Down and Dirty Justice: A Chilling Journey into the Dark World of Crime and the Criminal Courts [Hardcover]

Gary T. Lowenthal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0882822357 | ISBN-13: 978-0882822358

When Professor of Law Gary T. Lowenthal takes a sabbatical and descends from the ivory towers of academia, he finds himself in a very different system of criminal justice than the one he trains his students to expect.  Working in the trenches at the county attorney's office, he becomes entangled in a provocative kidnapping trial, one that takes him deep into a dark and disturbing world of criminals, victims, attorneys and judges, where innocence isn't always the best defense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Exemplifying how the demands of marketing can triumph over the dictates of accuracy, this modest and evenhanded look at our troubled justice system is far from the terrifying journey the subtitle suggests. When Lowenthal, a law professor at Arizona State University, descends from the lofty heights of academe to grind out a nine-month sabbatical in the trenches of Maricopa County's courtrooms, he discovers only the prosaic reality of an understaffed and underpaid municipal court struggling to work through its ever-mounting case loads. As a volunteer county prosecutor, Lowenthal witnesses a beleaguered bureaucracy where defense lawyers, prosecutors, defendants, victims and judges alike are helplessly entangled in irrational legalities and rigid policies, and where fatigue, animosity and the "conservation of judicial resources" often tip the scales of justice. Yet this account is more a critical evaluation than shocking expos‚. Most of the book follows the author's most significant felony case, Shilling v. Arizona, in which Steve Schilling, a biker and junk dealer, was accused of kidnapping and torturing a friend who he believed had filched his collection of rare coins. After three years of trial postponements, Schilling is eventually convicted, but Lowenthal's victory is diminished when he reflects on the sloppiness and carelessness of the proceedings. Part memoir, part journalism and part appeal for reform, this sensible, well-written book is a fine introduction to the challenges facing our justice system today.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In the best tradition of investigative journalism, Lowenthal abandons the cushy life of a law professor to discover firsthand how today's urban criminal court system works. Unlike many law professors who have never practiced law, Lowenthal served as a public defender before teaching for the past 25 years. A desire to reexperience law "in the trenches" led Lowenthal to a nine-month sabbatical to work in the Maricopa County, Arizona, Attorney's Office, a court system with an extremely diverse caseload. The result, based on Lowenthal's absurdly brief training session, police ride-alongs, and overwhelming caseload, is a thorough indictment of a system far too hurried and slapdash to give the accused anything like fair treatment. The narrative moves between Lowenthal's experiences and the unfolding of a major kidnap-assault case on which he worked. Although the text is sometimes overly technical, Lowenthal offers a compelling, almost Dickensian depiction of a malfunctioning legal system. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: New Horizon Press (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882822357
• ISBN-13: 978-0882822358
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Law > One-L > Legal Profession

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Litigation sucks!!!!, December 31, 2003

By 

Freda Harris (New York, N Y) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down and Dirty Justice: A Chilling Journey into the Dark World of Crime and the Criminal Courts (Hardcover)

I loved this book. While telling a very interesting story, it is also informative about what really goes on in our justice system, behind closed doors. I enjoyed the way the author wove his own personal experiences into his account of the Schilling case. The suspense in the last third of the book, as the Schilling case goes to trial, is spellbinding. Those of us who have been through the bruising world of litigation know that the courts (and the lawyers who litigate cases in them) often disappoint us. The author offers a thoughtful, well balanced critique of the way law is practiced in the trenches, then says on the last page of the book: "The system is seriously flawed. We can, we must, do better." His argument is highly persuasive. We MUST improve our courts and the legal profession, if we want a true system of justice in this country. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in our governmen, how it works, and how it sometimes doesn't work so well.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blood and perspiration, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Down and Dirty Justice: A Chilling Journey into the Dark World of Crime and the Criminal Courts (Hardcover)

The technical detail of behind-the-scenes law and order will surprise you: our legal system is not at all what you expect. Miranda's diluted, charging decisions are heavily subjective, the Bill of Rights is bent, lawyers and police don't always know how to work together, and with prosecutorial power on the rise, it's suprising that ANY case makes it to trial. Lowenthal's book offers a compelling story -- as good as fiction and frightening because it's not. Read this book for an eye-opening analysis of the current state of our system of justice.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great read!, December 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Down and Dirty Justice: A Chilling Journey into the Dark World of Crime and the Criminal Courts (Hardcover)

There are many things to like about this book. First, it grapples with the difficult question of what we mean by "justice" when the battle is not between good and evil, but instead is a dispute with unsavory characters on each side. The victim and the defendant in the Schilling case are both from the "wrong side of the tracks," so to speak, as members of the methamphetamine culture in America. Should this matter, in the way they are treated in the courts? This provocative question continually played on my mind as I turned the pages. Interestingly, the book also exposes the inadequate training that lawyers too often receive before they handle important cases. This too troubled me as I read this well-written book. Although I am not a lawyer, I found the book to be easy to read and very informative.