"There is a long and ugly history of violent encounters between law enforcement officers and Americans of color, particularly Black Americans. About 1,000 Americans are killed each year by law-enforcement officers, and numerous studies have found a link between race and police killings"--

"We are better than this" has been the rallying cry since Donald Trump was elected. But as New York Times-bestselling author Mychal Denzel Smith shows, Americans are too comfortable imagining our greatness. We like to believe in the rightness of our path and the inevitability of choosing our better angels. But historically, we've only come close to living up to the ideals we profess after we've been dragged, kicking and screaming, toward justice....

"A legendary lawyer and a legal scholar reveal the structural failures that undermine justice in our criminal courts. The Fear of Too Much Justice offers a timely, trenchant, firsthand critique of our criminal courts and points the way toward a more just future"--

"Systemic racism is subtle-and perhaps more widespread than blatant racism. In a way it can be seen as a collective racial prejudice, in which White people, often unwittingly, behave in ways that harm Black people. The United States has constructed a system of law enforcement in which the races are treated unequally. Any reform of the criminal justice system must begin with an end to systemic racism"--Provided by publisher.

"Examines the rise in the United States incarceration rate of blacks and Latinos, tracing the development of the American prison system from the Truman administration to the present."--

"The Black Lives Matter Movement has shined a light on the frequently unequal treatment of African Americans by the US justice system. This has led to some backlash, including the protest slogans All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. The viewpoints in this volume examine the truths regarding the justice system and people of color in the United States. Do the police have a problem when it comes to racial discrimination? Is the court system biased...

"In this powerful and insightful book, Andrea D. Lyon explicates what is wrong with the criminal justice system through clients' stories and historical perspective, and makes the compelling case for the need for reform at the center of the system; not just its edges. Lyon, suggests that we need someone who represents the poor and disenfranchised. Someone who has a seat at the table for any discussions of policy, funding, or priorities in the administration...

The author, a Harvard law professor, discusses the "failure of the justice system to protect blacks from criminals ... the wisdom and legality of using racial criteria in jury selection ... the responses of the legal system to accusations that appeals to racial prejudice have rendered trials unfairs ... and allegations that blacks are victimized on a widespread basis by racially discriminatory prosecutions and punishments."--Jacket.