The Casey Anthony trial of 2011 is estimated to have drawn the television and reading attention of no less than a quarter of a billion people from around the world. In Justice in America, Anthony defense attorney J. Cheney Mason, who was brought in to save the case, asserts that the jury got it right, and that America, the media, and the public blinded by the nightly lights, got it all wrong. His is the final chapter on the Anthony trial which ignited, mesmerized, and inflamed the public in a way not seen since the O.J. Simpson trial. It became the trial of this century and a piece of legal work destined to be studied for decades to come. Attorney Mason answers the remaining questions left by previous authors with a play-by-play account of what was happening behind the scenes with Casey. He shares never before revealed media bias, and enough case secrets to make readers re-examine their conscience and the quick path to judgment and personal conviction of Anthony. A must-read for anyone who followed the trial; for anyone interested in justice and absolutely required reading for anyone pursuing law or criminal justice as a life passion.
George Mason was a short, bookish man who was a friend and neighbor of athletic, broad-shouldered George Washington. Unlike Washington, Mason has been virtually forgotton by history. But this new biography of forgotten patriot George Mason makes a convincing case that Mason belongs in the pantheon of honored Founding Fathers. Trained in the law, Mason was also a farmer, philosopher, botanist, and musician. He was one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence, an author of the Bill of Rights, and one of the strongest proponents of religious liberty in American history. In fact, both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison may have been given undue credit for George Mason's own contributions to American democracy.
The psychology behind political partisanship: “The kind of research that will change not just how you think about the world but how you think about yourself.” —Ezra Klein, Vox Political polarization in America has moved beyond disagreements about matters of policy. For the first time in decades, research has shown that members of both parties hold strongly unfavorable views of their opponents. This is polarization rooted in social identity, and it is growing. The campaign and election of Donald Trump laid bare this fact of the American electorate, its successful rhetoric of “us versus them” tapping into a powerful current of anger and resentment. With Uncivil Agreement, Lilliana Mason looks at the growing social gulf across racial, religious, and cultural lines, which have recently come to divide neatly between the two major political parties. She argues that group identifications have changed the way we think and feel about ourselves and our opponents. Even when Democrats and Republicans can agree on policy outcomes, they tend to view one other with distrust and to work for party victory over all else. Although the polarizing effects of social divisions have simplified our electoral choices and increased political engagement, they have not been a force that is, on balance, helpful for American democracy. Bringing together theory from political science and social psychology, Uncivil Agreement clearly describes this increasingly “social” type of polarization, and adds much to our understanding of contemporary politics.
This book examines the Australian High Court's enormously controversial and politically explosive transformation during the 1990s. Led by Chief Justice Anthony Mason, the Court embarked on a concerted effort to recast its role within Australia's legal and political systems. The Court moved to the storm center of Australian politics as it became a catalyst for reforms that appeared unobtainable through parliamentary means, including rights for Australia's indigenous population and free speech protections. Securing unprecedented access to Australia's High Court and senior appellate judges, Pierce describes how the transformation unfolded, identifies the conditions that encouraged it, and explores how the Mason Court reforms have attenuated in recent years in the face of a hostile conservative government and in the absence of formal support structures, such as a bill of rights. The book situates the High Court's transformation in the wider context of similar changes that occurred in other common law judicial systems during recent decades, including the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. "Inside the Mason Court Revolution is the 'go to' book for a solid, accessible analysis of recent jurisprudential changes on Australia's High Court, an informative explanation of why these changes occurred, and thoughtful commentary on how permanent they may be." -- Law & Politics Book Review "Pierce intelligently analyses the reasons for the Court's activism during this period, such as the passage of the Australia Act 1986 and Australia's growing legal independence, the introduction of compulsory retirement for High Court judges, and the requirement for leave to appeal in virtually all cases. This excellent work cogently analyses the criticisms made of the Court during this period that it was too 'activist' and political' for an unelected body." -- Law Institute Journal "The book is based on more than eighty in-depth interviews with the senior judiciary in Australia in the late 1990s... Pierce quotes at length from the interviews, and it is extremely valuable to hear these judges in their own words... the quotes are enormous fun, and can be very thought provoking." -- Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal "Herein lies the book's great importance, Pierce so convincingly argues--utilising the remarks of the very echelon of the Australian profession as support--that how courts function is dependent upon a complex interplay of legal, individual, institutional and political variables that neither camp--lawyer or political scientist--can remain happily in their comfort zone." -- Federal Law Review "Against what sorts of political standards do we assess claims of the use and abuse of judicial powers? The relevance of Pierce's fascinating book is that it provides a fresh answer to this quite fundamental question... Pierce deserves many non-Australian readers." -- The American Review of Politics "Pierce has thoroughly researched his subject and, for that reason, this book is a worthwhile addition to any library." -- Precedent Magazine "[T]he judicial comments recorded in this book are in many cases both thoughtful and thought-provoking. They provide great insight into the judicial role and method from those who practise it. Both the divergences and similarities in views are instructive and this material could well prove useful for future studies on the judiciary." -- Melbourne University Law Review
George Mason (1725-92) is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today, but in his service to America he was, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "of the first order of greatness." Jeff Broadwater provides a comprehensive account of Mason's life at the center of the momentous events of eighteenth-century America. Mason played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis, the American Revolution, and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a document often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights. As a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Mason influenced the emerging Constitution on point after point. Yet when he was rebuffed in his efforts to add a bill of rights and concluded the document did too little to protect the interests of the South, he refused to sign the final draft. Broadwater argues that Mason's recalcitrance was not the act of an isolated dissenter; rather, it emerged from the ideology of the American Revolution. Mason's concerns about the abuse of political power, Broadwater shows, went to the essence of the American experience.
Centennial edition. Popularly known as the Constitution Annotated or "CONAN", encompasses the U.S. Constitution and analysis and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution with in-text annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The analysis is provided by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in the Library of Congress. This is the 100th anniversary edition of a publication first released in 1913 at the direction of the U.S. Senate. Since then, it has been published as a bound edition every 10 years, with updates issued every two years that address new constitutional law cases . Audience: Federal lawmakers, libraries, law firms, constitutional scholars.
