Crimes of the Century: From Leopold and Loeb to O. J. Simpson / Edition 1

by Gilbert Geis, Leigh B. Bienen

Overview

In compelling narrative, the authors probe the sensational cases of Nathan F. Leopold, Jr., and Richard A. Loeb, the Scottsboro "boys," Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Alger Hiss, and O.J. Simpson, highlighting significant lessons about criminal behavior and the administration of criminal justice.

Each case study details the crime, the police investigation, and the court proceedings, profiles the major players, and examines the outcome and aftermath of the trial. The authors untangle the perplexities surrounding the cases and illuminate the many mysteries that remain unsolved today. These celebrated trials reveal issues of overzealous prosecution, sloppy police work, judicial bias, race, class, and ethnic struggles, and the role of wealth in securing a competent defense. They also show how the temper of the times and frenzied media coverage heightened the intensity of drama in the cases.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781555534271
Publisher:	Northeastern University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	997,779
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gilbert Geis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, at the University of California, Irvine. He is a former President of the American Society of Criminology and recipient of its Edwin H. Sutherland Award for outstanding research. He is the co-author of A Trial of Witches: A Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft Prosecution. Leigh B. Bienen is a Senior Lecturer at the Northwestern University School of Law. A former public defender, she has published numerous articles on homicide, the death penalty, juries, and sex offenses. She is the co-author of Jurors and Rape.

Table of Contents

	Illustrations	ix
1	Introduction	3
2	Leopold and Loeb (1924) and the Cause of Crime	13
3	Scottsboro (1931) and Racial Injustice	49
4	Bruno Richard Hauptmann (1932), Public Outrage, and Criminal Justice	89
5	Alger Hiss (1948), the House Un-American Activities Committee, and the Courts	127
6	O. J. Simpson (1994): Can the Rich Buy Reasonable Doubt?	169
7	Conclusion	205
	Index	217
	Acknowledgments	229

Editorial Reviews

"The authors offer a fair analysis of celebrated cases that address the need to see that true justice is done."—Kirkus Reviews

"What makes the book so enjoyable and worthwhile-beyond the riveting, sometimes gory details of the misdeeds it chronicles-is its sophisticated exploration of the myriad social and intellectual currents that combine to create a crime of the century."—Jonathan S. Shapiro, American Lawyer

"A gripping book."—Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times

"For legal scholars as well as social historians, this work is a valuable tool, and laymen should find it an enjoyable read."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Crimes Of The Century examines the Leopold and Loeb murder case (1924); the Scottsboro Boys case (1931), the Lindberg baby kidnaping case (1932); Alger Hiss and the House Un-American Activities case (1948); and the O.J. Simpson case (1994) in a fascinating analysis of the 20th century American criminal justice system. Each case example highlights significant lessons about criminal behavior and the administration of criminal justice. Fascinating, insightful, compelling, sometimes chilling, often challenging, Crimes Of The Century is very highly recommended reading for students of American jurisprudence, criminal psychology, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in contemporary crime and the American justice system.
—Internet Book Watch

Internet Book Watch