American Injustice: Inside Stories from the Underbelly of the Criminal Justice System

by David S Rudolf

Overview

From the fearless defense attorney and civil rights lawyer who rose to fame with Netflix’s The Staircase comes a “bracing account of abuses of power and corruption in the criminal justice system.” (The Guardian)

“A fine companion to Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy and Emily Bazelon’s Charged. A stellar—and often shocking—report on a broken criminal justice system.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In the past thirty years alone, more than 2,800 innocent American prisoners—their combined sentences surpassing 25,000 years—have been exonerated and freed after being condemned for crimes they did not commit. Terrifyingly, this number represents only a fraction of the actual number of persons wrongfully accused and convicted over the same period. 

Renowned criminal defense and civil rights attorney David Rudolf has spent decades defending the wrongfully accused. In American Injustice, he draws from his years of experience in the American criminal legal system to shed light on the misconduct that exists at all levels of law enforcement and the tragic consequences that follow in its wake. Tracing these themes through the lens of some of his most important cases—including new details from the Michael Peterson trial made famous in The Staircase—Rudolf takes the reader inside crime scenes to examine forensic evidence left by perpetrators; revisits unsolved murders to detail how and why the true culprits were never prosecuted; reveals how confirmation bias leads police and prosecutors to employ tactics that make wrongful arrests and prosecutions more likely; and exposes how poverty and racism fundamentally distort the system.

In American Injustice, Rudolf gives a voice to those who have been the victim of wrongful accusations and shows in the starkest terms the human impact of legal wrongdoing. Effortlessly blending gripping true-crime reporting and searing observations on civil rights in America, American Injustice takes readers behind the scenes of a justice system in desperate need of reform.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062997357
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/25/2022
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	212,646
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

David S. Rudolf is one of the preeminent trial lawyers in the country. The co-host of the Webby Award-winning criminal justice podcast Abuse of Power, he has taught trial advocacy at the UNC School of Law and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and criminal litigation at Duke University School of Law. He has also served in leadership positions in the ABA Criminal Justice Section and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Rudolf received worldwide acclaim for his appearances in the Netflix documentary The Staircase, now being adapted as a dramatic series for HBO Max.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Role of the Criminal Defense Lawyer

1 Defending the Rule of Law 9

2 How Can You Represent "Those People"? 15

Part II Race and the Abuse of Power in the Criminal Justice System

3 Due Process in the Criminal Justice System 29

4 Southern Justice 35

5 White Justice 47

6 Speedy Justice 57

Part III Black, White, and Gray in the Criminal Justice System

7 The Front Lines 65

8 Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? 69

9 Shades of Gray 77

10 Law Enforcement or Criminals? 87

11 The Cover-up 97

Part IV Fighting the Abuse of Power by Prosecutors

12 The Most Powerful Person in the System 103

13 Caught in the Cross Fire 109

14 The Attack on Condoms and the First Amendment 121

15 Adam & Eve Fight Back 129

Part V Fighting the Abuse of Power by the Police

16 A Quiet Death by Lethal Injection 153

17 Set Up to Be Guilty: Suggestive False Identifications 159

18 Justice for Sale: Purchasing False Testimony 167

19 Hiding the Truth: Concealing Exculpatory Evidence 183

20 The Usual Suspect 193

21 The Obvious Suspect 207

22 A Thousand to One 221

23 Justice Delayed 233

24 Coercing False Confessions and Guilty Pleas 243

25 Fabricating Confessions 267

26 Abusing the Power of Science 285

27 Laboratory Scandals 297

28 Beyond the Limits of Science 303

29 I Shall Be Released 313

30 Who Killed Shadow Holloman? 329

Epilogue: The Roots of Resistance 337

Acknowledgments 341

Index 343

Editorial Reviews

11/29/2021

Defense attorney Rudolf debuts with a searing look at systemic failures in the U.S. justice system. He notes that over the past three decades, nearly 3,000 people were exonerated and released from prison for crimes they had not committed, and delves into the factors behind these false convictions, including racial bias; the so-called trial penalty, which incentivizes defendants to plead guilty in order to avoid the likelihood of a harsher sentence should they be convicted at trial; and a reliance on suspect testimony. Rudolf also documents shortcomings in forensic science, describing, for instance, a case in which an expert witness grossly exaggerated the statistical likelihood that two hairs found at a rape scene belonged to the defendant. Noting that a false conviction leaves the real culprit free to commit other crimes, Rudolf laments that potentially exculpatory DNA evidence is not a factor in most crimes, and claims that the cases in which he and other defense attorneys have been able to win civil settlements and official declarations of innocence for their clients are just the tip of the iceberg. Enriched by Rudolf’s firsthand experience and heartfelt compassion for his clients, this is a harrowing call for change. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Defense attorney Rudolf debuts with a searing look at systemic failures in the U.S. justice system… Enriched by Rudolf’s firsthand experience and heartfelt compassion for his clients, this is a harrowing call for change.” — Publishers Weekly

“I’ve known David Rudolf since 1975 when we began our careers as public defenders in the Bronx. He is a brilliant and passionate advocate whose searing critique of the way power is abused in America’s criminal legal system is based on firsthand experience in the trenches, sophisticated insight, and a willingness to speak truth to power." — Barry Scheck, Co-Founder of & Special Counsel to The Innocence Project, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School

"By sharing first-hand accounts of people falsely accused and unjustifiably prosecuted, Rudolf vibrantly demonstrates just how quickly and how permanently an innocent person’s life can be destroyed. This is a sobering, infuriating, and essential examination of the flaws and failures of the country’s legal system." — Booklist

"When a defense attorney claims that prosecutors send innocent people to death row, it’s tempting to dismiss the argument as one-sided. But David S. Rudolf, who has made a career of defending the wrongly convicted, makes a highly persuasive case in his bracing new book. ... Defense lawyers have to be persuasive and, above all, persistent. Rudolf shows just how much of both it can take to get justice." — Air Mail

“Trial lawyers are storytellers, and when the trial lawyer is one of the very best, the stories could not be more riveting, or told with more passion. American Injustice is filled with compelling narratives, beautifully told, sweeping the reader along to the final conclusions. They are accounts of injustice and abuses of power that were not aberrant but seemingly embedded in case after case that Rudolf recounts. The impact is chilling. This is an important book not only for players in the criminal legal system, but for a public that truly needs to know.” — Hon. Nancy Gertner (Retired)

“A bracing account of abuses of power and corruption in the criminal justice system.” — The Guardian

“For readers seeking to top up their outrage about abuses in criminal justice, this book makes a fine companion to Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy and Emily Bazelon’s Charged. A stellar—and often shocking—report on a broken criminal justice system.”  — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“David Rudolf has written a searing indictment of the American criminal justice system. This terrific book is neither a polemic nor an academic treatise. By describing the cases from his amazing career, Rudolf has written a very engaging and powerful first-person account of how justice and injustice are actually done in the United States.” — Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

"David Rudolf has been confronting injustice for decades. In this exciting book, his powerful voice for justice will inspire the new generation and inform us all." — Michael E. Tigar, lawyer, teacher, author of Sensing Injustice: A Lawyer’s Life in the Battle for Change

From the Publisher

★ 2021-11-16
A prominent defense and civil rights lawyer indicts the criminal justice system as he recalls his work with clients such as Michael Peterson, the novelist who inspired the Netflix series The Staircase.

Rudolf once helped to negotiate a $9 million civil settlement for a man who had been held without a trial for 14 years on the basis of a “confession” so articulate it might have come from an English professor although the prisoner had an IQ of less than 60. That story is far from the most startling in this potent critique of systemic errors and misconduct by police and prosecutors that have led to wrongful convictions nationwide, many in North Carolina, where the author practices law and racial biases have long plagued the justice system. With keen moral force backed by clear and persuasive examples from his work or that of groups such as the Innocence Project, Rudolf shows how mental, physical, or legal influences can subvert justice. Police corruption is only one. Psychological factors like confirmation bias can cause police to trust their “intuition” about a suspect in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Misunderstandings about the limits of forensic science can result in overvaluing fingerprint or other “pattern-based” evidence. Even well-meaning efforts like Crime Stoppers hotlines can taint trials by tempting people to lie for rewards. An overarching problem is that jury trials in federal criminal cases are “essentially extinct,” with 97% of cases resolved by plea. Consequently, a defense lawyer’s job is “primarily to explain to the defendant the incredible cost of being convicted after a trial and the great benefit of pleading guilty as soon as possible”—even if they are innocent. For readers seeking to top up their outrage about abuses in criminal justice, this book makes a fine companion to Bryan Stephenson’s Just Mercy and Emily Bazelon’s Charged.

A stellar—and often shocking—report on a broken criminal justice system.

Kirkus Reviews

Trial lawyers are storytellers, and when the trial lawyer is one of the very best, the stories could not be more riveting, or told with more passion. American Injustice is filled with compelling narratives, beautifully told, sweeping the reader along to the final conclusions. They are accounts of injustice and abuses of power that were not aberrant but seemingly embedded in case after case that Rudolf recounts. The impact is chilling. This is an important book not only for players in the criminal legal system, but for a public that truly needs to know.

Hon. Nancy Gertner (Retired)

"David Rudolf has been confronting injustice for decades. In this exciting book, his powerful voice for justice will inspire the new generation and inform us all."

Michael E. Tigar

I’ve known David Rudolf since 1975 when we began our careers as public defenders in the Bronx. He is a brilliant and passionate advocate whose searing critique of the way power is abused in America’s criminal legal system is based on firsthand experience in the trenches, sophisticated insight, and a willingness to speak truth to power."

Barry Scheck

A bracing account of abuses of power and corruption in the criminal justice system.

The Guardian

"When a defense attorney claims that prosecutors send innocent people to death row, it’s tempting to dismiss the argument as one-sided. But David S. Rudolf, who has made a career of defending the wrongly convicted, makes a highly persuasive case in his bracing new book. ... Defense lawyers have to be persuasive and, above all, persistent. Rudolf shows just how much of both it can take to get justice."

Air Mail

David Rudolf has written a searing indictment of the American criminal justice system. This terrific book is neither a polemic nor an academic treatise. By describing the cases from his amazing career, Rudolf has written a very engaging and powerful first-person account of how justice and injustice are actually done in the United States.

Erwin Chemerinsky

"By sharing first-hand accounts of people falsely accused and unjustifiably prosecuted, Rudolf vibrantly demonstrates just how quickly and how permanently an innocent person’s life can be destroyed. This is a sobering, infuriating, and essential examination of the flaws and failures of the country’s legal system."

Booklist

"By sharing first-hand accounts of people falsely accused and unjustifiably prosecuted, Rudolf vibrantly demonstrates just how quickly and how permanently an innocent person’s life can be destroyed. This is a sobering, infuriating, and essential examination of the flaws and failures of the country’s legal system."

Booklist