The trial of O. J. Simpson was a sensation, avidly followed by
millions of people, but it was also, in a sense, nothing new. One
hundred years earlier the Lizzie Borden trial had held the nation
in thrall. The names (and the crimes) may change, but the appeal is
enduring-and why this is, how it works, and what it means are what
Lawrence Friedman investigates in The Big Trial. What is it about
these cases that captures the public imagination? Are the "headline
trials" of our period different from those of a century or two ago?
And what do we learn from them, about the nature of our society,
past and present? To get a clearer picture, Friedman first
identifies what certain headline trials have in common, then
considers particular cases within each grouping. The political
trialz, for instance, embraces treason and spying, dissenters and
radicals, and, to varying degrees, corruption and fraud. Celebrity
trials involve the famous-whether victims, as in the case of
Charles Manson, or defendants as disparate as Fatty Arbuckle and
William Kennedy Smith-but certain high-profile cases, such as those
Friedman categorizes as tabloid trials, can also create
celebrities. The fascination of whodunit trials can be found in the
mystery surrounding the case: Are we sure about O. J. Simpson? What
about Claus von Bulow-tried, in another sensational case, for
sending his wife into a coma? An especially interesting type of
case Friedman groups under the rubric worm in the bud. These are
cases, such as that of Lizzie Borden, that seem to put society
itself on trial; they raise fundamental social questions and often
suggest hidden and secret pathologies. And finally, a small but
important group of cases proceed from moral panic, the Salem
witchcraft trials being the classic instance, though Friedman also
considers recent examples. Though they might differ in significant
ways, these types of trials also have important similarities. Most
notably, they invariably raise questions about identity (Who is
this defendant? A villain? An innocent unfairly accused?). And in
this respect, The Big Trial shows us, the headline trial reflects a
critical aspect of modern society. Reaching across the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries to the latest outrage, from congressional
hearings to lynching and vigilante justice to public punishment,
from Dr. Sam Sheppard (the "fugitive") to Jeffrey Dahmer (the
"cannibal"), The Rosenbergs to Timothy McVeigh, the book presents a
complex picture of headline trials as displays of power-moments of
"didactic theater" that demonstrate in one way or another whether a
society is fair, whom it protects, and whose interest it serves.
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