The Fear of Too Much Justice - Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts

A legendary lawyer & a legal scholar reveal the structural failures that undermine justice in our criminal courts

"An urgently needed analysis of our collective failure to confront & overcome racial bias & bigotry, the abuse of power, & the multiple ways in which the death penalty's profound unfairness requires its abolition. You will discover Steve Bright's passion, brilliance, dedication, & tenacity when you read these pages." —from the foreword by Bryan Stevenson

Glenn Ford, a Black man, spent thirty years on Louisiana's death row for a crime he did not commit. He was released in 2014—& given twenty dollars—when prosecutors admitted they did not have a case against him.

Ford's trial was a travesty. One of his court-appointed lawyers specialized in oil and gas law and had never tried a case. The other had been out of law school for only two years. They had no funds for investigation or experts. The...