Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice Contributor(s): Butler, Paul (Author) |
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ISBN: 1595583297 ISBN-13: 9781595583291 Publisher: New Press OUR PRICE: $23.36 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Law Enforcement - Social Science | Penology - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies |
Dewey: 345.730 |
LCCN: 2008053427 |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.8" W x 8.3" (0.80 lbs) 208 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Radical ideas for changing the justice system, rooted in the real-life experiences of those in overpoliced communities, from the acclaimed former federal prosecutor and author of Chokehold Paul Butler was an ambitious federal prosecutor, a Harvard Law grad who gave up his corporate law salary to fight the good fight--until one day he was arrested on the street and charged with a crime he didn't commit. In a book Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree calls "a must-read," Butler looks at places where ordinary citizens meet the justice system--as jurors, witnesses, and in encounters with the police--and explores what "doing the right thing" means in a corrupt system. No matter how powerless those caught up in the web of the law may feel, there is a chance to regain agency, argues Butler. Through groundbreaking and sometimes controversial methods--jury nullification (voting "not guilty" in drug cases as a form of protest), just saying "no" when the police request your permission to search, and refusing to work inside the system as a snitch or a prosecutor--ordinary people can tip the system towards actual justice. Let's Get Free is an evocative, compelling look at the steps we can collectively take to reform our broken system. |