Charged

November 1, 2018

A staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, Yale Law-trained Bazelon argues that prosecutors have far too much power, which contributes to the mass incarceration problem. Correcting that problem means reshaping the role of prosecutor, which some reform-minded souls have done on election to that office--election being the key word here, which means we the people can have a say.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2019
A lawyer and journalist exposes flaws in the criminal justice system, with an emphasis on the untrammeled power of local prosecutors.Because the United States contains several thousand prosecutor jurisdictions (mostly at the county level), identifying misconduct is often difficult. In this potent book, New York Times Magazine writer Bazelon (Yale Law School; Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy, 2013) emphasizes prosecutors who care more about winning convictions rather than upholding their sworn duty of seeking justice. The author makes a convincing argument that if there were a larger number of justice-seeking prosecutors, we could reduce incarceration by a substantial percentage in a nation overwhelmed by prison costs. In addition, individual lives would no longer be derailed by criminal charges that are unnecessarily severe or even downright false. Bazelon aims her book at nonlawyer voters as well as defense attorneys, judges, police officers, social workers, prison wardens, and others in the criminal justice system. A clear message that resonates throughout the book: Never confuse the law with common sense. The author narrates her impressively researched book primarily through two defendants. One is Noura Jackson, a Memphis resident who was 18 when she was charged with the murder of her mother. Despite no physical evidence of guilt or eyewitness testimony, Jackson went to prison. Believing in Jackson's innocence, Bazelon wrote about the case in August 2017. Based on the extensive evidence she gathered, the author rightly demonizes the Memphis district attorney, the trial judge, and other law enforcement personnel in the Jackson prosecution. The author also explores the plight of Kevin (a pseudonym), a teenager arrested on a gun charge in Brooklyn. As Bazelon makes abundantly clear through her cogent, credible arguments, a sensible, compassionate system never would have arrested or prosecuted Kevin. Throughout the two narratives, the author demonstrates occasional optimism due to the election of reform-minded prosecutors in a few cities. The appendix, "Twenty-One Principles for Twenty-First-Century Prosecutors," is also helpful.A vitally important new entry in the continued heated debates about criminal justice.

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Starred review from March 18, 2019
In this timely exploration, Bazelon, a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, argues that “the unfettered power of prosecutors is the missing piece for explaining how the number of people incarcerated in the United States has quintupled since the 1980s.” Bazelon skillfully illustrates this idea by following the developments in two gripping cases with novelistic intensity. In the first, an old-school prosecutor’s win-at-any-cost philosophy and questionable ethical behavior results in the conviction of a young Tennessee woman charged with a brutal murder, which is unanimously overturned by an appellate court years later because of prosecutorial misconduct. The second features the opposite: under a policy intended to reduce incarceration rates developed by a progressive district attorney in Brooklyn, a young man facing a gun possession charge pursues diversion (a rehabilitation program) rather than a two-year minimum sentence. Bazelon adeptly explains the culture that drives traditional district attorneys and the philosophies of reform-minded district attorneys, then briefly delves into the difficulty of preventing prosecutorial misconduct, the inequities of a bail system that effectively criminalizes poverty, systemic racial disparities, the sociological arguments for diversion, and how severe mandatory sentences distort the criminal justice system. Then, with modest optimism, she presents a road map for the emerging reform movement. This is a powerful indictment of the traditional prosecution model. Agent: Elyse Cheney, Elyse Cheney Literary Associates.

Starred review from March 15, 2019
Bazelon (Sticks and Stones, 2013), New York Times Magazine staff writer and cohost of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast, considers the heavy burden of prosecution in the U.S. and argues that prosecutors across the country wield too much power. Following, in particular, the stories of two young defendants?a Brooklyn man arrested for felony gun possession, and a Memphis woman charged with her mother's murder?Bazelon examines how the decisions of district attorneys and their staffs determine the futures of those they prosecute. Bazelon unravels these two stories suspensefully over the course of this excellently paced book. In the process, she exposes a lack of oversight and a trail of cases in which prosecutors either misplaced or intentionally hid evidence, forcing readers to question whether justice is really being served. She presents hope in the form of a new way forward, offering insights into reform-minded campaigns from a new generation of lawyers and scholars who prize transparency and fairness in sentencing. Though her evidence is grounded in research and case law, Bazelon's prose is refreshing, accessible, and bold. Fans of Bryan Stevenson (Just Mercy, 2014) and Matthew Desmond (Evicted, 2016) will be rapt with attention and cheering on efforts to rebuild public trust with a prosecution system that aims "to offer mercy in equal measure to justice."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)