The Best Defense
by Alan M. Dershowitz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alan M. DershowitzEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1983-05-12
ISBN: 039471380X
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Best Defense
Book Review: A Lawyer of Last Resort
Summary: 5 Stars
Brookly born, Dershowitz graduated from Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, clerked for Federal Judge David Bazelon and Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg. He became a full professor at Harvard Law School at 28. The 'Introduction' presents his outlook on the justice system. His beliefs in the legal system were shattered by his first real-world case as a defense attorney in 1972 (p.xiv). Dershowitz likes to pick the most challenging, the most difficult, and the most precedent-setting cases; he is a law professor (p.xv). Dershowitz is primarily an appellate lawyer, a lawyer of last resort that appeals a guilty verdict. Lawyers believe in winning their case, for or against a defendant. Judges also play sides to convict a defendant they believe is guilty (p.xvii).
Chapter 1 tells of his life and the defense of a terrorist who set off a bomb that killed. The experience changed his life, exposed him to threats of disbarment and physical violence (p.17). Dershowitz learned what they didn't teach in law school. What if there was an undercover agent in this group? Could an informer trust the government (p.29)? These terrorists had deadly plans (p.35). What if the informer secretly recorded his conversations with the police? This case provided a superb teaching tool about the limits of government intervention in preventing crime (p.79). Informers have always been used by governments to control associations. Is a man guilty of murder if he shoots a dead person? Chapter 2 argues "no".
One case "provoked more intense and personal attacks" than any other (Chapter 3). Can the corporate media turn a hero into a villain? [Was this due to commercial rivalry?] Chapter 4 is about an obscenity trial. "There can never be objective standards of obscenity" (p.163). Is all pornography connected to organized crime (p.189)? Do people have a First Amendment right to go nude in public (Chapter 5)? The Vietnam War saw many attacks on First Amendment freedoms. Dershowitz was involved in several important cases (Chapter 6). One involved the firing of a Stanford professor, the other was a CIA employee whose book wasn't censored (p.208). The Snepp decision was an example of law by judicial proclamation (p.231) Dershowitz worked to free people in the Soviet Union (Chapter 7). Can the arrest of an innocent become a crime (Chapter 8)?
Chapter 9 has a true crime story that seems too fantastic for a movie. Dershowitz doesn't explain his opposition to capital punishment (p.305). [Is it his emotions?] Was something censored on the bottom of page 356? Chapter 10 is the most important as it reveals corruption in the US Attorney's office in getting a conviction against a defense lawyer who was very successful. Would a judge violate ethics to cover up a crime (p.365)? Are you shocked by the decision to not prosecute (p.367)? Would three judges on an appeal court make a false statement (p.374)? All appeals failed (p.375). Do "prosecutors suborn perjury every day" (p.376)? The `Epilogue' reveals what has been going on (p.381). "It is worse in many other prosecutor's offices" (p.383). Is there an "occupational disease" for defense lawyers (Chapter 11)? Dershowitz tells about the criminal lawyers he has represented in his practice. F. Lee Bailey's success is explained (p.386). Bailey defended Patricia Hearst, Dershowitz helped (p.392). You will learn a lot of facts that will never be shown on television! Those "Perry Mason" stratagems represent older and obsolete practices (p.409). [Earl Rogers once used a substitute to question the identification of his defendant.] A defense lawyer is the final barrier between a citizen and the government (pp.415-416). This book tells about events that you will rarely see on broadcast TV dramas.
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