New & Novel: Legal Matters

Criminal trials, like that of George Zimmerman, meet the public’s desire to see justice done, and even for retribution. But the ability to observe the process is essential: “It is not enough to say that results alone will satiate the natural community desire for ‘satisfaction.’ A result considered untoward may undermine public confidence, and where the trial has been concealed from public view, an unexpected outcome can cause a reaction that the system, at best, has failed, and, at worst, has been corrupted.”
~Lynn Oberlander, "Why We Had a Right to Watch the Zimmerman Trial"

Amanda Knox. Jodi Arias. Oscar Pistorius. If you've checked the headlines recently, you've heard the names, perhaps read about their court cases. It's hardly the first time famous trials have made the news - how about the Harry Thaw Trials, the Scopes Trial, Nuremberg, O. J. Simpson, Casey Anthony? Perhaps, as the Lynn Oberlander quote suggests, we follow famous trials to observe the process or to assure ourselves that justice is done.  Whatever your reason,  if you enjoy reading about legal matters, we have a list of recent titles that might be right up your alley, discussing famous trials, legal wrangles, and the law.


The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind and Changed the History of Free Speech in America by Thomas Healy

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale

A Curious Madness: An American Combat Psychiatrist, A Japanese War Crimes Suspect, and an Unsolved Mystery from World War II by Eric Jaffe

The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption by Laurence Leamer  

The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures by Edward Ball

Duel With the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America's First Sensational Murder Mystery by Paul Collins

Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials by Marilynne K. Roach

The Good Guys, The Bad Guys and The First Amendment: Free Speech Vs. Fairness in Broadcasting by Fred Friendly [eBook]

Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court by Sandra Day O'Connnor 

Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works...and Sometimes Doesn't by Mark Geragos [eBook]


Find more items about legal matters in the catalog with a subject search using the word "Trials", "Legal", or "Law".