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In 2009, Harvey A. Silverglate, a prominent criminal defense and civil liberties lawyer, published his landmark critique of the federal criminal justice system,
Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. In 2014, Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor in three districts under nine United States Attorneys from both political parties and who has been lead counsel in 500 federal appeals, published her landmark indictment of the system,
Licensed To Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice, after she witnessed appalling abuses by prosecutors--more than a decade after she entered private practice. Now these two leading authorities combine their knowledge and experience to describe the problems within the Department of Justice and in the federal courts--and to offer solutions. Together, Powell and Silverglate shine a light on the defects of the system: overzealous prosecutors, perjury traps, negligent judges, perverse limits on self-defense, vague and overabundant criminal statutes, insufficient requirements for criminal intent, and no accountability for prosecutors. Most important, they provide a much-needed blueprint for reforming the Department of Justice and the criminal justice system, including actions an average citizen can take to help restore justice.
About the author
Harvey A. Silverglate is counsel to Boston's Zalkind, Rodriguez, Lunt & Duncan LLP, specializing in criminal defense, civil liberties, and academic freedom/student rights law. He is cofounder and chairman of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and is a regular columnist for the Boston Phoenix. Silverglate has been published in the National Law Journal, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. He is author of The Shadow University with Alan Charles Kors.
