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Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry into the Murder of President
The first book to challenge the Warren Commission findings presents case after case of ignored or twisted evidence to offer a scathing indictment of the Commission's handling of the assassination of President Kennedy. By the author of Plausible Denial. Reprint.
478 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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846 people want to read
About the author
Mark Lane
54 books24 followersMark Lane was an American attorney, New York state legislator, civil rights activist, and Vietnam war-crimes investigator. Sometimes referred to as a gadfly, Lane is best known as a leading researcher, author, and conspiracy theorist on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
February 18, 2021
The first generation of books on President Kennedy's assassination appeared in print before the Warren Report itself was published in September, 1964. Forced to rely almost solely on press reports, these authors built their theories around questions already puzzling the general public. The Warren Commission was aware of these books and dealt with the questions they raised in the "Speculations and Rumors" section of the Report.
However, as soon as the Warren Report and its twenty-six volumes of testimony were published, serious study of the assassination began. Digging into the evidence, second-generation authors discovered that the Commission's account of the Kennedy assassination was fraught with misrepresentation and contradiction. The initial collection of evidence and selection of witnesses was inevitably dependent on the FBI, the Secret Service and the police. While this limitation of the Commission's powers is understandable, there was a huge problem: the FBI had already reached its own conclusions. J. Edgar Hoover never doubted that 1) Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President; 2) he wasn't connected to any conspiracies; 3) he had murdered John F. Kennedy due to Oswald's "twisted mentality". Thus, the Warren Commission conveniently presumed Oswald's guilt and regarded anyone who would not yield to such reasoning as extremist.
Mark Lane's work belongs to the second generation fo authors. He noticed the the main weakness of the Commission's work: the investigators tended to create a pattern out of the existing evidence, and then to subordinate all evidence to this pattern. For instance, on what evidence did the Dallas police suspect Oswald? He was arrested in a cinema for the alleged murder of a Dallas policeman, Patrolman Tippit; it was only later that he was identified as the man wanted for the murder of the President. But why then did Patrolman Tippit encounter Oswald? We are led to suppose that Tippit was seeking to arrest Oswald as the murderer of the President. But allowing this to be so, how was it that, in all Dallas, the police, in the person of Patrolman Tippit, contrived, almost at once, to pounce on one man and one man only, and that man, according to their subsequent insistence, happened to be the real murderer? Something just isn't right here, reasons Mark Lane, and I fully agree with him.
But not all is right with Lane's book too. Although it became a bestseller overnight, RUSH TO JUDGMENT is, before everything else, simply an all-out attack on the Warren Report. It's main purpose seems to be not to look critically at the overall picture, at the mass of available evidence, not even to prove Lee Harvey Oswald's innocence, but to refute in a step-by-step manner the whole Warren Report. Lane highlights the fact that the testimony of many crucial witnesses was disregarded by the Commission, and that's a fact, but he doesn't analyze and draw any conclusions from this crucial testimony. He makes it clear that the assassination could not have happened as the Commission said it did. Yet, while displaying the Report's errors, he never expands on the much more important question: how then did Kennedy's assassination happen?
In summary, RUSH TO JUDGMENT did not impress me at all. I was expecting a book that would attempt to draw all the evidence together and make sense of it. This is not such a book.
However, as soon as the Warren Report and its twenty-six volumes of testimony were published, serious study of the assassination began. Digging into the evidence, second-generation authors discovered that the Commission's account of the Kennedy assassination was fraught with misrepresentation and contradiction. The initial collection of evidence and selection of witnesses was inevitably dependent on the FBI, the Secret Service and the police. While this limitation of the Commission's powers is understandable, there was a huge problem: the FBI had already reached its own conclusions. J. Edgar Hoover never doubted that 1) Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President; 2) he wasn't connected to any conspiracies; 3) he had murdered John F. Kennedy due to Oswald's "twisted mentality". Thus, the Warren Commission conveniently presumed Oswald's guilt and regarded anyone who would not yield to such reasoning as extremist.
Mark Lane's work belongs to the second generation fo authors. He noticed the the main weakness of the Commission's work: the investigators tended to create a pattern out of the existing evidence, and then to subordinate all evidence to this pattern. For instance, on what evidence did the Dallas police suspect Oswald? He was arrested in a cinema for the alleged murder of a Dallas policeman, Patrolman Tippit; it was only later that he was identified as the man wanted for the murder of the President. But why then did Patrolman Tippit encounter Oswald? We are led to suppose that Tippit was seeking to arrest Oswald as the murderer of the President. But allowing this to be so, how was it that, in all Dallas, the police, in the person of Patrolman Tippit, contrived, almost at once, to pounce on one man and one man only, and that man, according to their subsequent insistence, happened to be the real murderer? Something just isn't right here, reasons Mark Lane, and I fully agree with him.
But not all is right with Lane's book too. Although it became a bestseller overnight, RUSH TO JUDGMENT is, before everything else, simply an all-out attack on the Warren Report. It's main purpose seems to be not to look critically at the overall picture, at the mass of available evidence, not even to prove Lee Harvey Oswald's innocence, but to refute in a step-by-step manner the whole Warren Report. Lane highlights the fact that the testimony of many crucial witnesses was disregarded by the Commission, and that's a fact, but he doesn't analyze and draw any conclusions from this crucial testimony. He makes it clear that the assassination could not have happened as the Commission said it did. Yet, while displaying the Report's errors, he never expands on the much more important question: how then did Kennedy's assassination happen?
In summary, RUSH TO JUDGMENT did not impress me at all. I was expecting a book that would attempt to draw all the evidence together and make sense of it. This is not such a book.
May 8, 2013
The Rosetta Stone of the JFK assassination conspiracy. I believe this is the seventh or eighth book I have read on the assassination, some for the lone gunman, some for conspiracy, and this one, the very first critique of the Warren Commission, settles the question entirely. Tom Hanks, in adopting the lone gunman theory for his HBO show Parkland, is doing a discredit to history and himself. There is this kneejerk reaction in our culture to the very concept of conspiracy, marginalized as nothing more than fringe ideas by fringe characters. I have to think this impression is one sustained by a lack of curiosity, a lack of understanding of the human condition, and a lack of research. Power corrupts, power finds a way of usurping the means of control to its own favor, and in collusion throughout time immemorial, people in power conspire for their own interests. It is the height of naivete to think that people are fundamentally benevolent and selfless, especially politicians.
In this book, Mark Lane pulverizes the official record of what happened on November 22nd, 1963, in Dealey Plaza. Does he rely on some clever rhetorical flourish, or like Bugilosi a penchant for ad hominem attacks, or grind the examination to a halt with inconsequential minutiae? No, he lays out the deluge of evidence of a cover-up within the Warren Commission by looking at the actual testimony given and comparing it to that which was reported, over and over, and with such drastic revision of facts that it ceases to be a question of sloppy paperwork. The fact of conspiracy is inescapable. Read the testimonies of key witnesses firsthand, observe the vital witnesses accounted for that the Commission chose not to interview, note the key questions that were never even asked, and at times observe a combatant nature to the questioning, at times bullying the witness towards one particular perspective. Look at the charade of the rifle tests conducted by the Warren Commission, the statistically improbable mass destruction of evidence in the days after the assassination. Not to mention Mark Lane's book was written a couple years after the assassination, and positions he made so early in the investigation are substantiated long after with the declassification of some (but not nearly all) of the JFK government documents.
If that is not enough listen to debate between Mark Lane and Joseph Ball of the Warren Commission, and observe who relies on facts and who relies on name-calling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrudke...)
The minutiae of what the conspiracy consists of, that is debatable; that there was a conspiracy and it was not just a lone nut with a gun, is not.
In this book, Mark Lane pulverizes the official record of what happened on November 22nd, 1963, in Dealey Plaza. Does he rely on some clever rhetorical flourish, or like Bugilosi a penchant for ad hominem attacks, or grind the examination to a halt with inconsequential minutiae? No, he lays out the deluge of evidence of a cover-up within the Warren Commission by looking at the actual testimony given and comparing it to that which was reported, over and over, and with such drastic revision of facts that it ceases to be a question of sloppy paperwork. The fact of conspiracy is inescapable. Read the testimonies of key witnesses firsthand, observe the vital witnesses accounted for that the Commission chose not to interview, note the key questions that were never even asked, and at times observe a combatant nature to the questioning, at times bullying the witness towards one particular perspective. Look at the charade of the rifle tests conducted by the Warren Commission, the statistically improbable mass destruction of evidence in the days after the assassination. Not to mention Mark Lane's book was written a couple years after the assassination, and positions he made so early in the investigation are substantiated long after with the declassification of some (but not nearly all) of the JFK government documents.
If that is not enough listen to debate between Mark Lane and Joseph Ball of the Warren Commission, and observe who relies on facts and who relies on name-calling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrudke...)
The minutiae of what the conspiracy consists of, that is debatable; that there was a conspiracy and it was not just a lone nut with a gun, is not.
September 13, 2020
If you're anything like me, you sort of figured: maybe there were other shooters besides Oswald, and you don't know whether it was the government or the mafia or who, but he probably didn't act alone. Well, by page 30, you KNOW Oswald didn't act alone. By page 100, you know, at the very least, that the Warren Commission was more interested in keeping America in the dark, tilting their entire investigation toward the "Oswald acted alone" narrative, through lies, biased interpretations, leading questions, omitted testimony, fudging the facts, obfuscation, and at times even downright nefarious means. And that's at the least; at the most, people at or near the top wanted to nip the budding Kennedy dynasty in the bud.
Reading it, it occurred to me that the failure of the Warren Commission to seek and find the truth, and in turn the American public's skepticism of the Oswald-acted-alone narrative, was the true spark that lit up the 60s...the fiasco of Vietnam and then Watergate only solidified that skepticism -- so that so many of us could see through, say, George W. Bush's true intentions when he and his gang pushed the absurd Iraq/WMD narrative at us. In so many ways JFK's assassination, and our sense that the truth never came to light, shaped who we are.
Lots of conspiracy theories are nuts. This one is real -- and it's the most important of them all. After reading this book, if you continue to believe Oswald acted alone, you are being willfully ignorant, which to my mind can only be explained by your deep need to believe you live in an infallible country always led by decent people -- to the point where you refuse to see the truth that's staring you in the face.
Reading it, it occurred to me that the failure of the Warren Commission to seek and find the truth, and in turn the American public's skepticism of the Oswald-acted-alone narrative, was the true spark that lit up the 60s...the fiasco of Vietnam and then Watergate only solidified that skepticism -- so that so many of us could see through, say, George W. Bush's true intentions when he and his gang pushed the absurd Iraq/WMD narrative at us. In so many ways JFK's assassination, and our sense that the truth never came to light, shaped who we are.
Lots of conspiracy theories are nuts. This one is real -- and it's the most important of them all. After reading this book, if you continue to believe Oswald acted alone, you are being willfully ignorant, which to my mind can only be explained by your deep need to believe you live in an infallible country always led by decent people -- to the point where you refuse to see the truth that's staring you in the face.
March 13, 2014
I have now read this book three times. The first time was too many decades ago. The second time was about twelve years ago. I had to own a copy for my collection, so I bought the 2013 re-publication. 'Rush to Judgment', along with Sylvia Meagher's 'Accessories After the Fact' are THE works to study on the Warren Commission. Mark Lane was the first to publish in 1965, followed the year after by Meagher. Take your pick, either book exposes the cover-up, the framing of Oswald and the determined efforts by some of the foremost judicial persons of their day, (one, a future president!) to prevent the exposure of treason.
Even on the third reading Lane's erudite demolition of the President's Commission is a classic, and essential reading in the JFK case.
Even on the third reading Lane's erudite demolition of the President's Commission is a classic, and essential reading in the JFK case.
May 18, 2020
As we are re-reading several of our own books from our personal library during this pandemic, I came across this which I originally read in the 60's. It was just as jarring today as it was then. As many of you may remember, Mark Lane investigated the assassination of J.F. Kennedy and Officer Tippit, and critiqued the Warren Commissions findings of what transpired that fateful day in Dallas.
Those of us who were around during that time will always remember what we were doing when Walter Cronkite came across on the news during the day to announce the fatal shooting of our President. I was pregnant with my second child, and feeding lunch to my firstborn. It was shocking and heart-breaking.
Mark Lane was a lawyer, a legislator and a writer. He died in 2016 at the age of 89. His attention to detail in this effort is mind-boggling. It should be required reading in high school history classes. It certainly gives the opportunity for debatable theories. This work became a number one best seller and spent 29 weeks on the NY Times best-seller list at that time. It was later adapted into a documentary film in 1966.
It remains in our personal library as a piece of history itself.
Those of us who were around during that time will always remember what we were doing when Walter Cronkite came across on the news during the day to announce the fatal shooting of our President. I was pregnant with my second child, and feeding lunch to my firstborn. It was shocking and heart-breaking.
Mark Lane was a lawyer, a legislator and a writer. He died in 2016 at the age of 89. His attention to detail in this effort is mind-boggling. It should be required reading in high school history classes. It certainly gives the opportunity for debatable theories. This work became a number one best seller and spent 29 weeks on the NY Times best-seller list at that time. It was later adapted into a documentary film in 1966.
It remains in our personal library as a piece of history itself.
September 24, 2019
Find no reason to go back to this short conspiracy book which basically points out falsehoods and inconsistencies immediately after the event. Bugliosi’s epic examination of the assassination makes this read immediately obsolete.
October 26, 2022
Interesting
Mark Lane wrote this book in the mid sixties, before the death of Jack Ruby in January of 1967.
My impression of this early work is that Mr Lane had an amazing grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of this case against Lee Oswald in an amazingly rapid fashion and also was a quick study of the Warren Commission documents.
While a lot of the information in this work has stood true for approximately 60 years, I read this work to see if early researchers such as Lane, Meagher and Thompson had a firm grasp of what we know today as facts. To this point, I was not disappointed.
Again, this is an older book, but it is amazing how pertinent and relevant this information is to the present day body of knowledge.
A truly impressive work.
Mark Lane wrote this book in the mid sixties, before the death of Jack Ruby in January of 1967.
My impression of this early work is that Mr Lane had an amazing grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of this case against Lee Oswald in an amazingly rapid fashion and also was a quick study of the Warren Commission documents.
While a lot of the information in this work has stood true for approximately 60 years, I read this work to see if early researchers such as Lane, Meagher and Thompson had a firm grasp of what we know today as facts. To this point, I was not disappointed.
Again, this is an older book, but it is amazing how pertinent and relevant this information is to the present day body of knowledge.
A truly impressive work.
May 5, 2015
Excellent challenge to the findings of the Warren Commission (and how those findings were manipulated) to point to Oswald as the murderer of JFK and Mr. Tippit. The documentary bearing the same title is a must see!
January 31, 2025
In the sixty+ years since the fateful events of November 22, 1963, there have been hundreds of JFK books published, all claiming to have uncovered the “SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT THE PLOT THAT KILLED KENNEDY!” . . . Mark Lane’s Rush to Judgement stands out among them all as the first legitimate foray into questioning what became the official story of the JFK assassination. It is far from the most expansive of these critiques, but its best compelling strength is how soon after the assassination it was published (a mere three years). One can’t help but view all this data in a different light when it was published in 1966 instead of 2025. Mark Lane didn’t have access to the vast store of knowledge we know now, but a large chunk of this data was brought to light in the first place because of his work. If the reader isn’t convinced of a wider conspiracy surrounding JFK’s murder, this book will at the very least destroy any faith they had in the Warren Commission. I would recommend it as the starting point to anyone’s journey into exploring this chilling event in history.
October 2, 2020
Mark Lane critiques the Warren Commission through the eyes of a lawyer (prosecuting and defence). Having worked in the criminal justice system I understand the points he makes and he makes them well. Written shortly after the WC published its report it is untainted by subsequent conspiracy theories, avoiding speculation in this respect and concentrates on the anomalies of the 'investigation' and its conclusions. The hypocrisy of the Commission is evident. Its review of the JFK assassination deeply flawed. The points Lane makes are footnoted and verifiable in the available WC's volumes, I've done this myself. Probably the easiest site from which to do so is online via the Mary Ferrell Foundation.
Many, it seems, are either unable to finish this book or they deny its overall conclusion, appearing to do so simply because it challenges, at the very least, their deeply held beliefs in the Commission. I suspect those people have never actually read the report and waded through the volumes examining the depositions and evidence given and attitudes apparent in the questioning counsel. I did (admittedly, it's a task not completely finished). I could wish I'd read this book a long time ago but without the benefit of the internet it would have been very difficult to verify the information Lane imparted. There is never a better time to read this book and it should be the first port of call for an enquiring mind. Its detractors do so having failed to be objective and the old saying ' never so blind as those who will not see' is completely true. A must read for anyone interested in one of history's defining moments.
Many, it seems, are either unable to finish this book or they deny its overall conclusion, appearing to do so simply because it challenges, at the very least, their deeply held beliefs in the Commission. I suspect those people have never actually read the report and waded through the volumes examining the depositions and evidence given and attitudes apparent in the questioning counsel. I did (admittedly, it's a task not completely finished). I could wish I'd read this book a long time ago but without the benefit of the internet it would have been very difficult to verify the information Lane imparted. There is never a better time to read this book and it should be the first port of call for an enquiring mind. Its detractors do so having failed to be objective and the old saying ' never so blind as those who will not see' is completely true. A must read for anyone interested in one of history's defining moments.
May 8, 2013
Quite a few books have been written about the JFK assassination and the Warren Commission, but Lane was one of the first, this book being preceded by a lengthy piece he wrote for the old National Guardian weekly newspaper. I became aware of it at the time of publication in 1966 through an interview of Lane conducted by Jerry Williams on his radio program, but didn't read it until many years later.
Much of Lane's work herein is a detailed critique of the Warren Commission Report and Supplements both as regards its internal inconsistencies and the evidences and testimonies it either disregards or misrepresents. Given the two year timeframe within which Lane composed it, it is an impressive piece of work, but now, decades later, much more has come to light, including some inconsistencies in this book itself. A second edition (Thunder Mouth, 1998) has presumably dealt with these.
The evidence as it stands to date generally supports Lane's critique. The Warren Commission, FBI, CIA and Johnson administration did in fact knowingly conduct a cover-up and there was in fact a conspiracy behind the assassination. Who actually killed the president and who actually ordered the murder remains in question as does the involvement of Lee Harvey Oswald, the person originally accused but, owing to his fortuitous murder by mob functionary Jack Ruby, not tried. Lane's own developing opinions are detailed in both the second edition of this book and in his Plausible Denial.
Much of Lane's work herein is a detailed critique of the Warren Commission Report and Supplements both as regards its internal inconsistencies and the evidences and testimonies it either disregards or misrepresents. Given the two year timeframe within which Lane composed it, it is an impressive piece of work, but now, decades later, much more has come to light, including some inconsistencies in this book itself. A second edition (Thunder Mouth, 1998) has presumably dealt with these.
The evidence as it stands to date generally supports Lane's critique. The Warren Commission, FBI, CIA and Johnson administration did in fact knowingly conduct a cover-up and there was in fact a conspiracy behind the assassination. Who actually killed the president and who actually ordered the murder remains in question as does the involvement of Lee Harvey Oswald, the person originally accused but, owing to his fortuitous murder by mob functionary Jack Ruby, not tried. Lane's own developing opinions are detailed in both the second edition of this book and in his Plausible Denial.
March 20, 2018
Mark Lane plies his craft well here- “Rush to Judgement” reads like a stylized trial transcript from the defense attorney. I think true conspiracy fanatics who read this book hoping to find an answer to the JFK Assassination will be disappointed. Lane does what any defense attorney worth their salt would do- he chips away at the prosecutions (in this case the prevailing consensus of what happened on 11/22/63 and the workings and findings of the Warren Commission in particular) case through detailed analysis and observation of facts and situations. He doesn’t necessarily disprove the Commission, but he interjects enough reasonable doubt that would prevent s jury from passing judgement beyond a reasonable doubt on a defendants guilt.
It does seem odd that there are so many incongruities and slip ups on behalf of the governments analysis. The physical capabilities of the rifle and Oswald skill with it, the eye witness testimony, the sloppy police work of the Dallas PD, Jack Ruby’s dealings in Dallas and connections, as well as the lack of coherent testimony and evidence in Officer Tippit’s murder.
While this book doesn’t necessarily sway me to the side of the hardcore conspiracy theorist, it doesn’t cast aspersions on the official report.
It does seem odd that there are so many incongruities and slip ups on behalf of the governments analysis. The physical capabilities of the rifle and Oswald skill with it, the eye witness testimony, the sloppy police work of the Dallas PD, Jack Ruby’s dealings in Dallas and connections, as well as the lack of coherent testimony and evidence in Officer Tippit’s murder.
While this book doesn’t necessarily sway me to the side of the hardcore conspiracy theorist, it doesn’t cast aspersions on the official report.
October 2, 2019
Its as rare as rocking horse poo that I should read a book twice.....but three times! As an avid collector of Kennedy assassination literature I recently came across an early copy of 'Rush to Judgement', a book that already exists in my library. I had to buy this publication simply because it is signed by Mark Lane.
As I have already read 'RtJ' and reviewed on GR's many moons back, a brief review here.
It is no surprise that Lane's bombshell from 1966 was a No.1 bestseller. Along with Sylvia Meagher's 'Accessories After the Fact' these two publications fired devastating broadsides into the Warren Report's flimsy verdicts.
Lane followed on the trail of the assassins with his later additions of 'A Citizens Dissent-Mark Lane Replies to the Defenders of the Warren Report' (1968) 'Plausible Denial-Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?' (1991) & 'Final Word-My Indictment of the CIA in the murder of JFK' (2011). He also published 'Code Name Zorro' with Dick Gregory (1978), reissued in 1993 as 'Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King'.
Lane passed away in 2016.
As I have already read 'RtJ' and reviewed on GR's many moons back, a brief review here.
It is no surprise that Lane's bombshell from 1966 was a No.1 bestseller. Along with Sylvia Meagher's 'Accessories After the Fact' these two publications fired devastating broadsides into the Warren Report's flimsy verdicts.
Lane followed on the trail of the assassins with his later additions of 'A Citizens Dissent-Mark Lane Replies to the Defenders of the Warren Report' (1968) 'Plausible Denial-Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?' (1991) & 'Final Word-My Indictment of the CIA in the murder of JFK' (2011). He also published 'Code Name Zorro' with Dick Gregory (1978), reissued in 1993 as 'Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King'.
Lane passed away in 2016.
July 5, 2010
One of the very FIRST books on the assassination of President Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas. He shot out against the Warren Report giving lectures all over the country trying to show the Warren Report for the worthless piece of crap that it was. This is the definition of an American Patriot. I wish more people had courage like Mark Lane.
January 2, 2017
I did not read all the book. Each chapter was a very detailed account of witness statements, evidence, testimony related to the Warren Commission. I skimmed and skipped parts. The book contains information that is very important. There have been other books on this subject since this book came out.
We are going to discuss this in our book group and that will be even more interesting.
We are going to discuss this in our book group and that will be even more interesting.
November 30, 2011
My first introduction to the JFK assassination. I found it compelling at the time and whilst I am revisiting this part of US history I have referred back to this work (one of the first of thousands now on the conspiracy) and still find it a very useful primer
August 25, 2019
Meticulous in detail, this account never resorts to sensationalism or conspiracy theory. As a result the writing is somewhat dry, but it is to be praised as a serious reference work.
May 4, 2021
Brilliant book, makes the Warren Report look foolish.
June 22, 2022
Reminds me of when Mark self publishes a book in Peep Show.
August 9, 2022
A pioneering work on whodunnit, that dirty deed that changed the course of history. I gave a copy to all my friends, but I'm pretty sure they didn't read it!
July 13, 2025
Mr. Lane, early attorney for Lee Oswald, hired by Oswald's mother, wrote this detailed investigative report critiquing the U.S. government's Warren Commission findings about the shocking assassination of JFK on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. This book came out in June 1966, disputing the commission's report which was first printed in September, 1964, with a 26 volume addenda printed 2 months later.
More information has come to light since Lane's seminal work. Having been published just a couple of years after the event, the conclusions in this book were concocted too early to give at most a "probable" conclusion based on available evidence. He documents the slipshod investigation of the assassination by the Warren Commission, that spawned a cottage industry of independent investigations of the murder.
Overall, the author paints a picture of law enforcement that feels like a Keystone Kops episode, just incapable of conducting a thorough investigation. Lane often castigates the FBI and commission for not asking what seems to be obvious follow-up questions. However, I think the "obvious" follow-up questions are only obvious to those who have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. This doesn't excuse the shoddy investigation, of course [One such statement by an eyewitness who identified Oswald in a police lineup: "You could have picked him out without identifying by just listening to him'" (p. 164)]. It appears the investigation was steered towards a predetermined outcome with facts that didn't align with the predetermined outcome set aside as irrelevant facts.
If ever the final definitive answers become available, the collective shock of America after the assassination cannot be overstated; not even 9/11 comes close. America lost it's naive innocence that fateful day. My 6th grade teacher was interrupted by a sobbing Principal who made sure we could stay abreast of the pure unthinkable evil that we lived through that weekend. School dismissed early; heading to Sunday School by car later that weekend, I heard over the radio about the murder of Oswald, and the remainder of that dismal weekend I was glued to the TV until the burial of our young president in the gloaming at Arlington National Cemetery.
I would suggest that, in addition to this book, one read "The Devil's Chessboard" by Talbot. In my humble opinion, this heinous set of events was orchestrated by one of the members of the commission, former CIA director Allen Dulles; his fingerprints are all over the investigation. Also, I recommend William Manchester's "Death of a President."
More information has come to light since Lane's seminal work. Having been published just a couple of years after the event, the conclusions in this book were concocted too early to give at most a "probable" conclusion based on available evidence. He documents the slipshod investigation of the assassination by the Warren Commission, that spawned a cottage industry of independent investigations of the murder.
Overall, the author paints a picture of law enforcement that feels like a Keystone Kops episode, just incapable of conducting a thorough investigation. Lane often castigates the FBI and commission for not asking what seems to be obvious follow-up questions. However, I think the "obvious" follow-up questions are only obvious to those who have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. This doesn't excuse the shoddy investigation, of course [One such statement by an eyewitness who identified Oswald in a police lineup: "You could have picked him out without identifying by just listening to him'" (p. 164)]. It appears the investigation was steered towards a predetermined outcome with facts that didn't align with the predetermined outcome set aside as irrelevant facts.
If ever the final definitive answers become available, the collective shock of America after the assassination cannot be overstated; not even 9/11 comes close. America lost it's naive innocence that fateful day. My 6th grade teacher was interrupted by a sobbing Principal who made sure we could stay abreast of the pure unthinkable evil that we lived through that weekend. School dismissed early; heading to Sunday School by car later that weekend, I heard over the radio about the murder of Oswald, and the remainder of that dismal weekend I was glued to the TV until the burial of our young president in the gloaming at Arlington National Cemetery.
I would suggest that, in addition to this book, one read "The Devil's Chessboard" by Talbot. In my humble opinion, this heinous set of events was orchestrated by one of the members of the commission, former CIA director Allen Dulles; his fingerprints are all over the investigation. Also, I recommend William Manchester's "Death of a President."
March 21, 2025
This is the granddaddy that started it all. Mark Lane laid down the foundation of finding the truth of who killed JFK. I waited a long time to read this book, when really I think I should have started here first. He does exactly what the front cover of the book jacket states ��� A critique of the Warren Commission”. This is NOT a conspiracy theory book. He points out the early flaws of the Commission, I feel the Dallas Police as well, the book was published in 1966. There are many reviews of this book for one to read through that go into detail and depth. If you’re new to this topic I recommend starting with this book. When you’re done watch the documentary that he made under the same name. Mark Lane covered the material well and makes valid arguments. Some people will always stay with Oswald as the lone gunmen and will refuse to see the many flaws in what went wrong that day and the investigation. Even with all the declassified documents that just got released, it will never lead to the truth. We will only keep guessing and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together some 60 years later.
December 9, 2022
Quite good, a bit outdated. I read about one hundred pages or so and then browsed through the rest of it. I may read Jim Garrison's On The Trail of the Assassin's next. Every once in a while, around Thanksgiving, I get curious-- and what prompted me was watching the Oliver Stone director's cut version of JFK.
November 21, 2025
My Conclusion Is CIA Small Group Assassinated Kennedy.
At My Age 72 Was In Grade School 10-Years Old Always Hoping Too LIVE To Resolve A Historical Mystery. Thereby, I Feel Confident In Perception CIA Radical Coup Conducted This Horrible Decision. Warren Group Was Deception By Federal Government. Book 📕 Was Fantastic For An Avidly Driven Senior Citizen Interested In Subject.
At My Age 72 Was In Grade School 10-Years Old Always Hoping Too LIVE To Resolve A Historical Mystery. Thereby, I Feel Confident In Perception CIA Radical Coup Conducted This Horrible Decision. Warren Group Was Deception By Federal Government. Book 📕 Was Fantastic For An Avidly Driven Senior Citizen Interested In Subject.
January 25, 2019
Theories of accomplices or CIA involvement notwithstanding, Lane lays bare just how sloppy the Warren Commission's investigation was and just how many questions surrounding Kennedy's assassination remain
October 3, 2023
Essential Assassination Read
Essential reading for those of an inclination to know the facts, misrepresentations, anomalies, inaccuracies and in some cases complete untruths.
Will we ever know the truth?
This goes someway to shedding light.
Highly recommended.
Essential reading for those of an inclination to know the facts, misrepresentations, anomalies, inaccuracies and in some cases complete untruths.
Will we ever know the truth?
This goes someway to shedding light.
Highly recommended.
December 18, 2025
THE FIRST CRITIQUE OF THE WARREN COMMISSION
Mark Lane (born 1927) is an American lawyer who has written other books such as 'Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK,' 'Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?', and 'A Citizen's Dissent. Mark Lane Replies To The Defenders Of The Warren Report,' etc.
This 1966 book was the first substantive book-length criticism of the Warren Commission report on the JFK assassination. It includes many troubling observations, such as that Howard L. Brennan (the man who is said to have seen Oswald through the Book Depository window, and later identified him in a police line-up) "himself FAILED to identify Oswald in the police line-up---in spite of the fact that he had by then seen Oswald on television. Only afterwards, when Oswald was dead, did Brennan say that... (he could have picked him out) had he not been afraid of 'communist' reprisals." (Pg. 11-12)
He notes that J. Edgar Hoover admitted to the Commission that the doctors examining Kennedy "at first thought the shots had come from the front." (Pg. 12) The doctors stated that they believed the throat wound was an "entry wound" (pg. 47). Furthermore, 92 out of 124 witnesses affirmed that they believed the shots came from the "grassy knoll" in front, not the Book Depository in back. (Pg. 39) Two out of the three marksmen the Commission hired to test whether Oswald could have fired three shots in less than 6 seconds failed to get the shots off quickly enough, and none of them struck the head or neck of their stationary target, much less a moving one. (Pg. 127)
He suggests that Oswald might have been murdered because "the conspirators wanted to silence him or because his ultimate vindication would have caused a search for the real criminals..." (Pg. 272) He concludes that the Commission "failed to conduct a thorough investigation... I believe the final failure of the Commission to be that it has prepared a fertile ground for the cultivation of rumor and speculation." (Pg. 343)
Although there are many more extensive and recent books on the JFK assassination (including those by Lane himself), this early book remains of interest to those wanting to get the complete background on the JFK assassination and the Warren Commission.
Mark Lane (born 1927) is an American lawyer who has written other books such as 'Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK,' 'Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?', and 'A Citizen's Dissent. Mark Lane Replies To The Defenders Of The Warren Report,' etc.
This 1966 book was the first substantive book-length criticism of the Warren Commission report on the JFK assassination. It includes many troubling observations, such as that Howard L. Brennan (the man who is said to have seen Oswald through the Book Depository window, and later identified him in a police line-up) "himself FAILED to identify Oswald in the police line-up---in spite of the fact that he had by then seen Oswald on television. Only afterwards, when Oswald was dead, did Brennan say that... (he could have picked him out) had he not been afraid of 'communist' reprisals." (Pg. 11-12)
He notes that J. Edgar Hoover admitted to the Commission that the doctors examining Kennedy "at first thought the shots had come from the front." (Pg. 12) The doctors stated that they believed the throat wound was an "entry wound" (pg. 47). Furthermore, 92 out of 124 witnesses affirmed that they believed the shots came from the "grassy knoll" in front, not the Book Depository in back. (Pg. 39) Two out of the three marksmen the Commission hired to test whether Oswald could have fired three shots in less than 6 seconds failed to get the shots off quickly enough, and none of them struck the head or neck of their stationary target, much less a moving one. (Pg. 127)
He suggests that Oswald might have been murdered because "the conspirators wanted to silence him or because his ultimate vindication would have caused a search for the real criminals..." (Pg. 272) He concludes that the Commission "failed to conduct a thorough investigation... I believe the final failure of the Commission to be that it has prepared a fertile ground for the cultivation of rumor and speculation." (Pg. 343)
Although there are many more extensive and recent books on the JFK assassination (including those by Lane himself), this early book remains of interest to those wanting to get the complete background on the JFK assassination and the Warren Commission.
October 2, 2014
Everyone’s lives are filled with milestones or memorable events that mark an era never to be forgotten. On November 22, 1963 I went to school, little suspecting that the world was soon to change forever. I was in sixth grade math class when the news spread that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. For the first time, thanks to television, real-time images were broadcast into every home. I must admit that at that time I didn’t appreciate the gravity of the situation and mourned the loss of regularly scheduled programs on all three channels. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a committee to investigate the assignation of his predecessor. This committee was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and consisted of two senators, two congressmen and two lawyers that slowly unraveled the information gathered by the FBI, CIA and local law enforcement authorities. The commission didn’t undertake any independent inquiry but relied on the finding and conclusions of others. This inquiry produced a massive report that was published and made public. A decade after the fact I felt secure enough to tackle this massive report. My conclusions after reading it were a feeling of being cheated. Not personally but as a US taxpayer. The Warren Commission adopted J. Edgar Hoover’s version of events and in my opinion was a complete waste of both time and money. Mark Lane’s book, Rush to Judgment, raises many questions but provides few answers. Speculations run wild and I, as reader, again feel cheated.
February 1, 2017
the author doesn't say, or pretend to know what happened on the day JFK was assassinated, rather he meticulously details that what the Warren Commission said happened is implausible and impossible ... The work of the Warren Commission, as proven here, was a case of either epic incompetence, massive cover up or both and remains an insult to the national intelligence and blatant disrespect for JFK - who deserved at least an honest attempt at finding the truth ... thanks to Mark Lane we now know that the Warren Commission was government-sanctioned fraud
September 24, 2009
I have always wondered what the fuss was about, and this book certainly answers the question -- the errors, misjudgments, and ommisions in the investigation of the Kennedy assasination are certainly mind-boggling. It's just a shame that Mr. Lane's writing skills weren't up to the task; his arguments are poorly organized and explained. I frequently felt myself wandering through the text, confused about where a particular piece of evidence was going or what the point of it was.
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