James Silver

Jim Silver

Ronald Schouten

Do I (or Does Someone I Know) Have a Problem with Manipulation and Lack of Empathy?

Almost a Psychopath

Historically, prime-time television has devoted at least one-third of its programming to crime. The extreme popularity of crime shows continues unabated. From Law & Order to CSI, Americans are riveted by crime TV. Court TV and other cable channels produce true crime series, too, that take viewers through both current crimes and trials and cold cases. Yet, despite efforts in these shows to depict real investigative and legal techniques, chances are, viewers have questions about criminal procedure, legal issues, and related concerns. For instance, why do police get angry when a suspect just asks for a lawyer? Or, what's the difference between being an accomplice to a crime and being a conspirator? The Crime Junkie's Guide to Criminal Law is written specifically for the millions of crime junkies who make up the audiences for the variety of crime dramas, both real and fictional, that blaze across our screens night after night. The news media know that crime is inherently interesting because it involves things we all understand — like passion, greed, revenge and the urge to make very close friends in prison. Television broadcasts and major magazines drip with salacious details about the infamous evildoings of the moment. From the sports to the style sections, newspaper headlines scream out reports of the latest celebrity picked up for one transgression or another. This one-of-a-kind book is an indispensable guide to criminal law that uses actual trials alongside plots and characters from popular television shows to illustrate criminal law issues like degrees of murder, the defense of intoxication, search warrants, insanity pleas, and the purposes of various pretrial hearings. Silver offers a concise, informative, and entertaining explanation of everything readers need to know to truly appreciate crime stories (real and fictional) and understand how criminal law really works.

From Law & Order to Laci Peterson

The Crime Junkie's Guide to Criminal Law

Elizabeth Comack

Lawrence Deane

Larry Morrissette

With the advent of Aboriginal street gangs such as Indian Posse, Manitoba Warriors, and Native Syndicate, Winnipeg garnered a reputation as the “gang capital of Canada.” Yet beyond the stereotypes of outsiders, little is known about these street gangs and the factors and conditions that have produced them. “Indians Wear Red” locates Aboriginal street gangs in the context of the racialized poverty that has become entrenched in the colonized space of Winnipeg’s North End. Drawing upon extensive interviews with Aboriginal street gang members as well as with Aboriginal women and elders, the authors develop an understanding from “inside” the inner city and through the voices of Aboriginal people – especially street gang members themselves. While economic restructuring and neo-liberal state responses can account for the global proliferation of street gangs, the authors argue that colonialism is a crucial factor in the Canadian context, particularly in western Canadian urban centres. Young Aboriginal people have resisted their social and economic exclusion by acting collectively as “Indians.” But just as colonialism is destructive, so too are street gang activities, including the illegal trade in drugs. Solutions lie not in “quick fixes” or “getting tough on crime” but in decolonization: re-connecting Aboriginal people with their cultures and building communities in which they can safely live and work.

Colonialism, Resistance, and Aboriginal Street Gangs

Indians Wear Red

Offers an entertaining introduction to the intricacies of criminal law through examples from both real life and popular prime-time crime television.

From Law and Order to Laci Peterson

Jim Silver

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