Usual Cruelty
The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System
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Narrated by:
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George Newbern
About this listen
Alec Karakatsanis is interested in what we choose to punish. For example, it is a crime in most of America for poor people to wager in the streets over dice; dice-wagerers can be seized, searched, have their assets forfeited, and be locked in cages. It's perfectly fine, by contrast, for people to wager over international currencies, mortgages, or the global supply of wheat.
He is also troubled by how the legal system works when it is trying to punish people. The bail system, for example, is meant to ensure that people return for court dates. But it has morphed into a way to lock up poor people who have not been convicted of anything. He's so concerned about this that he has personally sued court systems across the country, resulting in literally tens of thousands of people being released from jail when their money bail was found to be unconstitutional.
Karakatsanis doesn't think people who have gone to law school, passed the bar, and sworn to uphold the Constitution should be complicit in the mass caging of human beings - an everyday brutality inflicted disproportionately on the bodies and minds of poor people and people of color. Usual Cruelty is a profoundly radical reconsideration of the American "injustice system" by someone who is actively, wildly successfully, challenging it.
©2019 Alec Karakatsanis (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Kim Wehle
- Narrated by: Kim Wehle
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Constitution is the most significant document in America. But do you fully understand what this valuable document means to you? In How to Read the Constitution - and Why, legal expert and educator Kimberly Wehle spells out in clear, simple, and common-sense terms what is in the Constitution and most importantly, what it means. In compelling terms and including text from the United States Constitution, she describes how the Constitution’s protections are eroding.
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very biased
- By Anonymous User on 01-25-20
By: Kim Wehle
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The Supremes' Greatest Hits, 2nd Revised & Updated Edition
- The 44 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life
- By: Michael G. Trachtman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Supreme Court's rulings have shaped American life and justice and allowed Americans to retain basic freedoms such as privacy, free speech, and the right to a fair trial. This revised and updated edition of Michael G. Trachtman's riveting work includes 10 important cases from 2010 to 2015.
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Nice review overall.
- By "freeindeed4ever" on 02-10-20
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Unwarranted
- Policing Without Permission
- By: Barry Friedman
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In June 2013, documents leaked by Edward Snowden sparked widespread debate about secret government surveillance of Americans. Just over a year later, the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, set off protests and triggered concern about militarization and discriminatory policing. In Unwarranted, Barry Friedman argues that these two seemingly disparate events are connected - and that the problem is not so much the policing agencies as it is the rest of us.
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Insightful book
- By laserpro on 03-02-17
By: Barry Friedman
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Allow Me to Retort
- A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution
- By: Elie Mystal
- Narrated by: Elie Mystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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This is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them. Mystal explains how to protect the rights of women and people of color instead of cowering to the absolutism of gun owners and bigots. He explains the legal way to stop everything from police brutality to political gerrymandering, just by changing a few judges and justices. He strips out all of the fancy jargon conservatives like to hide behind and lays bare the truth of their project to keep America forever tethered to its slaveholding past.
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Informative and Entertaining
- By Kindle Customer on 03-06-22
By: Elie Mystal
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Let the Lord Sort Them
- The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty
- By: Maurice Chammah
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1972, the United States Supreme Court made a surprising ruling: The country’s death penalty system violated the Constitution. The backlash was swift, especially in Texas, where executions were considered part of the cultural fabric, and a dark history of lynching was masked by gauzy visions of a tough-on-crime frontier. When executions resumed, Texas quickly became the nationwide leader in carrying out the punishment.
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Very Slanted
- By appreciative reader on 02-07-21
By: Maurice Chammah
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Locking Up Our Own
- Crime and Punishment in Black America
- By: James Forman Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics - and their impact on people of color - are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime.
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Outstanding Book
- By Andrew on 12-13-17
By: James Forman Jr.
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Wages of Rebellion
- By: Chris Hedges
- Narrated by: David deVries
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Revolutions come in waves and cycles. We are again riding the crest of a revolutionary epic, much like 1848 or 1917, from the Arab Spring to movements against austerity in Greece to the Occupy movement. In Wages of Rebellion, Chris Hedges - who has chronicled the malaise and sickness of a society in terminal moral decline in his books Empire of Illusion and Death of the Liberal Class - investigates what social and psychological factors cause revolution, rebellion, and resistance.
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Excellent, important book
- By Eric L, Montreal on 09-06-15
By: Chris Hedges
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We the People
- A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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From gun control to reproductive health, a conservative Supreme Court will reshape the lives of all Americans for decades to come. The time to develop and defend a progressive vision of the US Constitution that protects the rights of all people is now.
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Hypocritical evaluation of the constitution
- By surya on 03-23-19
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White Rage
- The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
- By: Carol Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Gibson
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'Black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'
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Good History, Was Hoping For More Insight
- By Mike on 09-08-16
By: Carol Anderson
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The Law of Superheroes
- By: James Daily J.D., Ryan Davidson J.D.
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Could Superman sue if someone exposed his identity as Clark Kent? Is a life sentence for an immortal like Apocalypse "cruel and unusual punishment"? Is X-ray vision a violation of search and seizure laws? Is the Joker legally insane? And who foots the bill when a hero destroys a skyscraper or two while defending Metropolis? Fear not, gentle listener! The answers to these questions and a multitude more are contained inside this audiobook.
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Legal Pedantry Has Never Been This Much Fun
- By Troy on 07-31-14
By: James Daily J.D., and others
What listeners say about Usual Cruelty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Rachel
- 01-02-21
a MUST READ FOR EVERY AMERICAN!!
I loved it and hated it. I am ashamed to admit I live in this sort of society. I wish there was something more I could do.
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- normal person
- 09-26-21
Thought provoking waterfall of insights
I usually avoid books that are just a collection of short stories or essays but this one stands alone as a solid entry. I found myself shaking my head over and over throughout this book at the flagrant miscarriages of justice highlighted herein.
Narration was also very good.
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- Brennen Peterson
- 02-05-22
Fail
Our legal system is just completely made up and arbitrary. It’s so fucked up on so many levels.
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- Sean B.
- 12-11-23
Deception at its finest.
I have so many thoughts right now. This was a great book, solely for the ability to peel back the deception and eye opening within the “justice system.” Thank you.
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- Molly
- 09-17-20
Excellent narrator, life-changing material.
Alec Karakatsanis is one of startlingly few law professionals willing to question what exactly we mean by “justice” in the United States. If you have suffered as a result of the prison industrial complex you will find validation for familiar problems. If you haven’t, it’s a wake-up call.
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- What can I say?
- 09-27-21
A very insightful must read.
The title says it all really, This is one book I will almost certainly have to read again and will reccomend.
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- paula
- 11-23-22
highly recommend
I highly recommend listening to this audio book! it was hard to process at times because the difficult subjects but great listen.
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- Dasch
- 02-14-24
MANDATORY FOR THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT JUSTICE
In Truth,
This is the greatest expose' of the Criminal Justice System I've ever heard in an audiobook.
The subject matter alone, makes it worth a 5 star rating.
The performance is succinct and concise.
The story is captivating,
The veil that has obfuscated a travesty hidden in plain sight,
is lifted eloquently by the author and conveyed masterfully by the narrator.
I don't normally leave reviews, but,
I could not in good conscience ignore the service of Alec Karakatsanis for providing this much needed incite.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-19-21
Disappointing
Criminal justice systems fail people all around the world and there is no doubt that a lot of rethinking must be done. The book however, focuses mainly on criticizing failed approaches and provides anecdotal evidence without contributing much to the larger debate.
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- CuteMoose
- 01-11-21
No Solutions
Identifies problems with the current system and makes an emotional plea for these things to change but doesn't offer any practical solutions or ways that the general public can help.
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