Getting Away with Murder: How Politics Is Destroying the Criminal Justice System

As both a professor of law and a victim of crime, Susan Estrich is an expert on the criminal justice system, problems and all. In American society today, three-quarters of blacks see the justice system as unfair and inherently racist, while almost half of all whites see the system as a failure. With highly publicized cases such as those involving O.J. Simpson and Louise Woodward adding to the furor, and politicians jumping on the bandwagon, Estrich asks why the system is failing and questions the alternatives. Part of Estrich's blueprint for change lies in an overhaul of the jury system, an aspect of the judicial process in which society has lost trust and confidence. Estrich believes a juror should be someone who "can keep his mind open," and that it is irrelevant whether "his mind is the kind of mind the defense or the prosecution particularly likes." Too often lawyers can pick and choose the jury, thereby failing to represent a true cross section of society.

Estrich addresses the highly topical subject of criminal responsibility; she believes many criminals are spared punishment because of a single juror's political or racial biases which override the majority ruling. Estrich also condemns "trendy" political thinking, which time and again excuses criminals from accountability because of their troubled pasts. Estrich is intelligent and succinct in her arguments for rethinking the criminal justice system, which she presents in a style that is neither preachy nor self-congratulatory.