Affirmative action remains a hotly contested issue on our political landscape, yet the institutionalized systems of privilege which uphold the status quo remain unchallenged. Many Americans who advocate a merit-based, race-free worldview do not acknowledge the systems of privilege which benefit them. For example, many Americans rely on a social and sometimes even financial inheritance from previous generations. This inheritance, unlikely to be forthcoming if one's ancestors were slaves,...
A critical look at the movement for environmental justice When Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order on Environmental Justice in 1994, the phenomenon of environmental racism—the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, particularly toxic waste dumps and polluting factories, on people of color and low-income communities—gained unprecedented recognition. Behind the President's signature, however, lies a remarkable tale of grassroots activism and political mobilization. Today,...
A startling examination of the deliberate criminalization of black youths from the 1930s to today A stark disparity exists between black and white youth experiences in the justice system today. Black youths are perceived to be older and less innocent than their white peers. When it comes to incarceration, race trumps class, and even as black youths articulate their own experiences with carceral authorities, many Americans remain surprised by the inequalities they continue to endure. In this...
From the mean streets of 1930s Depression-era Toronto comes the gripping tale of a man who became one of the nation’s most notorious criminals. Until the age of 31, Donald McDonald was only «dirty little Mickey from The Corner,» the notorious intersection of Toronto’s Jarvis and Dundas Streets in a neighbourhood known in the 1930s as «Gangland.» After Mickey was charged with the January 1939 murder of bookmaker Jimmy Windsor, he became a national crime figure. What followed were two murder...
Understanding reentry experiences after incarceration Prison in the United States often has a revolving door, with droves of formerly incarcerated people ultimately finding themselves behind bars again. In Beyond Recidivism , Andrea Leverentz, Elsa Y. Chen, and Johnna Christian bring together a leading group of interdisciplinary scholars to examine this phenomenon using several approaches to research on recently released prisoners returning to their lives. They focus on the social context of...
Exploring Toronto’s history through the stories of its most fascinating and shadowy deaths. If these streets could talk… With morbid tales of war and plague, duels and executions, suicides and séances, Toronto’s past is filled with stories whose endings were anything but peaceful. The Toronto Book of the Dead delves into these: from ancient First Nations burial mounds to the grisly murder of Toronto’s first lighthouse keeper; from the rise and fall of the city’s greatest Victorian baseball...
The Bill of Rights and Civil War Amendments created a triangular power struggle among state, nation and individual. Using chronological court cases, this book examines how the Supreme Court became arbiter among the three claimants to power, sometimes backtracking and sometimes taking a bold leap forward. Focusing on Justice Rehnquist’s lengthy term on the Supreme Court, Steven T. Seitz examines the growth and emphasis of individual sovereignty throughout the twentieth century....
By examining the highly contested legal debate about the regulation of pornography through an epistemic lens, this book analyzes competing claims about the proper role of speech in our society, pornography’s harm, the relationship between speech and equality, and whether law should regulate and, if so, upon what grounds. In maintaining that inegalitarian pornography generates discursive effects, the book contends that law cannot simply adopt a libertarian approach to free speech. While...
Criminal Procedure and Punishment provides a holistic overview of the English and Welsh system of criminal justice, from the earliest stages of arrest and investigation through to the punishment and release of offenders. Aimed at students, it examines not only the law and procedure of criminal justice and punishment, but also underpinning theories and surrounding issues. The book is suitable for courses on criminal law, criminal justice, penology and criminology. The book is divided into...
Transnational Organized Crime and Gangs: Intervention, Prevention, and Suppression of Cybersecurity provides several first-person examples of the mind set and mentality present in today’s transnational organized crime groups combined with a holistic approach towards prevention and intervention in the cybersecurity space. Transnational organized crime groups have tremendous power and money, which means they have the ability to pay hackers to defeat cybersecurity measures. The dangers...