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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Crime & criminology > Organized crime > General
Innocent people are regularly convicted of crimes they did not
commit. A number of systemic factors have been found to contribute
to wrongful convictions, including eyewitness misidentification,
false confessions, informant testimony, official misconduct, and
faulty forensic evidence. In Miscarriages of Justice in Canada,
Kathryn M. Campbell offers an extensive overview of wrongful
convictions, bringing together current sociological,
criminological, and legal research, as well as current case-law
examples. For the first time, information on all known and
suspected cases of wrongful conviction in Canada is included and
interspersed with discussions of how wrongful convictions happen,
how existing remedies to rectify them are inadequate, and how those
who have been victimized by these errors are rarely compensated.
Campbell reveals that the causes of wrongful convictions are, in
fact, avoidable, and that those in the criminal justice system must
exercise greater vigilance and openness to the possibility of error
if the problem of wrongful conviction is to be resolved.
In 1940 and 1941 a group of ruthless gangsters from Brooklyn's
Brownsville neighborhood became the focus of media frenzy when
they-dubbed "Murder Inc.," by New York World-Telegram reporter
Harry Feeney-were tried for murder. It is estimated that
collectively they killed hundreds of people during a reign of
terror that lasted from 1931 to 1940. As the trial played out to a
packed courtroom, shocked spectators gasped at the outrageous
revelations made by gang leader Abe "Kid Twist" Reles and his pack
of criminal accomplices. News of the trial proliferated throughout
the country; at times it received more newspaper coverage than the
unabated war being waged overseas. The heinous crimes attributed to
Murder, Inc., included not only murder and torture but also auto
theft, burglary, assaults, robberies, fencing stolen goods,
distribution of illegal drugs, and just about any "illegal activity
from which a revenue could be derived." When the trial finally came
to a stunning unresolved conclusion in November 1941, newspapers
generated record headlines. Once the trial was over, tales of the
Murder, Inc., gang became legendary, spawning countless books and
memoirs and providing inspiration for the Hollywood gangster-movie
genre. These men were fearsome brutes with an astonishing ability
to wield power. People were fascinated by the "gangster" figure,
which had become a symbol for moral evil and contempt and whose
popularity showed no signs of abating. As both a study in criminal
behavior and a cultural fascination that continues to permeate
modern society, the reverberations of "Murder, Inc." are profound,
including references in contemporary mass media. The Murder, Inc.,
story is as much a tale of morality as it is a gangster history,
and Murder, Inc., and the Moral Life by Robert Whalen meshes both
topics clearly and meticulously, relating the gangster phenomenon
to modern moral theory. Each chapter covers an aspect of the
Murder, Inc., case and reflects on its ethical elements and
consequences. Whalen delves into the background of the criminals
involved, their motives, and the violent death that surrounded
them; New York City's immigrant gang culture and its role as
"Gangster City"; fiery politicians Fiorello La Guardia and Thomas
E. Dewey and the choices they made to clean up the city; and the
role of the gangster in popular culture and how it relates to "real
life." Whalen puts a fresh spin on the two topics, providing a
vivid narrative with both historical and moral perspective.
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Grasshopper
(Paperback)
Freebird Publishers; Illustrated by Freebird Publishers; Kelly Patrick Riggs
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R472
Discovery Miles 4 720
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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David Teale: groomed by the twins, controlled by threats, raped by
Ronnie, falsely imprisoned by the State for his 'own protection' as
younger brother of Kray-informer Bobby. Turns out that's only half
the story. David first met the Krays when he was seventeen years
old. He was drawn into London's underworld, and became Ronnie's
reluctant foot soldier, driver, errand boy. He was close to murder,
and witnessed menaces and the increasingly psychotic behaviours of
the most feared men in gangster land. Unbeknown to David, his
brother Bobby had bravely turned informer at great risk to his own
safety and that of his brothers. That had its own consequences. But
why, when the police were being furnished with eye-witness
statements, from an impeccable source, were they seemingly
incapable of bringing the twins to justice? The Krays were
untouchable. After tireless research through newly released
documents in the National Archives, and piecing together previously
classified information together with his own, first-hand knowledge
of the time, David Teale uncovers the shocking new truth, revealed
in this book for the first time. David's story rewrites True Crime
history.
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Silenced
(Paperback)
Kraig McPherson, Cityboy From Dade
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R688
Discovery Miles 6 880
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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