Tag: law

Shocking true crime in today’s featured book

Adam Walsh (now of Code Adam fame) was a 6 year old boy when he was kidnapped from a  Sears and eventually decapitated. Maybe one of the most famous child abduction cases, it led his father to create and host America’s Most Wanted, created new department store safety protocols for children, and was finally solved 25 years after the fact.

Bringing Adam Home is a true account of that painful 25 year process, of dedication to pursuing justice even when all positive outcomes have been eliminated. Author Les Standiford collaborates with Detective Joe Matthews, who worked the Adam Walsh case for years, to bring a comprehensive telling of the long journey of finding justice.  For readers with an intrest in true crime, child advocacy, forensics, law, and general non-fiction.

Inequality Enforced by the Post-Civil War Supreme Court

After the Civil War, the Supreme Court of the United States could have really worked to ensure equal rights for US citizens. Instead, they took things like the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (which garanteed fair treatment in establishments regardless of race, among other things) and declared it unconstitutional. Their interpretations of laws are argued to have set up years of oppression in today’s Book of the Day, Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court. This historical account by author Lawrence Gladstone examines the effects of these early decisions and how they defined policy and its enforcement for years to come.

It’s an embarrassing time for the United States, but an important one to know about. Getting Gladstone’s perspective should be of interest to those interested in US history, law, human rights, civil rights, or politics and government.

Know your rights

Today’s book, Search and Seizure Handbook by David M. Waksman, is billed as a valuable resource for future police officers. Heck, even the Supreme Court recommends it for all future law enforcers.  But really, knowing what the police can and cannot do is just as important for every citizen. Now in its 3rd edition, this collection of legal information, sample warrants and consent forms, and stories of law enforcement interactions is important information for you and the 4th Amendment.

So you’ve got a corpse. What now?

In one of the more interesting (and probably weirder) books we’ve added to the collection recently, Norman Cantor’s After We Die: The Life and Times of the Human Cadaver explores the trip of dead human bodies from end of life through into the ground. Find out what sort of social practices, legal processes, and other fun things get applied to bodies after their primary function has ceased.

It’s a morbidly interesting trip through our customs, medical, and legal systems to find out the rules for cadavers. Recommended for pre-med, pre-law, or anyone else. It’s actually pretty interesting!

The biggest impact on student sports?

Title IX insured that, regardless of gender, people would not be denied funding or opportunities in academia, including school sports teams. Some of its biggest successes and hurdles commonly recognized are focused on the sports aspect, and today’s book, Getting in the Game: Title IX and the Women’s Sports Revolution by Deborah L. Blake, takes a closer look at how much of an impact it’s had.  Going over the progress made since its creation in 1972 and the room it still has to grow, the author takes an even-handed approach into celebrating and criticizing what Title IX has accomplished.

Charles Lane thinks the death penalty is unfair & wants to save it

Weird, huh? Charle Lane’s new book takes a hard look at a controversial subject, capital punishment, and concludes that it is racially biased, poorly implemented, and in need of reform.  Most of the time when you hear an argument start like that, somebody is looking to get rid of it. Stay of Execution: Saving the Death Penalty from Itself, on the other hand, hopes to convince readers that we need to preserve the death penalty through a complete overhaul.

Surely a book to incite debate and strong opinions, we recommend you check it out.

The Face of Family

The governing qualities of the law – and concepts like ‘best interest of the child’ – become jumbled from traditional viewpoints when there are non-traditional families involved.  If it is best for the kids to go with Mom in a divorce, what happens when there are two? Or none? And in some cases, that means that the court approved an adoption into that family, meaning that nontraditional legal standpoints had been challenged.

There have been quite a few cases used to define and redefine family law as families continue evolving in appearance, and while those countless court cases are spread across a number of databases, Courting Change: Queer Parents, Judges, and the Transformation of American Family Law by Kimberly D. Richman collects interviews with families, lawyers, judges, and other legal minds and non-traditional family experts to assemble a collected view of the issues in equality from household to household.  An excellent source for students pursuing careers in law, people with an interest in LGBT issues and studies, or anyone interested in the changing face of the American family.