| Book Reviews |
Crime: Stories than on the law or on the trials that America Aflame: How the Civil By Ferdinand von Schirach; translated by occur. For the most part, the reader War Created a Nation need know nothing about German Carol Brown Janeway law to appreciate the stories fully. Von By David Goldfield Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 2011. 188 pages, Schirach does include a four-paragraph Bloomsbury Press, New York, NY, 2011. 632 $25.00. afterword to explain some differences pages, $35.00. between German and American law, and this afterword should have been The Union War Re v i e w e d b y He n r y Co h e n an introduction, because it gives away By Gary W. Gallagher nothing about the stories and would Are these crime stories truth or fic- help the reader on the few occasions Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011. 215 pages, $27.95. tion? The book does not say, but the when the stories refer to German crimi- stories feel true, because they are so nal procedures. Among the differences strange. As Mark Twain said, “Truth is between German and American law is stranger than fiction, but it is because that the prosecutor in German criminal Re v i e w e d b y He n r y S. Co h n Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; proceedings is not on the side of the Truth isn’t.” If I were to summarize the state but is obliged to be impartial. These two books, published on the plots of the stories in Crime: Stories, you The defense attorney, by contrast, acts 150th anniversary of the beginning of might say that they are not possibilities. solely in the interests of his client and the Civil War, reach conclusions with Reading the stories, however, might must preserve his client’s confidences. which many scholars would disagree. convince you that they happened just as In addition, Germany does not use But let’s start by quoting from a book Ferdinand von Schirach tells them. juries, but, for larger trials, uses three review that historian James McPherson The puzzlement arises because von career judges and two lay judges, who published in the April 12, 2001, issue of Schirach is a German criminal defense are ordinary citizens appointed for a The New York Review of Books: attorney, and so is the book’s name- specific term. less narrator, and we don’t know to The crimes that Crime: Stories From the 1930s to the 1950s the what extent they are the same person. describes are not ordinary—there is not most influential interpretation of Are Ferdinand von Schirach’s 11 stories a single drug deal among them—and the causes of the Civil War was “plucked from his legal career,” as the some of them are gruesome. To pro- that put forth by the “revisionist” review of the book in the New York tect his girlfriend, a man dismembers school of historians, whose lead- Times claimed, or does von Schirach and carries away the body of a man ing figure was Avery Craven. The have an extraordinary imagination? It he finds in her bed, not knowing that revisionists denied that sectional could be both: he could be embellishing the man had died of a heart attack and conflicts between North and South ordinary cases that he has handled. But that she had left the scene for fear of were genuinely divisive. ... Such as fantastic as the cases seem, they do being arrested as an illegal immigrant. minor disparities did not have not appear embellished, because von A jealous boyfriend apparently kills to lead to war; they could have, Schirach tells them in such a straight- his girlfriend, not knowing that she and should have, been accom- forward way. It was only occasionally has prostituted herself in order to raise modated peacefully within the that I was so struck by the artistry of a money for him, and he has already had political system. ... The war was passage that I had to stop to reread it. a finger cut off by a creditor to whom brought on not by genuine issues For example, Feldmayer, who is one of he still owes money. A man robs a but by extremists on both sides, von Schirach’s narrator’s clients, has just bank and then sits down and waits to especially abolitionists and radical committed a crime. “Then,” the narrator be arrested. But von Schirach’s narrator Republicans, who whipped up tells us, “something strange happened. It portrays all his clients as human beings emotions and hatreds for their own seemed to Feldmayer that the blood in and enables us to understand how their self-serving partisan purposes. his veins changed color, it turned bright situations drove them to violence. red. He felt it surge and pulse from his I am not going to ruin any of the McPherson added, however, that, stomach, spreading throughout his body, plots for you, and will conclude by say- “[s]ince the 1950s most professional all the way to the tips of his fingers ing only that all 11 stories are vivid and historians have come to agree with and toes, illuminating him from inside.” engrossing. The narrator engages in no Lincoln’s assertion that slavery ‘was, Feldmayer is having a psychotic episode, polemics and no philosophizing; these somehow, the cause of the war.’” By and he is not the only criminal in this stories do not have deeper meanings. implication, then, the Civil War became book who suffers from mental illness. They just show us sides of life that we inevitable after Abraham Lincoln was Although the narrator of these sto- do not ordinarily see. TFL elected president, because Lincoln was ries is a criminal defense attorney who not going to allow slavery to expand represents the accused in each story, Henry Cohen is the book review editor of the narrator focuses on the crimes more The Federal Lawyer. reviews continued on page 64
October 2011 | The Federal Lawyer | 63 reviews continued from page 63
into the territories, and, as Jefferson notes that the Fugitive Slave Law moti- the Florida sunshine and writing about Davis said in an effort to justify seces- vated Stowe to write the book, he household management. Evangelical sion, the slave states were not going to also sees Uncle Tom’s Cabin as Stowe’s ministers gave up their strong message abide excluding slavery from the terri- “channel[ing] her grief [for the death of and mingled with leading entrepreneurs tories. In March 1861, Confederate Vice her son Charley] into a cause greater and politicians. Goldfield also shows President Alexander H. Stephens said than herself.” Stowe wrote that “[i]t was that the triumph of capitalism in the that slavery was “the immediate cause of at his dying bed and at his grave that I decade after the Civil War did little to the late rupture and present revolution” learned what a poor slave mother may improve the lot of former slaves or other of Southern independence, and in their feel when her child is torn away from minorities, such as Native Americans. declarations of secession, the Southern her.” Goldfield finds Uncle Tom’s Cabin He praises Mark Twain’s satiric picture states acknowledged that the preserva- filled with rhetoric against those who did of Northern capitalists, amassing enor- tion of slavery was the reason they were not follow Stowe’s evangelist doctrine. mous wealth and living like European seceding. Goldfield’s accusations against the royalty. Goldfield completes his book But James McPherson was correct evangelists are not new. Such charges with a view of the Centennial Exhibition in 2001 that only “most” professional emerged in the South as early as 1866 in Philadelphia, featuring the enormous historians agreed that slavery was the in the popular writings of George Lunt, Corliss engine and new American inven- cause of the war, and he remains cor- a Northerner who theorized that the tions, such as the telephone. rect today. For David Goldfield, once a evangelists and their abolitionist allies America Aflame is inadequately graduate assistant to Avery Craven, is were guided by anti-American princi- researched. Goldfield repeats as fact clearly in the revisionist school of his- ples, and that the Southern states seced- the legend that Lincoln greeted Harriet torians that McPherson described. In his ed to protect the traditional American Beecher Stowe as the little woman smoothly written book, America Aflame, way of life. Unlike Goldfield, however, who wrote the book that started the Goldfield argues, as did the earlier revi- standard 20th-century revisionists did Civil War. Goldfield’s discussion of sionists, that it was clearly possible for not blame solely the evangelists for the the Centennial Exhibition should have the North and the South to settle their Civil War but, more sensibly, looked to included Hartford’s Joseph Roswell disputes, and Goldfield blames the dis- multiple factors for the Union’s disrup- Hawley, the chairman of the 1876 ruptive abolitionist agitation of Northern tion. As David Donald summed it up in celebration. Hawley was both an evan- evangelical Christians for making such a his 1978 book, Liberty and Union, “[B]y gelical Protestant and a founder of the settlement impossible. the 1850s the reservoir of goodwill and Republican Party. He made sure that The title of the book, America Aflame, compassion that Americans [in both the the exhibition was closed on Sunday. alludes not only to the Civil War but North and South] had hitherto shared Hawley favored equal rights for blacks also to the burning by Protestants of an was being drained.” and immigrants and never compro- Ursuline convent in Massachusetts in Goldfield’s dislike for the North con- mised on these issues after the Civil 1834—an incident that Goldfield sees tinues in his treatment of the war itself. War. Goldfield praises the Reverend as a precursor to the hatred of Catholics Several battles were unspeakably bru- Joseph Twichell, also from Hartford, and immigrants and the anti-sectional- tal, but Goldfield relates that Lincoln, because, as a chaplain at Gettysburg, ism of the evangelicals in the 1840s and with the support of evangelicals, was Twichell wrote of the suffering that the 1850s. To Goldfield, the anti-Catholic shown in the newspapers of the day to soldiers endured in the war. Goldfield’s Lyman Beecher and his children, Henry have little compassion for the suffering effort would have been improved with Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher of the troops on either side. Goldfield a fuller discussion of Twichell, who was Stowe, are the figures most responsible describes the costly battles of Shiloh, just as much an evangelical as Henry for the Civil War. Antietam, and Gettysburg (accompany- Ward Beecher. America Aflame appears Goldfield repeatedly attacks Henry ing them with grisly photographs of to be an attempt to shake up studies of Ward Beecher for his dramatic sermons dead soldiers) and blames Lincoln for the Civil War by stressing religion as advocating the abolition of slavery. After failing to engage in peace negotiations. one of its major causes, but, in the end, the Dred Scott decision, Beecher pro- The author relates that Horace Greeley the book is one-sided and unsatisfying. claimed to 3,000 worshipers, “If people contacted John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary, Whereas Goldfield concentrates on obey this decision, they disobey God.” with the information that Confederate religion as a cause of the Civil War, Evangelicals proudly called Beecher’s agents in Canada were interested in Gary W. Gallagher, a history professor church in Brooklyn the Church of the negotiations, but that Lincoln did not at the University of Virginia, focuses Holy Rifles, perhaps because Beecher pursue talks to end the bloodshed. less on causes and more on motives for had raised money to purchase weap- After the war, Goldfield writes, the fighting. In The Union War, Gallagher ons for anti-slavery settlers in Kansas to evangelists abandoned any social con- assumes that the breakup of the coun- defend themselves from Missouri ruffi- science that before the war had driven try occurred for a variety of reasons, ans. Harriet Beecher Stowe comes under them to spread their disruptive anti- including the abolitionists’ push to abol- Goldfield’s fire, of course, for writing slavery message. Harriet Beecher Stowe ish slavery. His goal, however, is to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although Goldfield could be found resting comfortably in address why the North chose to fight for
64 | The Federal Lawyer | October 2011 four years to achieve an unconditional the Union’s democratic values, Union Railroaded: The Transcontinen- victory. This, in turn, leads to a study of soldiers were allowed to vote in that tals and the Making of Modern the central role of the Union Army in election. Envelopes were adorned with America the Northern triumph. patriotic motifs, and the most popular Gallagher’s first chapter serves as a song of the time, “The Battle-Cry of By Richard White preliminary to his main theme. It depicts Freedom,” urged the soldiers to “rally W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 2011. 660 pages, the “Grand Review” of the troops that round the flag.” $35.00. converged on Washington, D.C., on May Gallagher views the Emancipation 23 and 24, 1865, six weeks after Lee Proclamation as only a war measure, surrendered at Appomattox. Gallagher used, as one military man said, “to hurt Re v i e w e d b y Ch r i s t o p h e r C. Fa i l l e notes that many well-known military fig- traitors and kill rebellion.” Similarly, ures, including Grant and Sherman, took Lincoln’s call for a “new birth of free- Richard White, a professor of his- part in the Grand Review. But there were dom” at Gettysburg was ignored by tory at Stanford University, made a notable absentees. Other army com- the troops; they were looking only to name for himself with books about manders were still stationed at battlefield crush the rebels. Although many slaves the American West. Perhaps his best- sites, and, of course, tragically, Lincoln escaped on their own and served as known work is still The Middle Ground: was not there, having been assassinated Union soldiers, Gallagher sees the sol- Indians, Empires, and Republics in the in April. Soldiers participated as survivors diers of the Union Army as deserving the Great Lakes Region,1650–1815 (1991), of the brutal conflict, with Maj. Gen. major credit for emancipation, because though he has also won acclaim for George A. Custer’s cavalry division color- their military campaigns in the South “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My fully donning long red neckties. Finally, broke up the structure of slave society. Own”: A New History of the American hinting at his ultimate thesis, Gallagher The Union War concludes with a West (1991), which covers even more notes that “black troops, who made up tribute to Ulysses S. Grant. Unlike ground, both geographically and chron- nearly 10 percent of the Union Army at the typical European officer, who was ologically, than The Middle Ground. war’s end,” were apparently excluded. an aristocrat, Grant rose to success By the standards of those two books, Why did the soldiers who were cel- from humble, democratic origins. He White’s latest, Railroaded, is narrowly ebrating at the Grand Review in May was a fighter who gave no quarter focused. He writes here about the push 1865, and, indeed, those who were and ensured that the Union cause of the railroads west of St. Louis and either dead at the time or otherwise not triumphed. He also understood that, Chicago to the Pacific. The book is not present for the festivities go to war in the in the aftermath of the war, reconcili- especially about the laying of track (the first place? Gallagher’s answer, unlike ation of all sections of the nation was “golden spike” at Promontory Summit that of other historians whose work he essential. He was a natural successor to and all that) about which there is, as he carefully analyzes, is that the soldiers Washington and Lincoln. says, “already a vast literature.” Rather, were determined to preserve the Union, In 1997, Gallagher wrote a classic his concern is with the entrepreneurs and that this remained their primary book, The Confederate War, in which who founded railroad lines, the men motivation for fighting even after Lincoln he described the motivations of the they employed, their political maneu- issued the Emancipation Proclamation Confederate troops; now he forcefully vers, and the sorts of opposition they on Jan. 1, 1863. Other historians have explains that the sole reason for the val- excited. He tells the story as a transna- downplayed this motive, arguing that iant military service by men of the North tional one, for “the American roads were the troops fought to end slavery more was their desire to save the Union. Of so tightly linked to the Canadian Pacific than to save the Union. Gallagher is not course, Gallagher’s emphasis on the and the railroads of northern Mexico prepared to accept that there was any centrality of the Northern military has that they cannot be unhooked.” change in soldiers’ attitudes following not been uniformly accepted. He has the Emancipation Proclamation. been criticized by Columbia University Without Patents Gallagher documents his objections professor Eric Foner, for example, as One of White’s points is that the to any theory that fails to understand taking too rigid an approach to the skilled workers on the railroads were not the power that the Union held in the soldiers’ intentions. In a review of The powerless in the face of their employers, 19th-century mind. He points to the Union War in the April 29, 2011, issue however low they might have been on popular acceptance of Daniel Webster’s of the New York Times, Foner wrote that an organizational chart. They were able oratory—“Liberty and Union, now and Gallagher’s discussion of motives should to push back because they knew their forever, one and inseparable!”—as well also have credited “the surge of egalitar- engines better than anyone else; indeed, as to Lincoln’s public letter to Horace ian sentiment [as the war progressed] they had often designed the engines in Greeley, in which Lincoln placed the that inspired the rewriting of the laws significant respects. Most of the railroad’s goal of freeing the slaves below the and Constitution to create, for the first technical developments in the 1870s and goal of preserving the Union. In the time, a national citizenship enjoying 1880s were the outcome of what White 1864 election, Lincoln and his running equal rights not limited by race.” TFL calls “a process of developing and pass- mate, Andrew Johnson, stated that ing on innovations without patents” that they were the “Union Party,” not the Henry S. Cohn is a judge of the Connect- Republican Party. As a demonstration of icut Superior Court. reviews continued on page 66
October 2011 | The Federal Lawyer | 65 reviews continued from page 65
was akin to the open-source software of ing the workings of the Mountaineer’s origin to the same end. Chinese work- the early 21st century. different controls to the fellow who was ers frequently entered the United States Mechanics tinker. They do so out of to replace him for the month. The con- both from Mexico and from Canada habit and love, even when the mon- trols were more complicated than was in the years after the passage of the etary payoff of their tinkering is by no customary for engines in that neighbor- exclusion act, especially after the work means obvious. In the great period of hood, and his presumptive replace- was done or as it neared completion in western railroad expansion, mechan- ment’s eyes glazed over. He ended up either of those countries—the Canadian ics redesigned locomotives to such an telling Moulton, “You keep the engine Pacific in the one case and the rail work extent that they became very individual running and I’ll take the thirty days.” in Sonora in the other. There are lessons machines beyond the intentions of the That story supports White’s point in there that today’s lawyers and policy “original builders of locomotives in east- two ways. First, it shows that the con- makers might want to contemplate, but ern factories.” nection between a skilled employee they seem rather too obvious to require This point resonates with me, because and his machinery was a very personal my elucidation. Whereof one need not I am one of the grandsons of the late and idiosyncratic one, so much so that speak, one may be silent. TFL Henry Comstock, who (well before he it became difficult to replace some- had any grandchildren) had been the one who did the kind of job Moulton Christopher Faille, a member of the editor of Railroad Magazine in the final did. Second, it shows why the foreign Connecticut bar since 1982, writes on years of his beloved steam engines: the Fairlies never caught on in America. a variety of financial issues, and is the late 1940s, just before diesel drove them The Western subculture consisting of co-author, with David O’Connor, of a from the tracks. Grandpa Hank would such workers was not going to be user-friendly guide to Basic Economic later write and illustrate a book on the imposed upon by distant planners who Principles (2000). history of the steam locomotive. might think they knew better, even if His fascination was always with the the planners were, in rare cases, just Citizenship and Its Exclusions: history of these machines as a complex as disposed to “go native” as Moulton A Classical, Constitutional, and knot of engineering and mechanical had been. Other ways of moving freight Critical Race Critique challenges and with the way that solv- and passengers along the narrow gauge ing one challenge created a new one. routes came about, largely through the By Ediberto Román Thus, with the reader’s indulgence I will patent-free process of innovation from New York University Press, New York, NY, 2010. tell an apposite story from the period below that White describes. 209 pages, $45.00. White covers; it is a story that appears in Comstock’s The Iron Horse: America’s Importing Labor Steam Locomotives (1971). White has a commendable devo- Re v i e w e d b y Ar t h u r Ri z e r In the 1870s, a manufacturer in tion to writing history from below, the British Isles sent a locomotive to rather than writing it in the traditional Professor Ediberto Román’s Citizen- Colorado for the use of the Denver & way, from above—whether “above” ship and Its Exclusions examines citi- Rio Grande line. John Moulton, a rep- is defined by power, wealth, or social zenship from antiquity to the Dark resentative of the builders, arrived in standing. A traditional history of the Ages, to the birth of nation-states, and Colorado along with the engine to do development of the transcontinental to the United States today. Román the final assembly work. This engine railroads might focus on such figures also considers approaches to citizenship was a “Fairlie,” a model designed by as, say, President Chester Arthur, who within various philosophical, legal, and an Irishman of that name for use on in 1882 signed an act imposing a mora- racial contexts. His ultimate goal, how- narrow gauge lines, which were those torium on the immigration of Chinese ever, is to identify and evaluate what in which the rails were separated by into the United States for 10 years. One citizenship means in the United States, just a meter. Narrow gauge lines were might write about the diplomatic and and he finds that, in this country, the necessary amidst the twists and turns of partisan aspects of that law and simply benefits of citizenship continue, as they Rocky Mountain routes, so the western presume that it greatly complicated did throughout history, to be accorded United States seemed a natural market the labor practices of the Western rail- to some people more than to others. for Fairlies. roads. Those most often excluded from the Moulton fell in love with the Rockies History from below, however, notes benefits of United States citizenship— and wanted to stay. So he took the job that the exclusion act didn’t bring an end minorities and women—are often those of running the engine that he had just to the Chinese labor supply for unskilled most in need of its protection. assembled, appropriately named the tasks. The law didn’t even restrict it as Román argues that, in order to under- Mountaineer. He and the engine were much as one might think. Rather, it “cre- stand the concept of citizenship today, soon doing helper duty at La Veta Pass. ated a new category of illegal alien that one must understand its history in the One day Moulton got in trouble with his thrust the Chinese into a netherworld.” Western world, because aspects of the boss and received a 30-day suspension. Also, the act encouraged the less direct concept today may be traced to classical Thus it was that he ended up explain- movement of labor—from the same and subsequent eras. Román therefore
66 | The Federal Lawyer | October 2011 begins by exploring Greek and Roman fessor of law Bartolus of Sassoferrato, African Americans and women, some ideals of citizenry, focusing on conflicts Román adeptly describes how European of the de jure subordinates still exist between citizens and noncitizens. He states drew heavily from Aristotle and in their inferior status. This shameful then explores the evolution of citizen- Roman law to rejuvenate their discrimi- and unfortunate fact applies to the mil- ship in the Dark Ages and in Europe’s natory ideals of citizenship. lions of citizens and nationals who are nascent nation-states. He next examines Román asserts that, notwithstanding residents of the United States’ overseas the teachings of Enlightenment phi- the influence of ancient Greco-Roman possessions.” losophers, and, finally, he explains the constructions of citizenship, the legacy Román then turns his attention to de creation and evolution of citizenship of the medieval Europe, and the writ- facto subordinate citizenship and argues in the United States. Actually, Román ings of early pre-Renaissance theorists, that, despite legal equality having been is misleading in stating that he will contemporary citizenship has its stron- granted to all, regardless of race, creed, “trace, somewhat briefly, world histori- gest roots in the Enlightenment. He or gender, the legacy of subjugation cal developments that were central to notes that Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, still casts its shadow on a host of the development of the concept of and Montesquieu developed the con- underprivileged citizens today. Román citizenship.” In fact, of the book’s 157 cept of a social contract between the sums up the situation perfectly, stating pages of text, 81 trace historical devel- people and the government and laid that, “although the citizenship concept opments. (In fairness, this is apparent the foundation for constitutional democ- is largely viewed as inclusive, the from the table of contents.) Although racy in the United States. Although thousands of years since the concept’s most readers should thoroughly enjoy these philosophers “are largely credited development demonstrate a practice of the historical discussions, others may with championing democratic theory,” it being an exclusive and exclusionary get impatient and want Román to get Román notes that the framers imported tool for Western democracies to define to the point. these philosophers’ “biased beliefs that and control themselves.” Román notes that, “[f]or Aristotle, keep some members of society in a Román argues that the concept of the citizen was a male of known subordinate position and on an unequal citizenship can be saved, and he offers genealogy, a patriarch, a warrior, and footing. In other words, citizenship’s a model that establishes a baseline for the master of the labor of others (typi- dark little exclusionary secret is perhaps human rights and extends those rights cally slaves).” Citizens, Aristotle wrote, a function of the lesser-known, but to all citizens, thereby eliminating the “must not lead the life of artisans or equally damning, bias held by its great class structure that still exists among tradesmen, for such a life is ignoble philosophical champions.” citizens today. He concludes that “it is and inimical to excellence.” In Sparta, The historical backdrop that Román not enough for emancipated people to periokoi, or free noncitizens, “may have provides is clear and thorough, and hold the title of citizen; they must enjoy actually outnumbered Spartan citizens.” sets the stage for his primary thesis: all the rights associated with the title.” Thus, Román states, “the belief in the that citizenship in the United States is I have some criticisms of Citizenship exclusive and exclusionary nature of exclusive, even if it appears inclusive. and Its Exclusions. Although Román the term ‘citizen’ was apparent from the From the founding of the nation to the does an excellent job of outlining his- very first extensive conceptualization of present day, citizenship in the United torical discrimination among citizens citizenship.” States has featured both “de jure sub- and articulating the discriminatory ele- The Roman Empire was also instru- ordinates” and “de facto subordinates.” ments of United States citizenship, his mental in the classical construction of Román notes that “African Americans examples of this discrimination today citizenship. “[T]he success of the Roman only became de jure full members after are scant. One finishes the book think- Empire, its broad territorial expansion, a civil war and a constitutional amend- ing that, because African-Americans its ideology, including the construc- ment that declared them to be citizens. were second-class citizens for most of tion of citizenship as a concept, has Despite this grant, the question still American history, they must still be so affected almost every region of the exists for many whether they still are today, but Román does not adequately world.” Under Roman rule, citizenship less than full citizens.” make the case that they are. Similarly, was more malleable and inclusive than Román finds the Supreme Court he leaves the reader thinking that, it was under the Greeks. As under the responsible for injustices by having because Congress did not place cer- Greeks, there were different levels of issued numerous decisions giving tain territories onto paths to statehood citizenship, but the Romans “developed Congress plenary power over ques- following the Spanish-American War, a precise and complex system of dif- tions of immigration and citizenship for the entire system of citizenship must ferentiation. ... [T]he poor, the plebeian, people who did not clearly fall under be corrupt. Román uses Puerto Rico the peasant, the weak, the artisan, the the protection of the 14th Amendment as an example of how not all citizens merchant, the slave classes, and those by being born in the United States. He have been afforded the full rights of who lacked property” were subordi- argues that the Court created “legal fic- citizenship. Yet most commentators nated. tions when racial and ethnic minority agree that, if the people of Puerto Medieval Europe adopted Rome’s groups sought equal and full mem- Rico wanted to obtain statehood or exclusionary ideals of citizenship. bership rights. ... Despite the formal to declare their own sovereignty, they Focusing on 13th-century theologian St. termination of political inferiority for Thomas Aquinas and 14th-century pro- some of the de jure subordinates ... i.e., reviews continued on page 68
October 2011 | The Federal Lawyer | 67 reviews continued from page 67
could do so. Román also cites the treat- Popular Crime: Reflections on the about famous crimes which have hap- ment of Muslim citizens following the Celebration of Violence pened in the United States since about September 11 attacks as a manifestation 1880. Second, it is about crime. ... And of the class system within citizenship. By Bill James third, it is about crime books.” He pro- He compares the treatment of Muslim Scribner, New York, NY, 2011. 482 pages, poses, interestingly enough, to examine citizens today with the internment of $30.00. how famous crimes influence popular Japanese-Americans during World War culture, public opinion, and, ultimately, II. Such a far-fetched comparison hurts the law. He ranges over the centuries, the credibility of the overall argument. Re v i e w e d b y Jo n M. Sa n d s using examples of notorious crimes and Japanese-Americans were placed in criminals, and accusers and victims, concentration camps, whereas President Bill James revolutionized how we including Lizzie Borden, the Lindbergh Bush pleaded with the people of the think about baseball. His analysis of baby case, the Boston Strangler, O. J. nation not to take out their anger on what really matters in baseball games, Simpson (the alleged murders, not his Arab-Americans. Moreover, since Sept. through objective empirical evidence, more recent robbery), and JonBenét 11, 2001, the Justice Department’s Civil spawned sabermetrics. James’ obscure Ramsey. James also seeks out examples Rights Division has investigated more ways of detailing batting, pitching, and that are obscure to us now but that than 800 incidents involving violence offensive production, such as by OBP were sensational decades or even cen- or threats against Arab-Americans or (on-base percentage), made broad mea- turies ago, bringing compelling if unsa- Americans who are or are perceived to surements such as batting averages vory characters back from the shadows be from the Middle East. It is true that and won-lost records seem not only and crevices of our history. He is demo- the government detained Muslim for- quaint and uninformative but some- cratic in his rogues’ line-up, presenting eign nationals without trial, but they are what deceptive as to a player’s real lowlifes and highlifes, men and women, not citizens, so that is a different issue. value. Because of James’ advocacy of crimes of passion and crimes of cold Citizenship and Its Exclusions pro- the importance of data, baseball gen- blood, urban stalkers and rural drifters. vides an excellent history of citizen- eral managers now regard fresh-faced, Things go wrong with the book pretty ship and gave me great insight into the newly graduated statisticians as essential fast, however. For example, in justifying origin of the concept of citizenship in as grizzled veteran scouts for appraising his approach, James begins by bashing the United States. Moreover, Román is talent and even for in-game strategy. “the NPR crowd,” who supposedly are an exceptional writer and researcher; The most noteworthy practitioner of aghast at the attention the media give to his book is easily digestible and its sabermetrics is the general manager of crime stories; then he bashes “American endnotes back up the facts he presents. the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, who intellectuals and opinion-makers,” who Although some may feel unsatisfied was the subject of Michael Lewis’ best are supposedly afraid of the subject; with Román’s scarcity of modern exam- seller Moneyball (which I reviewed in and finally he bashes “self-important ples (as well as with his flawed solution, the January 2004 issue of The Federal lawyers,” who shush nonlawyers (such which I have not discussed, for the Lawyer) and who is portrayed by Brad as James) who try to get a word in problems of unequal citizenship in the Pitt in the film of the same name. edgewise. But James will let the public United States today), Román’s historical Sabermetrics has made celebrities of in on the conversation. The following analysis more than makes up for these its major league practitioners and has example will give a sense of his bellig- shortcomings. TFL made James himself a senior adviser to erence: “I said that no one writes about the Boston Red Sox. these issues, which is not literally true. I Arthur Rizer is a trial attorney with the But even James can make an error, am sure that in some corner of the aca- Criminal Division of the U.S. Depart- throw a wild pitch, and strike out. In his demic world there hides an intellectual ment of Justice and an adjunct profes- new book, he does all three. Popular who knows vastly more about these sor of law at Georgetown University Law Crime is not only shockingly analyti- issues than I do and has written 208 Center. He is also the author of Lincoln’s cally weak but also downright wacky. It published articles about them, which Counsel, which was reviewed in the July reads like a diatribe by a curmudgeonly none of us have ever heard of, probably 2011 issue of The Federal Lawyer. The conservative relative at a holiday din- because he writes like a troll, or, not to views expressed in this review do not ner, who becomes cranky and starts to be sexist, she writes like a troll or trol- necessarily represent those of the Depart- pontificate on subjects far afield from lette. I am not here to bash intellectuals, ment of Justice or the Georgetown Uni- his own expertise. In baseball parlance, either; I’m just a sarcastic bastard by versity Law Center. James is a pitcher who deliberately nature.” Well, yes. throws at left-leaning batters and right- This tone, coming in the first chapter fully should get tossed from the game. (!), was cause for concern. It soon got James’ principal subject is infamous worse. James starts most chapters of crimes and celebrity criminals. “This Popular Crime with a story of a crime. book is about three things. First, it is His retelling of the crime is engaging, about famous crimes, and in particular makes some interesting points, and
68 | The Federal Lawyer | October 2011 then goes completely off the rails. In the criminal justice system. Brady is a cerns over false confessions and mis- chapter 9, for example, James extols constitutional requirement mandating identifications. He can try to distinguish some colorful criminal defense lawyers disclosure of exulpatory evidence, and a concern with an accused’s rights from for saving “legions of murderers with is not responsible for the burgeoning a concern with getting the police inves- hardly a loss.” He laments the decline number of pleas. (A question that I ask tigation right, but he does not seem to of trials—a legitimate position. He also the law students I teach at Arizona State connect the two. Nor does he seem wonders why there are now more con- University is whether, in a hypothetical to want to. In another chapter, James victions in the cases that do go to trial criminal justice system, they would per- argues for better treatment of prison- than there supposedly were in the past. mit plea bargains. The answers cover ers. But this enlightened attitude seems He then asks how and why this change the spectrum, and they are always inter- to clash with his disdain and hostility occurred. He does this all with scant esting.) James ends the chapter by stat- toward defendants’ rights. One can be evidence, research, or review of the ing that we would be better served with for better treatment of prisoners, but it voluminous scholarship on the issue more trials that are shorter and cheaper. would help to ensure that prisoners had (possibly some of his hidden intel- That well could be, but I cannot accept due process beforehand. lectual’s 208 scholarly articles?). James his conclusion based on his arguments. Where is the analytical James? He proposes that, in the past, trials took Chapter after chapter is like this. does make sporadic appearances. In place in rural communities, where the James has a visceral dislike of the one chapter, he tries to set forth the juries knew the defendants, witnesses, Warren Court and liberals. He argues elements that catapult a crime story to and lawyers, and engaged in rough that books from the late 1960s and widespread and intense public aware- justice, but then the legal profession 1970s that decried the placing of pro- ness. He characterizes the various became professionalized. He believes cedural handcuffs on police reflect- elements, which include bizarreness, that bar associations reined in effective ed popular opposition to the Warren celebrity, innocence, and a killer on counsel, even while they stopped jury Court’s activism. He believes that the the loose, and then he assigns them tampering, judge bribing, and witness enlightened attitudes of Eisenhower’s a point value and tabulates them. He intimidation (as if these things no lon- America toward criminals and prisoners even coins an acronym for analyzing ger occur). (!) suffered a setback because of the the suspect, MMO (motive, means, and For James, however, the most Warren Court’s activism, and he holds opportunity), although something tells important reason that there are more the Warren Court and the supposedly me that this is not exactly new. James’ convictions these days is pretrial dis- liberal lower courts responsible for the analysis smacks of pseudo-science and covery. Yes, pretrial discovery. “[B]y upsurge in crime that followed. The is not very convincing. In any case, far the largest change in American Warren Court’s focus on the rights of James is looking backward, so it is criminal trials over the last 100 years the accused and other procedural pro- hard to predict whether his system has been the accumulation of layers tections unleashed the floodgates of would work in the present media age. of pretrial discovery. In a series of violence. James makes the following Analyzing crimes, trials, and convic- landmark cases beginning with Mooney argument: tions is not the same as analyzing balls, v. Holohan (1935) and culminating in strikes, and outs in baseball. Brady v. Maryland (1963), the Supreme Even today, old liberals try to This book was so bad that I looked Court ruled that defendants had the explain the explosion of violence afresh at the blurbs on the back and was right to know in advance what tes- in this country between the mid- astonished at who praised it. This leads timony would be introduced against 1960s and the mid-1970s in terms me to conclude they hadn’t read the them at trial.” James continues: “After of demographic shifts. These book, or hadn’t cared, or that I should Brady v. Maryland in 1963, the real explanations are logically prepos- reconsider their work. I am also quite action moved from the trial to the terous. The damned foolishness astonished that Scribner published this foreplay, the pretrial discovery. There of the Warren Court unleashed book. There was a breakdown in the were always defendants who entered upon us a torrent of criminal vio- editorial screening process. pleas; there was always some possibil- lence which pitched the nation At roughly the same time that Popular ity of negotiating a plea in return for a back into atavistic attitudes about Crime was published, James also came negotiated sentence. After Brady this crime and punishment. We have out with Solid Fool’s Gold: Detours on process exploded, and the ratio of trials yet to regain our footing. We will the Way to Conventional Wisdom. It is to accused criminals began to shrink.” not regain our footing, I would everything that Popular Crime is not: Seriously? Really? This explanation is argue, until Liberals stop making interesting, unconventional, witty, and so misguided and ignorant that I will excuses for the Warren Court, and well-argued. James’ baseball essays on not comment, except to say that the accept responsibility for the trag- predicting RBI output or examining the increase in pleas is a complex question ic consequences of the Warren pitchers’ duels of the 1980s are vintage that has seen a great deal of research, Court’s runaway enthusiasm for James. His other forays are also worth with which James is clearly unac- essentially good ideas. reading. I call special attention to an quainted. Suffice it to say that it is an essay, “Justice McReynolds and Buck accomodation required by the increase In other chapters, however, James in cases and the strapped resources of acknowledges and even expresses con- reviews continued on page 70
October 2011 | The Federal Lawyer | 69 reviews continued from page 69
O’Neil.” It turns out that McReynolds Running the Books: The Adven- the library at Boston’s South Bay (or was a distant cousin of James’. Now, tures of an Accidental Prison Southie) prison for a couple of years. McReynolds is widely considered one Librarian His stint as a prison librarian is the sub- of the worst, if not the worst, justices to ject of Running the Books. have served on the Supreme Court and By Avi Steinberg Having written a senior thesis on the is loathed for his prejudices and biases. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, New York, NY, 2010. meaning of Bugs Bunny, and wanting A racist and an anti-Semite, he seemed to 399 pages, $26.00. to avoid the alphabetic gauntlet of the have hated everyone who was not white LSATs, GREs, or MCATs, Steinberg decid- and Protestant. James acknowledges this, ed to become a writer. This was easy places him in his time, notes some atti- Re v i e w e d b y Jo n M. Sa n d s enough to do, but, as he lamented, he tudes that are favorable today (he detest- lacked experiences to write about, and ed smoking and tobacco use), points out The Library of Congress’ gift shop he had bills to pay. Hence, he answered that Justice Holmes and Justice Douglas sells a book of postcards titled “For the an ad for a position as a librarian and cre- had nice things to say about him, and Love of Libraries.” Leafing through its ative writing teacher in a prison. Oh yes, asks whether we should accept him as collection of public and private librar- the job included health benefits. To his representative of his time. James con- ies, I was struck by the number of amazement, he got the job. Now what? cludes that we should not: we cannot prison sites and the number of black- Running the Books chronicles his learn- forgive McReynolds for his bigotry; a and-white photos of inmates hungrily ing curve, which required different skills Supreme Court justice should be held to reading in tough places. This tradition of from the book learning he was used to or a higher standard than the conventions inmate rehabilitation and transformation the grading curve he previously aced. of his time. James, a Kansas City native, through libraries and of turning a new The library in Southie is definitely then wonders what another Kansas City page in one’s life by reading worn cop- not like most. The collection is expan- native, the late Buck O’Neil, would have ies of books is a venerable one. Malcolm sive and seems to rival that of a good made of McReynolds. O’Neil was a well- X is the most famous prisoner who did progressive high school; perhaps it is regarded Negro League baseball player so; Wilbert Rideau is a more recent because generations of librarians have and unofficial ambassador of the game example of an inmate who was changed used their meager funds to the fullest and an effective champion against rac- by books. (See my review of Rideau’s by sorting through yard sales and used ism. James believes that O’Neil would book in the September 2010 issue of The bookstores to add to the collection. have advocated reaching out before con- Federal Lawyer.) So, what books should Southie’s library also benefits from the demning and hating racism but not the inmates read in a prison library? rule that, although inmates could order racist. James reminds us that a desire to There is even a prison library at books from publishers (they could not condemn others might be “a kind of self- Guantánamo. We know the reading list receive them from private addresses), righteousness, an effort to deny our own for one Guantánamo detainee, Omar they could keep only six at a time in sins by talking loudly about others.” Khadr, a Canadian citizen. In anticipation their cells. The excess books usually get The essays in Solid Fool’s Gold reveal of his repatriation back to Canada after donated to the library or sold to other that James still has his baseball acu- eight years as a result of a plea deal, prisoners (the latter transaction illegal). men, which is a relief. How then to his lawyer has provided him with clas- The biggest source of books, not surpris- explain Popular Crime? It clearly is a sics, such as Shakespeare, and with the ingly, given the highly educated commu- topic James has thought about and has works of contemporary novelists, such nity surrounding the prison, are dona- something to say about. In his baseball as Cormac MacCarthy. In addition, the tions by individuals. “For the most part,” analysis, James uses past performance Department of Defense stocks the library Steinberg writes, “prison library reading to predict the future and to explain at Guantánamo with its own approved tastes tended to match those of the wider how to win games. In Popular Crime, reading material, which, in addition to American population”: “Oprah’s Book by contrast, James looks back, with Islamic religious texts, includes works Club selections, James Patterson, Dan too few glances and no vision, toward such as the Harry Potter books and self- Brown, James Frey. ... Inmates also loved the future; the book resembles a Rush help manuals such as Stephen R. Covey’s reading books on real estate and starting Limbaugh rant. It may be deeply impas- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. small businesses.” Other popular sub- sioned and entertaining to some, but As reported by a spokesperson for the jects were dream interpretation, astrol- it doesn’t bear up to scrutiny. Like a Department of Defense, about half of the ogy, and true crime. Other frequently fan whose favorite player is traded to prison population there has read Covey’s requested books were The Art of War by an opposing team, I will continue to book. It gives one pause to envision Sun Tzu and The Prince by Machiavelli, respect James for his work, but I am these designated terrorists poring over the latter requested “[t]hanks to slain done with rooting for him. TFL such texts. Will it help get them released rapper Tupac Shakur, a.k.a. ‘Makaveli,’” sooner? And to what end? who, in his song, “Tradin War Stories,” Jon M. Sands is the federal public de- I raise these questions because of the sang, “Machiavelli was my tutor.” The fender for the District of Arizona. experiences of Avi Steinberg, a Yeshiva majority of inmates returned The Prince dropout and Harvard graduate, who ran slightly disappointed, finding it not as
70 | The Federal Lawyer | October 2011 user-friendly as they’d hoped. a pimp call it? Yes: the love.” But the focus of the book, and its The prison authorities had their own The inmates no doubt checked power, comes from the inmates. They views of the library. “Some thought it was out books with their booking names are sad, scary, lost, crafty, sneaky, angry, a sham that, at best, served no function; and registration numbers, but a bet- and tragic. There’s Coolidge, the jail- at worst, coddled the inmates and gave ter form of identification might have house lawyer, convinced that the system them a place to plan and commit crimes. been the nicknames they called one gave him a raw deal, and if a court Some thought it was an effective way to another, including “Flip, Hood, Lil Haiti, would just read his writs, he would be numb inmates to the reality of captivity, Messiah, Bleach, Bombay, K*Shine, Rib, sprung. (A court finally does, and he to calm their nerves. The library made Swi$$, Tu-Shay, The Truth, Black, Boat, is.) There is Chudney, who, planning to the prison safer for everyone, [Steinberg] Forty, Fifty (no Sixty), Giz, Izz, Rizz, better himself, fills out stacks of school was told. One senior officer mentioned Fizz, Shizz, Lil Shizz, Frenchy, P-Rico, applications, including a most unusual that it was a good place to gather infor- Country, Dro, Turk, T, Africa.” Steinberg admission essay, only to be gunned mation from inmates who didn’t realize himself occasionally gets called Bookie, down soon after his release. And there is they were being watched.” An inmate but mostly he is called Arvin (a distor- Jessica, who attended Steinberg’s class, who was known to like the library is tion of his real name, Avi) or Harvey only to stare outside the window. Why? James “Whitey” Bulger, the recently (perhaps short for Harvard). She wants to catch sight of her son, nabbed Boston mob boss. He suppos- Steinberg was in charge not only of also an inmate, who is also in for drugs. edly refined his tactics and brutal crimes the library but also of writing classes Steinberg gets her interested in reading, by a careful study of military history at Southie. He started a creative writing and she is drawn to Sylvia Plath, which while he served time. The FBI’s wanted class with some creative reading; his turns out to be an ominous choice. poster for Bulger said that he was “an first assignments were “poems by Philip Steinberg is truthful enough to recog- avid reader with an interest in history. Larkin, Amin [sic] Baraka, and a passage nize that most inmates are unfazed and He is known to frequent libraries.” from Beloved by Toni Morrison.” He untouched by his efforts. He even won- Inmates were allowed to check assigned one student a story by Kafka ders if his efforts mattered at all, though out no more than three books from called “The Animal in the Synagogue”— he would like to think that they did. Steinberg’s library, although the check- certainly not the usual book club reading. As with most prison books, this one’s out system was of limited value because As homework, which one inmate said descriptions of the closed culture, with the library rarely imposed fines for late should be called “cellwork,” he assigned its own language, customs, and rituals, or unreturned books. Also, despite hav- a short story by Flannery O’Connor. One surprise and intrigue. A unique aspect ing a clientele that “included the largest student demanded to see a picture of of this book is its discussion of “kites.” concentration of thieves of any library in her first to determine if she could “read” The word “kites” is used here not to the world,” the library lacked an alarm her face. Steinberg flipped to a portrait mean write-ups by the guards, as it does system. Steinberg did not collect fines he found in the back of a book. The in other institutions, but to refer to mes- because “it was simply too common for prisoner examined the photo and agreed sages left by one inmate for another in checked-out books to disappear—either that O’Connor was worth reading. What a book. Of course, kites are disallowed, removed by a vindictive or indifferent made her decide that, asked Steinberg. and catching them is a cat-and-mouse officer or stolen by a friendly inmate. “I dunno,” she said. “She looks kind of game or maybe an example of a reader Fining for lost books would discourage busted up, y’know? She ain’t too pretty. literally catching the meaning of a writ- even honest people from borrowing I trust her.” er as it falls out of a book. Steinberg is them.” But books did tend to turn up Steinberg instructs his class to write forced to try to intercept kites, as well eventually. Where could they go? what they know, to be interesting, and as e-kites left on computer desktops, Library “rules” were a mix of the usu- to be real. Steinberg followed his own and feels bad doing so, because “[o]ne al—respect and quiet—and the unusu- instructions in writing this book. He never knows what’s behind a silly al—no weapons allowed (or perhaps nicely sketches the inmates, guards, letter, what the context is.” Steinberg this one is not so unusual after Heller). and his fellow employees, including a regarded the kites as “some of the best Steinberg gets “volunteer” help from befuddled friend and cynical psycholo- reading on the library shelves. Some inmates, which is not surprising because gist. The prison guards can be bored, were masterpieces of the genre, con- working in the library is considered an marking their days to retirement as tenders for the Great American Kite.” elite and cushy job. “Pimps make the obsessively as the inmates mark the One was written in the voice of God, best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst. days of their sentences; or the guards though the lesson to be taken from this Ditto con men. Gangsters, gunrunners, can be dictatorial, lording over their kite was that, if one presumes to write bank robbers—adept at crowd control, charges because they can. The guards’ in the voice of God, it helps to use cor- at collaborating with a small staff, at meanness comes from their pettiness, rect spelling (and not write “for I shall planning with deliberation and execut- as they suddenly change the rules or reek vengince”). Another kite displayed ing with contained fury—all possess the enforce those that have been ignored. bilingual personalities, “sweet and con- librarian’s basic skill set. Scalpers and Steinberg clashes with one guard who ciliatory” in Spanish and a “raging luna- loan sharks certainly have a role to play. had taken on the role of a Nurse tic” in English. There was even one kite, But even they lack that something, the je Ratched. The weapons in their duel are ne sais quoi, the elusive it. What would bureaucratic incident reports. reviews continued on page 73
October 2011 | The Federal Lawyer | 71 Charles T. Williams Jr. Vanessa Carlo Dominick Gattuso Aaron M. McClain Brian M. Schwartz Geri O. Williams Michael S. Carlson Kevin W. Geer Aaron G. McCollough Robert I. Schwimmer Jack M. Williams Peter F. Carr Mary Gillmarten Roy B. McCoy Jr. Devera B. Scott Allen S. Willingham Renee L. Caubisens Jeffrey D. Gram Dina M. McKenna Catherine A. Seagle Mary I. Wilson Michael Chase Vincent L. Greene Jeffrey D. McMahan David P. Shouvlin David D. Winters Kevin C. Collins Lisa C. Guffey Greg Metcalfe Douglas A. Steinberg Charles W. Wirken Jason W. Connell Kathryn C. Haertel Jeffrey S. Michaelson George J. Stengel Robert M. Wolff Eric Contre Constance S. Harvey Donald A. Migliori Sarah M. Stephens Brian A. Wood Santosh V. Coutinho Mac D. Heavener Marijana Mileiko Shawn Stuckey David R. Woodcock Jr. Nathan A. Crane Edgar Hernandez-Sanchez Emily H. Montgomery Barry Sufrin Miriam L. Wu Elliott C. Crawford R. Jeremy Hill Jane W Moscowitz Lenore Suzyn Scott T. Wyland Nicholas Cunningham Guy M. Hohmann Aaron Murphy Stephen H. Swart Anthony P. Zana Samir B. Dahman E. David Hoskins Joseph L. Murphy Cynthia M. Talton Milton Y. Zussman Leah J. Donaldson J. R. Howell Kirk Myers Cara M. Tangaro Melissa N. Donimirski Eileen M. Hunter Charlotte F. Newsom Rebecca S. Tavitas New Members—May Michael D. Dortch John H. Iglehart Tyler K. Olson Nicole Thomas Stephanie Ames David P. Draigh Randall L. Jackson Amelia M. O’Neil Brent W. Thompson Lindsay M. Andrews Gerald F. Dusing Laura Jennings Morgan T. Osterloh Samuel T. Towell Rudolph F. Aragon Trent A. Echard Christa J. Jewsbury Ramon A. Pagan Dylan M. Tuggle Alexandra Arneri Marsha Edelman Malika Kanodia Ajeet Pai Barry S. Turner Atmore Baggot Robert Edwards Zahra S. Karinshak David Samuel Panzer Dylan C. Utley William Bailey Donna Eng Waheed U. Khan William Pauls Leigh Vandiver Lisa S. Barkley R. Matthew Feller Steven H. Koval Joseph J.W. Phelps Karla M. Villanueva Dawn M. Barrios Wilfredo Fernandez Jessica Kronstadt David Pierce Elizabeth E. Waldow Anne B. Beaumont Patrick S. Field John J. Kulewicz Matthew Poliner Charissa Walker Samuel Berman Lindsey S. Fields Kristina V. Legan Rixon C. Rafter Christina J. Weis Allison C. Binney Santino Finizio Lisa Leontiev David E. Ralph Thaddeus W. Wendt William Bly Lisa Finn Amanda G. Lewis Susan Ramos Sylvia L. Wenger Gabriel I. Bombara Michael D. Finn Craig R. Lewis Thomas J. Rode David B. Wiles Daniel W. Bower Emily Fisher Janet D. Lewis Michael G. Rousseau Amanda J. Winston Matthew W. Boyd J. Craig Fong William B. Long Jr. Randall P. Ryder Mona S. Womack Valerie J.M. Brader Ronald A. Fonseca Aaron Lykling Michael T Sansbury Jason T. Wright Kevin F. Brady Seth T. Ford John A. Mackechnie Michele W. Sartori Alexander M. Wu Benjamin H. Brodsky J. Shawn Foster David O. Markus Tyler B. Sarver Rachel M. Yazbeck Deborah Ann Broken Rope Michael Fraggetta Talbot M. Martin Daniel A. Saunders Betsy Zedek Carol J. Brown Brian T. Frees Vanessa C. Maync Paul J. Schilling Tara Lynn R. Zurawski Annie W. Campbell Brianna Fuller Christopher Mays Gregory S. Schneider Eric D. Capron Elloree A. Ganes Louise M. Mazur Myles A. Schneider reviews continued from page 71 which dropped out of an economics first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, which would be fiction. The meeting proves textbook, that Steinberg hailed as possi- is called “The Prison Door,” in which awkward; there is no “thank you” from bly “the voice America has been waiting Hawthorne “describes, or imagines, how the inmate, just grumbling about what for: the diesel-fueled lesbian hybrid of this very same institution, the Boston wasn’t provided, and Steinberg is wary Saul Bellow’s Augie March and Snoop prison, appeared in its earliest incarna- of the man. At the book’s end, Steinberg Dogg’s Doggystyle.” Steinberg finds that tion, the very first prison in the New would like to think that he made a dif- kites teach him “a great deal about the World.”) Yet, Steinberg is less interesting ference, and so would we. He certainly language and culture” of his workplace. when he stops observing and talks about got through to a few, but to what effect, A word about the book itself. First, himself: his fall from grace (or at least and for what purpose, one wonders. kudos to the cover designer for the por- orthodox Judaism), his family, and his After two years, Steinberg leaves the trait created from stamped due dates. search for meaning. Sorry, but in light of prison. I am glad that he served his time, However, the book itself sorely misses the people portrayed in the book who and I hope that he writes other engaging an index. Although the book unfolds are doing time and who are all too often books. But I also hope that he does not roughly chronologically, it has enough from impoverished and wretched back- forget about the inmates, and I do not jumping around, flashbacks, and digres- grounds, Steinberg’s mini-Bildungsroman mean just sending the library compli- sions—to say nothing of the books that is a bit too self-indulgent. mentary copies of Running the Books. it mentions—that would have made an I don’t mean to be too hard on America incarcerates more of its citizens index helpful. Steinberg. Running the Books is engag- than any other nation. Currently one in Let’s talk about Steinberg. He is engag- ing and entertaining. Steinberg’s interac- 100 adults is serving time. Prisons are ing and annoying; empathetic and a bit tions with inmates, even the most mun- overcrowded and dangerous, and their conceited. He is capable of keen insights, dane exchanges, always have a tinge of budgets are being slashed. Sentences as when he discusses Puritan concepts danger or farce. The library is no para- stretch. What do prisoners do with their of punishment, and the changing peno- dise; things can go wrong fast. Steinberg time? What do they read, and what do logical philosophies in America, with finds that he can never do enough. One we teach them? TFL an emphasis on New England. He dis- day, in a park, he recognizes a former plays his education throughout the book, inmate who had frequented the library. Jon M. Sands is the federal public defend- sometimes showing off, and he wears his It would be nice to report that the meet- er for the District of Arizona. liberal leanings on his sleeve, every bit ing revealed the power of the written as prominently as Hester Prynne wore word, or that the library proved a means her scarlet letter. (He quotes from the of the inmate’s betterment. But that
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