Black Rage Confronts the Law

Author: Paul Harris
ISBN: 9780814735275

In 1971, Paul Harris pioneered the modern version of the black rage defense when he successfully defended a young black man charged with armed bank robbery. Dubbed one of the most novel criminal defenses in American history by Vanity Fair, the black rage defense is enormously controversial, frequently dismissed as irresponsible, nothing less than a harbinger of anarchy. Consider the firestorm of protest that resulted when the defense for Colin Ferguson, the gunman who murdered numerous passengers on a New York commuter train, claimed it was considering a black rage defense. In this thought-provoking book, Harris traces the origins of the black rage defense back through American history, recreating numerous dramatic trials along the way. For example, he recounts in vivid detail how Clarence Darrow, defense attorney in the famous Scopes Monkey trial, first introduced the notion of an environmental hardship defense in 1925 while defending a black family who shot into a drunken white mob t

Publisher: NYU Press
Publish Date: 1997-05-01

Subjects: Law / General, Law / Civil Rights, Law / Criminal Law / General, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Black/African American (BLCK))