American Injustice

Inside Stories from the Underbelly of the Criminal Justice System

By: David S. Rudolf

Narrated by: David S. Rudolf, Sean Pratt

From the fearless defense attorney and civil rights lawyer who rose to fame with Netflix’s The Staircase comes a “bracing account of abuses of power and corruption in the criminal justice system.” (The Guardian)

“A fine companion to Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy and Emily Bazelon’s Charged. A stellar—and often shocking—report on a broken criminal justice system.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In the past thirty years alone, more than 2,800 innocent American prisoners—their combined sentences surpassing 25,000 years—have been exonerated and freed after being condemned for crimes they did not commit. Terrifyingly, this number represents only a fraction of the actual number of persons wrongfully accused and convicted over the same period.

Renowned criminal defense and civil rights attorney David Rudolf has spent decades defending the wrongfully accused. In American Injustice, he draws from his years of experience in the American criminal legal system to shed light on the misconduct that exists at all levels of law enforcement and the tragic consequences that follow in its wake. Tracing these themes through the lens of some of his most important cases—including new details from the Michael Peterson trial made famous in The Staircase—Rudolf takes the reader inside crime scenes to examine forensic evidence left by perpetrators; revisits unsolved murders to detail how and why the true culprits were never prosecuted; reveals how confirmation bias leads police and prosecutors to employ tactics that make wrongful arrests and prosecutions more likely; and exposes how poverty and racism fundamentally distort the system.

In American Injustice, Rudolf gives a voice to those who have been the victim of wrongful accusations and shows in the starkest terms the human impact of legal wrongdoing. Effortlessly blending gripping true-crime reporting and searing observations on civil rights in America, American Injustice takes readers behind the scenes of a justice system in desperate need of reform.

©2022 David S. Rudolf (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

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Good true crime stories about state abuse with light legal discussion. Just the right amount of smugness for a venerable criminal defense lawyer.

Outstanding read

This book was informative and intelligent. As much a memoir, as it was a tour of the injustice in the American court system. Stories and cases from the authors long career paint a picture of rampant abuse of power and corruption that is breathtaking. This book brought me to tears several times. Everyone should read it.

Awesome!!!!!

It really opened my eyes to our unfair and flawed system!!!! Be thankful that you haven’t been caught up in this Criminal Injustice System.

Mind boggling

It does not seem possible that a human being could be so corrupt and careless with another human life. And yet- this book explains it perfectly.
The abuses of power and confirmation bias described in this book are literally breathtaking. Thank you for your work David Rudolf. This is a book that every person living in the US should read in order to have a better understanding of our “justice” system.

Not justice as usual

The stories here are not justice as usual. Our system of justice is pretty good compared to the rest of the world. End it to a certain extent, I am offended that we would be criticized by Canadians. Those dastardly members of the Canadian race do not have our constitutional guarantees of personal liberty.

it is probably a crime in Canada to expose defects in their justice system. We keep our system straight by exposing it's problems. But I suppose, crooks are the same everywhere. our crooks are no better or no worse send the Canadian crooks.

The book is excellent, and educators all about what we need to watch out for. Well done, even if you are a bunch of degenerate members of the Canadian race.

Book title is more than appropriate to the subject

I am a criminal defense lawyer and law school professor. This book is a must read for anyone, interested in the criminal justice (or injustice) system!

Great Listen & Information

Gives you great information and learning the laws and how the criminal system works a must read for anyone learning criminology

outrageous

struggled to finish I don't see how adam and eve and the adult film industry has anything to do with the first amendment