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Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent |  | Author: Harvey A. Silverglate
Publisher: Encounter Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Seller: pbshopus
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 27506
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 325
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 1594032556
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.7305042
EAN: 9781594032554
ASIN: 1594032556
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9781594032554 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
 Justice Has Become Politicized! February 21, 2010
R. A. Barricklow (Las Vegas NV USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the fine American author & scholar reiterates in his analysis the American system of investigation is unique in the world. We have politicized the role of prosecutor, not only at the federal level but all of our states and counties as well. Nowhere else are prosecutors (or judges) elected. Indeed, it is unthinklable in most parts of the world to have prosecutors run for office, make campaign promises & solicit contributions. Prosecutors in other countries are civil servants.
He also establishes a clarion point that our society should punish only those who intentially, rather than inadvertantly violate the law. To confict someone of a crime, there must be an evil-meaning mind w/an evil-doing hand. The author also establishes a point of demarcation in 1812 when the Supreme Court(aka Supreme Denial) ruled in a bribery case that Federal crimes were entirely creatures of congressional statute and not successors to English common law. Hence forth, common sense went out the door and down the rabbitt hole. With increasingly alarming consequences Congress demonstrated a growing dysfunction in crafting leglislation that could pass through both bipartisan brickwalls of both houses yet still pass the muster of being the distinct precise laws needed to grease the gears of an intricate justice system in today's world. The root of this evil became exponential; however, when the national security state became too DEEPly rooted in our government(read Bomb Power by Gary Wills). Insistence on requiring proof of criminal intent to commit a crime took a back seat to the belief that, if a nation is to be kept safe in an increasingly dangerous world(the irony now begins swimming in a molasses), law violaters must not be allowed to slip from the state's net(Daniel Ellsberg), even when the laws' prohibitions could not be understood.
The American Judicial System is being geared up as a disposal system which is not to be judged by its fairness, but rather its ability to dispose garbage quickly & inexpensively.
It is said of one particular Roman tyrant, that he placed the text of his law so high above the citizens heads, that they could not read it. That is the way of tyranny - not law. And with the recent Supreme Court's(Supreme Denial) decision of Citizens United(supreme irony) its Alice In Wonderland time(Off with their...)
The author cites many large and small cases, well-known & unknown, including an innocent Michael Milken!(could have beat the rap, but he couldn't let his brother Lowell take the fall).
Pull up a chair my friend and see what course the captain's set. Perhaps we can get a crew together, and with any luck, and some favorable changings winds, we can set a new course for a safe harbor, where we can rerig this ship of state, from her mercenary owners, back to the rightfull heirs...the people.
Highly Recommended !!!!!!!
P.S. Remember, nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.
- Commissioner of baseball, Cheif Justice Roberts
Three felonies a day February 1, 2010
Benjamin J. Viloski (OAK ISLAND, NC, US)
Every judge should read this book as well as all the members of congress!! We are at a critical point in the history of this country in regards to legislating laws on the federal level. We cannot go on like this or we will destroy the very basic meaning of the constitution as it applies to individuals. Laws are not meant to be prosecutor friendly and innocent people are at risk for the betterment of the prosecutors in this country of ours. Better that a guilty person goes free then thousands of innocent Americans succumb to the whims of the prosecutors making a name for themselves. No one can afford to defend themselves under such a system. The Congress is guilty of failing to understand what they vote on and what authority they give to the executive branch of government. READ the book! It is written in black and white!!! The legislation is not only not clear it is vAgue and discretionary and applicable to innocent Americans and especially congress persons.
 Important Book, Important Topic January 14, 2010
FFDR (Chicago, IL, USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a must read for anybody who is interested in law and personal freedom in this country. Harvey Silverglate is a known civil liberties lawyer in Boston. He knows his subject matter, and what he has to say will make you shudder.
In 8 chapters organized by professions, Siverglate presents cases where prosecutors stretch the law beyond imagination, often to further personal goals, cheered by the press and helped by often hapless juries. He makes it quite clear that nobody that becomes a target of such a prosecution has much of chance to to come away unscathed no matter how innocent they may think they are or how ridiculous the accusation might seem. Some may finally be found not guilty, but by the time they get there, their lives will be destroyed.
Silverglate identifies a number of factors that contribute to this situation, in particular the vagueness of many federal laws, like wire/mail fraud and obstruction of justice, and the ability of prosecutors to "climb the ladder" by threatening people into testifying against others ("singing and composing").
Among the cases some have been widely covered in the media (like Martha Stuart and Arthur Anderson). Silverglate provides a different perspective and lots of details that were often missing in the media coverage.
On the critical side, I found that the book was not particularly well written. The foreword and introduction seem extreme and give me the impression they were written by the publisher to increase sales. The main text is focused too much on the individual cases which makes it occasionally seem a bit repetitive. Sometimes the presentation is a bit one-sided. For example his claim that the Martha Stuart obstruction of justice verdict was the result of a trap set up by the prosecutors does not seem convincing to me.
Also, I would have liked to see the general themes of the book developed in a more systematic way. What fraction of federal prosecutions are fishy like the examples presented in the book? Who is most likely to be targeted? What changes of law or institutions seem most likely to fix the problems?
I give the book 4 stars nevertheless because I see it as a very relevant and timely contribution to an important topic.
 Elementary explanation of disfunction in federal courts December 15, 2009
John Gridley (Sioux Falls, South Dakota United States)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book tells shocking stories of how the federal courts have abandoned their common law roots (with the connivance of Congress)and have ignored basic Constitutional provisions, both in the body of the Constitution and its Amendments. Both Congress and the Courts have ceded to other branches many of their basic duties and prerogatives in violation of the separation of powers envisioned by the Founders. The result is an out of control Department of "Justice" that makes crimes up as it goes along, and gets by with it due to the disengagement of the courts from their role as arbiters of justice. For example, I would bet nobody would believe they could be charged with wiretapping for obtaining information that is not being transmitted mechanically or electronically, but is just sitting. I would also bet that nobody would believe a lawyer could be charged for destroying contraband from a client who has not been charged with anything. Nobody's beliefs would be wrong. Those two, and many other cases of the DOJ making crimes up as it goes along fill this book, which is not written in technical legal language, but is written in common, elementary English. It is a call to return to the usages of common law and the body of the Constitution. All in all, a good read.
Arresting! November 24, 2009
Charles Thomas (Lewistown, MT)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
The author's points are compellingly presented and persuasively argued. Because this arresting book (pun intended) concerns everyone, everyone should read it!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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