOURCE DERSHOWITZ CITES MOST ON THIS CASE, it is shown that J. Edgar Hoover was opposed to the execution of Ethel. As for her guilt, the VENONA decrypts (which Dershowitz never mentions), show that she was aware of Julius's espionage, and actively helped him recruit Ruth Greenglass, making her guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage, exactly as charged. But why let a little thing like facts stand in the way of encouraging votes for the Democratic party?

In a chapter on the Dred Scott decision, Dershowitz tries hard to suggest that the decision was in line with the original meaning of the Constitution. He doesn't see fit to tell you that many legal scholars disagreed. One of those scholars was Abraham Lincoln, who ripped into Chief Justice Taney and the Dred Scott decision in his famous Cooper Union address, and in a speech in Springfield, Missouri. Lincoln's Cooper Union address showed "The sum of the whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Constitution, twenty-one -- a clear majority of the whole -- certainly understood that no proper division of local from federal authority, nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the federal territories; while all the rest probably had the same understanding." And in his Springfield speech, Lincoln mentioned one of the dissenting opinions to the decision, which noted that when the Constitution was adopted, five states allowed free black men to vote. This rather makes hash of Taney's arguments that blacks were never citizens, and of Dershowitz's attempt to make those argue that people who oppose his "living Constitution" arguments are hypocrites.

In a chapter on the Jack Ruby trial, he argues that Ruby's trial was unfair, but never says why. Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald on national television, and was seized on the spot. He never disputed he did kill Oswald. His lawyers argued Ruby was insane, and lost. So what was unfair? Dershowitz won't say, but I think it was that he, Dershowitz, disapproves of the death sentence, so any trial that ends by imposing it MUST be unfair.

Concerning the Sacco & Vanzetti case, and the Alger Hiss case, he slanders Francis Russell, author of TRAGEDY IN DEDHAM, and Alan Weinstein ,author of PERJURY: THE HISS-CHAMBERS CASE, implying that Russell and Weinstein were dishonest when they said that they that started out believing that the people they wrote about were innocent, but changed their minds because of the evidence. He doesn't tell you that both Russell and Weinstein expressed themselves in print before their books were writtn, stating their beliefs in the innocence of the defendants they later decided were guilty. Nor does he bother telling you what changed their minds.

I could go on, but you should get the point by now: Dershowitz isn't interested in the facts, he's trying to make political points for an agenda he apparently doesn't dare support openly. If you want to know about famous trials, the only part of this book of value is the table of contents, and the references. They can help you find some honest information.

Good book, bad title.......2007-03-31

When I first saw this book, based on the title I dismissed it as an anti-government screed. Fortunately, I picked it up and looked at it more closely. I concluded that the title was misleading, probably chosen by the publisher to enhance sales. In this regard, it failed with me as I bought it in spite of the title not because of it. A much better, more descriptive, title would have been Great Trials of America. While not an anti-government screed, Professor Dershowitz comes down hard on the more conservative members of the current (as of 2004) Supreme Court. As such, the book may not appeal to those who support the conservative view of how to interpret the constitution. Professor Dershowitz also focuses on prosecutorial, defense counsel and judicial misconduct. Some may support this misconduct as an attempt to bring about the desired outcome (the readers desired outcome), even at the expense of staying within the rules of the court and in some cases the rule of law. While coming down most often against the conservatives who twist (or even break) the law, he does not spare those on the left who did the same thing (particularly Clarence Darrow). I found the discussion of the Scopes trial to be most interesting. Professor Dershowitz points out that much of our view of the trial is based on the play (and later the movie) Inherit the Wind, in which the Bryant character is made out to be somewhat of a fool. In reality, Professor Dershowitz points out that Bryant actually won the case and was not the narrow minded religious conservative depicted in the play and movie. He points out that the book that Bryant was trying to ban (successfully) was a eugenics text, more suited to Nazi Germany than the US.

The book covers important trials starting with the Salem Witch trials and that of Peter Zenger, and ends with the detainees at Guantanamo bay (although as of 2004 when the book was written there has yet to be a trial). This is done by dividing the book into sections, each covering a period of American history (Colonial America, Early History, Civil War, Early Twentieth Century, etc.), with a brief discussion of the trials of that period at the beginning of each section. There are common threads, such as the question of Supreme Court decisions based on a strict interpretation of the constitution versus a looser one allowing for change with the times. The question of freedom of speech is another thread that runs through the book.

I liked the early sections much better than those that dealt with cases that Professor Dershowitz was personally involved. Perhaps this was due to the fact that I was somewhat acquainted with these trials, so I learned less than I did from the early trials with which I had much less knowledge. My chief criticism is that the aim was to cover as many trials as possible (I counted 63), so no trail was covered in very much detail. Rather, the focus was on what the trial tells us about the American judicial system and its legacy. I would have liked to see more about each trail, even if fewer trails were covered.

Excellent - Recommend Buying.......2005-12-24

I had a expected a bit better book but this book is still excellent. If someone else had written the book I might be less ambivalent but it is written by Alan Dershowitz, long time Harvard Law Professor, well known appeals lawyer, media commentator, author of 20 previous books, at least one of which I know was made into a movie, and perhaps one of the most talented living lawyers - so I expected a better book. To give some perspective I recently read the book on Stalin by Montefiore and he must have really toiled to write that book. This book in comparison seems like somewhat less of an effort - see below. Still it ranks 4 or 5 stars and is a great buy.

When I discovered the book at my book store I was ecstatic and bought it immediately. I started to read it as soon as I got home. The first chapter is beautiful. He explains how the early trials of Socrates, and Jesus, and Galileo, and Thomas More, and Mary Queen of Scots, the trial of Louis XVI all have contributed to our legal thinking and how these helped form what became of the current legal system. He quotes from the bible: Adam and Eve, Susanna, Jacob, etc. He references the Federalist Papers, Greek trials, the Romans, etc.

After that chapter I thought this was going to be a legal "tour de force" but it is not. After page 25 and "The Foundations of American Law" we find a compilation of cases - a series of short stories on famous trials - each a few pages long starting with the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 (8 pages long) going through approximately 60 trials in total. We learn the names, the trial date, location, defendants, charge, verdict, and the sentence of each trial. These are grouped into sections with an introduction for each section. Each section has its own notes and the book is almost 600 pages long. The author adds many comments on each case and explains how the trials support basic freedoms and rights, and commenting on how the laws have evolved ( I suppose that is what another reviewer refers to as political bias) and quotes from people such as Justice Brandeis etc.

All the information is interesting and informative and clearly indicates how are laws have evolved; there is a difference between the laws and justice; sometimes laws evolve through the action of juries and bright lawyers and against the wishes of conservative judges and meddling politicians. He does a nice job with Susan B. Anthony and Andrew Johnson's impeachment, and Alger Hiss, and Roe vs Wade and many more. The conspiracy charges against Dr. Spock were chilling to say the least and are almost unimaginable. He goes from Salem to Guantanamo and it all seems well balanced except for the O.J. case where he is not objective, but that was not an important legal trial from a viewpoint of forming or changing laws. It is mostly a wonderful summary of trials and their results but it is not perhaps Dershowitz's "tour de force" culmination of 20 books. Still the trial comments and the end results are good.

I did spot one small error. Hinckley fired at Reagan after he gave his speech to the AFL-CIO and as Reagan went from the Hilton to his limousine, not as the book states that he was entering to give a speech where the author was also speaking (see for example page 428 of "Dutch" by Edmund Morris).

A bit disappointing in some ways but still a good buy, and one of his better books. Clearly an innovative book and a compelling read.

Entertaining not Educational.......2004-11-06

This book was compiled with the assistance of many people (p.xi), and makes for interesting reading of these sixty plus cases. You will be educated in reading this book, but do not assume these stories to be complete and accurate. They are the equivalent of a TV show, meant to be entertaining.

The Boorn Case gets a fuller discussion in Edmund Pearson's "Studies in Murder", who does not discuss the story of a "conspiracy". It defies common sense for a poor farmer in Vermont to have access to a man in New Jersey! The main point is there was no proof of any murder, or that the bones belonged to Russell Colvin. The hanging of a Harvard Professor was based solely on circumstantial evidence, a first in America. The Judge's instructions were in favor of the prosecution (pp.105-6). His story about Lizzie Borden is in error. Edmund Pearson's book was shown in error by Edward Radin's 1961 book, and his in turn. There were no bloodstains on Lizzie or Bridget, and no murder weapon found. Neither were a likely suspect, except they alone were present. David Kent's "Forty Whacks" gives a better treatment of this unsolved murder puzzle. The Judges' instructions correctly favored the defendant. Any story about the "Black Sox" and Shoeless Joe Jackson should refer to Eliot Asinof's 1963 book "Eight Men Out" which covers this story better.

The Alger Hiss trial divided America, "but not along class or party lines". Hiss was convicted of perjury in saying he did not recognize Whittaker Chambers. But a picture taken around 1935 shows Chambers (under his false name) to be around 145 pounds, sandy haired, and with a mustache. Compared to the 1948 Chambers, 300 lbs gray and bald, they do look like two different men. See for yourself. Chambers claimed these papers were a "life preserver", but were worth little without his corroboration. And Hiss, unlike real Soviet spies, never left America after his release. There are problems with the evidence (p.316).

The book "Tainting Evidence" has a chapter on the evidentiary problems in the Jeffrey MacDonald case. This is mentioned on pages 435-6. There is no evidence of any payoff to get MacDonald convicted. One of the most publicized and yet unknown case is the OJ Trial. The limousine driver picked him up at 11pm and drove him to the airport. OJ could not have personally murdered his ex-wife and the visiting waiter. The Medical Examiner who did the autopsies testified that the forensic evidence said they were murdered after 11pm. [The red, liquid blood suggests murder after 11:30pm, just before the bodies were found.] These facts trump manufactured evidence like the planted glove and fabricated blood evidence. In June 1996 the Los Angeles Times reported that the lead detective took away blood samples of the victims before the evidence was turned in for DNA testing. O.J. Simpson escaped the fate of Dr. Sam Shepard (or Tom Mooney). Isn't it true that murders by organized crime are rarely solved by the police?

Justice, Injustice, Legal Shenanigans and Lying Lawyers.......2004-10-13

Professor Dershowitz claims that he has read the original trial transcripts of more criminal cases than anyone else. That's entirely possible because most legal scholars focus on appellate opinions that set new case law. What he found will shake your view of how well the American justice system has been working. But it's well worth having the feet pulled out from under your assumptions that all is well in the legal world. Only in that way can we hope to make needed improvements.

The book is formatted to select a few cases from each period in American history in order to capture the social and legal issues of the day. Each section is preceded by a brief essay summarizing the cases and then followed by mini-essays on some of the cases mentioned in the brief essay. The best of these materials correct popular misconceptions about famous trials, lawyers and judges.

The cases from the last three decades are probably a little too extensive, but because Mr. Dershowitz played a role in many of them, I think he can be forgiven for including so many.

If you are a person who believes that the U.S. Constitution cannot be changed in meaning except by an amendment, you will probably hate this book. Mr. Dershowitz believes that laws need to evolve to match the times and to correct historic wrongs . . . such as slaves being counted as a 3/5 person for purposes of the House of Representatives in the original version of the Constitution, even though the slaves had no right to vote.

If you are a big fan of Justice Scalia, you will definitely hate the book's end where Mr. Dershowitz unloads on the justice in no uncertain terms.

I was glad that I had read the book because I, too, had some misconceptions that I needed to lose. But the gain was modest for the effort. So if you are a lawyer, you might just want to skim the cases that interest you rather than read the whole book.

For someone who isn't a lawyer, I think the book will be very revealing in its exploration of how justice and injustice have been perpetrated in the courts over the last several hundred years in the United States. I think you'll come away pleased that we are trying to make justice better. You will also be disappointed to see that the child molestation cases were sometimes run in ways not different enough from the Salem witch trials. Progress can be slow.

Most books about the grand cases of the law elevate the law and the legal profession with a lot of romanticism. Professor Dershowitz uses bug spray instead to make the cockroaches scatter who are undermining the process. When you agree with his views, you will love the book. When you disagree with his views, you will find the book to be very annoying.

I graded the book down for enormous redundancy between the brief essays and the mini-essays. That problem was less towards the end, but it was a definite annoyance in the beginning.

May we all enjoy the justice we deserve!

America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation

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Entertaining not Educational
GREAT READ

America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation
Alan M. Dershowitz
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
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Book Description

Renowned attorney and bestselling author Alan M. Dershowitz reveals how notable trials throughout American history have helped to shape our nation. Great trials not only make great headlines, but also hold the keys to the passions and struggles of their times. In this fascinating and provocative work, Alan M. Dershowitz offers startling views of many of the most significant (and still controversial) cases in our nation's history-contrasting the Salem witch trials with the communist-hunting trials of the McCarthy era, the impeachments of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, and Civil Rights cases from the Dred Scott decision to Brown v. Board of Education. Dershowitz also reexamines some of the high-profile cases in which he himself participated, including the Pentagon Papers case, the trials of the Chicago Seven, Claus von Bulow, O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, and the political minefield of Bush v. Gore.

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining not Educational.......2006-08-18

GREAT READ.......2006-02-09

Fantastic read. must have for anyone who cares about the american legal system.

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