Crime and Punishment in American History

by Lawrence M. Friedman

In a panoramic history of our criminal justice system from Colonial times to today, one of our foremost legal thinkers shows how America fashioned a system of crime and punishment in its own image.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Law, True Crime, Crime, Politics

590 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Professor of law.

Also author of mystery novels, The Frank May Chronicles.

Reviews

[Kaleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo good, was really thorough without being repetitive. Like the title says, its a summary of criminal justice in America, from colonial times to the 1990s. As the years went by criminal justice got more professional; police departments instead of posses/constables, public prosecution instead of private and jury trials have been (largely) replaced with plea bargaining. Similarly, punishment moves from being physical/public in the colonial era (whippings, public hangings) to imprisonment.

Also kinda interesting to track how reform changed over time. Lots of bizarre/inhumane experiments (totally silent prisons? indefinite prison sentences? forced sterilization?) over the years that thankfully fell off. Sad to know that many of our current issues with criminal justice, like the American public's paranoia over crime and the constant dehumanization of criminals have been constant. However, lots of good reform/change over time. Due process and criminal procedure as we know it was basically created by the Warren Court and we all take for granted now that people have a right to an attorney and such. Overall, great book, good summary of not just criminal justice, but America as a whole.

Quotes

“ Yet the life attracts young lawyers with ideals, hardworking men and women who love trial work, who are committed to the noble goal of defending anybody, good or bad, rich or poor; and who are then trapped by the deep ambivalence of a society that believes in fair trials, but also (and more so?) in punishment.”

“Why did the state of Alabama fight like a bulldog to put these young black men to death? There was a perverse kind of principle at stake. Many white southerners hardly cared whether the defendants were guilty or not. That was a secondary issue. The real issue for them was the southern caste system. They somehow believed it would fall apart like a house of cards if any black accused of assaulting any white (and especially a white woman) escaped extreme punishment.”

“There was less of a double standard for traffic crimes and traffic control—that staple of twentieth-century police work—partly because drivers of cars were, on the whole, the better class of citizen. Even when dealing with drunks, the police were often careful to distinguish between respectable drunks, middle-class men on a binge; and the dirty common drunk.”

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this a month ago and just got around to reviewing it. I picked it up because my brother is taking a graduate course with the same title in May, and this book is one of the required readings. It's very basic, offering a broad overview of the subject, and I can't say I learned anything really new in terms of either information or interpretation. It is very well organized and structured, and Friedman's topic sentences are excellent. His treatment of the 17th century period of settlement in New England and in the southern colonies is probably the most interesting section wherein he describes the English Common Law principles and precedents and how the settlers selected which to adopt and which to reject.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides an excellent overview of the development of the American criminal justice system from the colonial period through the early 1990s. I was intrigued with the way the author chose to structure the book - sort of both thematically and chronologically - and it demonstrates to me that there isn't really enough scholarship on the subject for people to have come up with a clear periodization for the broad narrative. The writing style is also unique - you can hear the author speaking, as if he's giving a (witty and well constructed) lecture. He doesn't provide as many specific examples as one might like.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This outstanding book covers the development of police forces and laws throughout America. There is a fascinating amount of detail on every major subject covered by the law.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book about crime throughout the ages. Information about a lot of cases from the "old days".

[David Ingrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the book appeared in 1993, recent technological and societal developments are absent, such as the near-decriminalization of the possession illegal drugs (at least in California), and the impact of the internet on society in general and the criminal justice system in particular. The volume was a fascinating view of the history of the criminal justice system, from its birth in the Colonial era up to the time of its publication. An editorial comment: The author expressed ambivalence regarding the usefulness of jury selection consultants. I know of a former prosecutor who tried a murder case in the 1990's. The defendant was sufficiently wealthy to be able to hire an entire defense team to represent him. A jury selection expert was a member of the team. At some point after the jury began deliberations the defense team, which had retired to the hotel in which they were staying during the trial, was notified that a verdict had been reached. Before returning to the court house the team placed champagne on ice, in the expectation of celebrating what they were certain to be a defense victory. I don't know who drank the champagne, but it wasn't the defense team toasting a win.

[Jasmine Roa Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a great book on the American legal system and how it has come to be today. The first section details the legal climate during the Colonial Period then delves into the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Each section has chapters that cover the moral, political, cultural and legislative atmosphere of the time period. There are a few landmark cases sprinkled in but more focus is given to the surrounding parts of the laws (I.e, how they evolved to be as opposed to detailed summaries).

[Tammy]

As the title implies, this book is broad in scope, both as to subject matter and time periods. It does a good job of covering most, if not all, of the major issues related to American crime and punishment. I do wish there was more information as to the early years of this country, but there simply isn't enough historical documentation to support a more in-depth discussion in a scholarly work.

My only real complaint with the book is that, while the author insists upon adequate, independent sources in the early parts, he seems to relinquish this concern later on and relies instead on his own (seemingly unsupported) conclusions. For instance, he cites the studies of other scholars as to the number of people in prison in the 1800's, but provides no cite for the statement that "People probably, in fact, drank less" in the section about Prohibition. This is both surprising, as there are more statistics and more study of those statistics for events of a more recent nature, and troubling, especially when combined with the author's occasional subjective commentary on 20th century law changes. He's absolutely entitled to his opinions, but those opinions have no place in what purports to be an objective historical account.

It's also worth pointing out that this book was published in 1993 and is therefore out-of-date on many of the important issues of the late 20th century, such as abortion, the death penalty, homosexual rights, etc.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall an interesting book, but the title alone should automatically suggest that the author has bitten off more than he could chew. Lawrence Friedman does a reasonably good job reducing the complicated history of our legal system into a simple (albeit longer than 400 pages) summary largely without lawyer-oriented mumbo-jumbo. The only mildly unnerving part about the book is that it seems to have some sort of political agenda that’s never made exactly clear (aside from being a trifle alarmist about the crime rate in the latter half of the 20th century).

[Rallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is boring but too useful to abandon. I hate it. 4 Stars for usefulness, minus one because it was so dry it took me almost a month to complete it. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone not actually studying this, unless you really like dry historical tomes written by someone who is not as funny as he thinks he is.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for my Crime and Punishment class. It is very insightful and detailed, definitely an easy book to get discussion (and even dissent) going off the research. One of the easiest (meaning not having to push myself through) assigned readings I’ve had to do for a course. Definitely recommend.

[Michael Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched history of the American penal system.