Rush to Judgment [Paperback]

Mark Lane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

The first book to challenge the Warren Commission findings presents case after case of ignored or twisted evidence to offer a scathing indictment of the Commission's handling of the assassination of President Kennedy. By the author of Plausible Denial. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reissue of the original attack on the Warren Commission's findings by the lawyer who went on to write the recent bestseller Plausible Denial.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 478 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Pr; 2 edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560250437
• ISBN-13: 978-1560250432
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Lane, is an author, lawyer, and activist. A Freedom Rider while he served in the New York Legislature in 1961, he has defended the rights of the voiceless from his beginnings in East Harlem to Wounded Knee, where he successfully defended the leaders of the American Indian Movement. He freed James Joseph Richardson, a black man framed in rural Florida for the murder of his own seven children, from prison after serving 20 years, many of them on death row. His was the first voice to publicly question the investigation into the murder of President John F. Kennedy, and his bestselling book, Rush to Judgment, was one of the first to question the Warren Commission. He crossed the country speaking at countless colleges and other institutions about the murder of the president sparking the creation of the House Committee on Assassinations, which looked into the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King. A survivor of Jonestown and a leader of the anti war movement during the Viet Nam era, Lane's autobiography, Citizen Lane, was published in 2012.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The original conspiracy theory and still one of the best. October 2, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Mark Lane is an attorney who took it upon himself, in the weeks following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his alleged killer Lee Harvey Oswald, to represent Oswald's mother and widow and to try to find any information he could to exonerate Oswald of the president's murder. What he found out is the basis of what I would consider the "original conspiracy theory" -- that Oswald, even if he did pull the trigger, did not act alone in killing JFK. You may have seen Oliver Stone's movie or read one of any number of theories about JFK's murder, ranging from the simple and plausible to the wildly complex. What sets Rush to Judgment apart is that Mark Lane doesn't set forth a theory of who he thinks did kill JFK. He doesn't even say that he is 100 percent sure Oswald didn't do it. What he does posit is that the Warren Commission appointed by President Johnson to investigate the assassination was too quick to finger Oswald as the lone assassin and that its investigations were badly handled, including ignoring evidence and witnesses that could have cast doubt on Oswald's guilt. Another thing that sets this book apart is that it was written only two years after JFK's death, and Mark Lane was thus able to attend many of the Warren Commission hearings personally and to interview many of the witnesses himself. Thus, his conclusions are not based on third-party testimony or hearsay, nor are they influenced by the perspectives of history and the "government conspiracy craze." I urge anyone who is interested in American history, government and/or politics to read this book. It's well-written, not difficult to read, and interesting. Lane presents his information in a scholarly and non-inflammatory manner, even though his conclusions are a powerful indictment of some of the most respected figures in our history. I guarantee that Rush to Judgment will raise many questions in your mind.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Till Proven Guilty? April 15, 2000

By Readin' and Rockin'

Format:Paperback

Mark Lane asked a simple question well over 30 years ago: how can a man who was never tried for a murder, a man who was himself murdered just days after the crime in question took place, a man who never had a chance to present his defense -- how can that man be declared a killer for all eternity? I have never understood how the conventional wisdom assumes that the right and proper position is to presume the man guilty when he was never and could never be accorded anything resembling due process. Once he was killed while in custody of law enforcement, it would seem right and proper under our system to presume the man's innocence -- or at least to leave the matter an open question. But for these past decades, the "proper" position, the "serious" position has been to simply say that John F. Kennedy was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald. That no court of law ever adjudicated the matter of his guilt or innocence seems irrelevent to many. To suggest anything else, to suggest that reasonable doubt exists because the man never had a fair hearing and that the man was never convicted of anything, is to invite being labeled "a kook" or a "conspiracy theorist" or some other equally disturbing pejorative. I have enough respect for our system to tell future generations that the President's killer, whoever he was, was never tried and convicted. Seems reasonable, doesn't it?

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars View of an Australian reader August 30, 2000

By Robert Leyden

Format:Paperback

Admittedly, it has been a long time since I last read "Rush to Judgment", but after all these years I consider it to be the benchmark of all the books and therefore writers who have dared to challenge the official findings of the JFK assassination. Ironically, this was the first book of any sort I read on the assassination and I found Mark Lane's style of writing so spellbinding that I was instantly cast into the role of an investigator myself. Many, many books, magazines, movies and videos later, I still come back to my very battered copy of "Rush to Judgment" whenever I want to get back to basics and put things in perspective. Lane's thorough investigation all those years ago has stood the test of time and while more in-depth analyses of certain aspects of the assassination have since come forth, this book still remains, to my mind, the best overall search for the truth. Thanks, Mark Lane, your book will always remain one of the masterpieces.