Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice

by Paul Butler

Overview

Radical ideas for changing the justice system, rooted in the real-life experiences of those in overpoliced communities, from the acclaimed former federal prosecutor and author of Chokehold

Paul Butler was an ambitious federal prosecutor, a Harvard Law grad who gave up his corporate law salary to fight the good fight—until one day he was arrested on the street and charged with a crime he didn't commit.

In a book Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree calls “a must-read,” Butler looks at places where ordinary citizens meet the justice system—as jurors, witnesses, and in encounters with the police—and explores what “doing the right thing” means in a corrupt system. No matter how powerless those caught up in the web of the law may feel, there is a chance to regain agency, argues Butler. Through groundbreaking and sometimes controversial methods—jury nullification (voting “not guilty” in drug cases as a form of protest), just saying “no” when the police request your permission to search, and refusing to work inside the system as a snitch or a prosecutor—ordinary people can tip the system towards actual justice. Let’s Get Free is an evocative, compelling look at the steps we can collectively take to reform our broken system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595585103
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	06/08/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	371 KB

About the Author

A former federal prosecutor, Paul Butler is the country's 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. He has written for the Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times, and is a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game: A Prosecutor Meets American Criminal Justice 1

2 Safety First: Why Mass Incarceration Matters 23

3 Justice on Drugs 41

4 Jury Duty: Power to the People 57

5 Patriot Acts: Don't Be a Snitch, Do Be a Witness, and Don't Always Help the Police 79

6 Should Good People Be Prosecutors? 101

7 A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice 123

8 Droppin' Science: High-Tech Justice 147

9 The Beautiful Struggle: Seven Ways to Take Back Justice 167

Notes 187

Editorial Reviews

Butler (law, George Washington Univ.), a former federal prosecutor, makes a clear case for what ails our criminal justice system. The statistics alone are staggering: the United States comprises 5 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of the world's prison population; approximately half the U.S. prison population is made up of African Americans, with more young black men in prison than in college. Since the War on Drugs began over 30 years ago, the U.S. prison population has exploded, owing partly to harsh sentences for minor drug charges. Ironically, the overall crime rate is lowered (for a number of reasons) if we house fewer prisoners, and Butler suggests ways citizens can help in this regard, from jury nullification (i.e., acquitting a defendant in the face of the government's case) to campaigning for the end of racial profiling. He also describes hip-hop's role in chronicling what is wrong with our system. While some of his suggestions will certainly prove controversial, we can hope that this timely book leads to more dialog and to change. Required reading for all concerned about their neighborhoods and our criminal justice system.
—Karen Sandlin Silverman

Library Journal

"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

"[A] masterpiece in the literature of American criminal justice." —Bookforum

"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 can't-put-it-down call to action from a progressive former prosecutor. Butler's 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

From the Publisher