Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
As a lawyer and criminal court judge, Bruce Wright has seen, first-hand, the disturbing truth about how fundamentally unfair our judicial system is toward African Americans. In this important book, he takes a hard look at these inequities, documenting them with numerous cases drawn from his years of experience in the courts. With unflinching honesty, he tackles such controversial subjects as the deep-seeded societal prejudices of white judges, the lack of black judges, the long history of excluding blacks from law schools and bar associations, the practice of setting higher bail for black defendants, the anti-black biases of white jurors, and the black defendant's limited access to quality legal representation. Judge Wright also addresses the abuse of police power against blacks, the dehumanizing conditions in jails populated primarily by blacks, and the way that death penalty convictions discriminate against blacks. Finally, he proposes remedies that must be taken if the courts are truly to become a place of justice for all. Timely and relevant, Black Robes, White Justice is a book that every American should read in order to understand one of the most important issues of our time.The author, a New York State Supreme Court Justice and a black man, argues that our legal system is fundamentally unfair towards African Americans--and documents his assertion with many cases drawn from his long experience as a lawyer and judge. A timely and relevant subject in the aftermath of the Rodney King trials and the LA riots.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
A controversial New York City judge (dubbed ``Turn `em Loose Bruce'' by tabloid critics), Wright here presents an attack on the criminal court system that is certain to infuriate many. His major contention is that, in a system where most judges are white and most defendants black, judges are ``ignorant of and indifferent to the debased reality of those who are judged.'' The book, a hodgepodge of autobiographical experiences and reflections, is so poorly organized that Wright never fully develops his argument. Instead, he offers random accounts of painful racial episodes that he has experienced or observed in the courtroom and elsewhere. Topics range from relations between blacks and Jews, to conflicts with New York City police over his lenient bail policies. Recalling his days as a young lawyer with the ``naive ideal'' that he could help blacks, Wright is pessimistic and half-hearted in suggesting that better education of potential judges in racial aspects of U.S. history might improve the situation depicted here.Book Details
Published
March 1, 2002
Publisher
New York : Kensington Pub. Corp., 2002.
Pages
384
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780758201102