No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System [Hardcover]

David Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

A devastating critique of race- and class-based inconsistencies in the American criminal justice system. In a hardhitting work sure to evoke passionate debate, leading constitutional scholar David Cole conclusively shows that, despite a veneer of neutrality, race- and class-based double standards operate in virtually every criminal justice setting, from police behavior, to jury selection, to sentencing. Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a leading thinker on constitutional law, argues that our system depends on these double standards to operate: such disparities allow the privileged to enjoy constitutional protections from police power without paying the costs associated with extending those protections across the board to minorities and the poor. The double standards themselves inflict even greater costs on society, Cole argues, by compromising the legitimacy of the criminal justice system, and by exacerbating the racial divisions nationally. The most potent force in the war against crime is the perceived legitimacy of criminal law, so if large segments of our population do not accept the system as legitimate, the system is bound to fail. Each chapter includes specific suggestions for moving beyond the double standards we have tolerated, and the book concludes with a powerful argument for rebuilding the sense of community that is so essential to a safe and healthy society.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The American criminal-justice system, writes Georgetown law professor David Cole, has effectively become a two-tiered system, with differing levels of regard depending on the race or class of a given citizen who comes into contact with it. The thousands of African Americans who have been confronted by law-enforcement agents nationwide for "fitting the description" of alleged perpetrators would likely concur, but, according to Cole, it isn't just the cops that operate this way; judges, prosecutors, juries, and legislators are equally complicit. If the barrage of illustrative cases he presents in No Equal Justice paints a picture of an antidemocratic society, his proposed solution--making the criminal-justice system more "community-based," strengthening the relationships between citizens to "stop" crime before it starts--holds out a promise of equality. Critics may argue that such a plan is unrealistic, but the problems he describes are all too real, and deserve the attention No Equal Justice provides.

From Publishers Weekly

Cole, a lawyer and Georgetown University professor, puts teeth into the argument that America has two separate systems of justice?one for the privileged and educated, another for the poor and less educated, which often means black and Latino people living in inner cities. Citing recent cases from around the country, he documents widespread police brutality and corruption, including planting evidence and lying to win convictions. He demonstrates the likelihood that several police tactics?e.g., pretextual traffic stops?that are routinely applied to racial minorities would not be tolerated if applied to more privileged citizens. Cole's catalogue of inequities is no less damning for being familiar: defendants charged with killing white victims get the death penalty far more often than defendants charged with killing black victims; state-appointed lawyers for indigent defendants are often overburdened and grossly incompetent. Cole goes beyond complaint, however, and offers a reform strategy. Among the measures he calls for are a shift away from mass incarceration toward community policing, "shaming" penalties in lieu of jail for some offenders and offering monetary or other incentives to disadvantaged youth to stay in school. Cole's book is a well-argued, passionate plea for an unabashedly liberal program to fight crime while honoring the constitution's protection of individual rights.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565844734
• ISBN-13: 978-1565844735
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Cole is a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a volunteer staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is also legal affairs correspondent for The Nation and a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He is also the author of the American Book Award-winning Enemy Aliens; Less Safe, Less Free (with Jules Lobel); The Torture Memos; and Terrorism and the Constitution, all published by The New Press. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make time for this book., January 24, 2000

By 

Jay Gold (Des Moines, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System (Paperback)

This is a book that needs to be read both by those who are interested in the relations between races in this country and those who think they are not. It is a scholarly but easily readable and compelling description of the insidious effects of race in the administration of criminal justice in this country.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important stuff -- and a good read., December 3, 1999

By 

Mik Moore & Deborah Axt (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System (Hardcover)

Poor people and people of color suffer systematic injustice and harrassment at the hands of the criminal justice system. David Cole articulates the ways in which each injustice compounds the effect of the next -- from police brutality and racial profiling on the streets to jury selection and racist application of the death penalty. Unlike the average legal scholar, he writes with a style that is accessible and compelling.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BOOK, March 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System (Hardcover)

This book is a good starter book for students of criminal justice-while the book blames too much on the Supreme Court it still shows the biases real well within our system of justice. The book could spend a little more time on solutions-case examples and the minority problems which cause crime within our society-but this is a good book overall.