American Legal

Law has played a central role in American history. From colonial times to the present, law has not just reflected the changing society in which legal decisions have been made - it has played a powerful role in shaping that society, though not always in positive ways. Eminent legal scholar G. Edward White offers a compact overview that sheds light on the impact of law on a number of key social issues.

A withering and witty examination of how the American legal system, burdened by complexity and untrammeled growth, fails Americans and threatens the rule of law itself, by the acclaimed author of A Generation of Sociopaths. Our trial courts conduct hardly any trials, our correctional systems do...

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of...

Hunting Jack Reacher is a dangerous business, as FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are about to find out. Otto and Gaspar are by-the-book hunters who know when to break the rules; Reacher is a wanted man, and a stone cold killer when things get personal. But is he friend or enemy? Armed with disinformation, they intend to find out. Only the secrets hidden in Margrave, Georgia, will tell them.

“A haunting true crime tale of systemic incompetence and racism” (New York Times) – and its devastating effect on innocent lives After two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, law enforcement pursued and convicted two innocent men: Kennedy Brewer and Levon...

A lawyer who was set up, imprisoned, and disbarred, only to be vindicated and reinstated, is determined to find out who set her up and cover their tracks with a trail of dead bodies. This program is read by Thérèse Plummer, winner of multiple Audie and Earphone awards. Defense Attorney Karen...

The year is 1906, and America is segregated. Hatred and discrimination plague the streets, the classroom, and the courts. But in WashingtonD.C., Ben Corbett, a smart and courageous lawyer, makes it his mission to confront injustice at every turn. He represents those who nobody else dares defend...

In the second thrilling novel in New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline’s Rosato & Associates series, a successful lawyer now finds herself on the opposite side of the bench when she’s framed for murder. Benedetta “Bennie” Rosato is a maverick lawyer who prosecutes police...

The New York Times bestseller: a revelatory inside story of the trial and final days of New England Patriots superstar Aaron Hernandez, by his attorney and New York Times bestselling author Jose Baez. When renowned defense attorney Jose Baez received a request for representation from Aaron...

Someone stands to gain millions of dollars from a hunter's accidental death . . . unless that death wasn't an accident. In this fast-paced legal drama, a small-town lawyer and a cerebral pastor make an unlikely team as they uncover the truth behind one man's death. Matt and Elena Thompson...

Dr. Michael Baden has been involved in some of the most high-profile civil rights and police brutality cases in United States history, from the government's 1976 re-investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the 2014 death of Michael Brown, whose case sparked the initial Ferguson protests that grew into the Black Lives Matter movement. The playbook hasn't changed since 1979, when Dr. Baden was demoted from his job as New York City's Chief Medical Examiner after ruling that the death of a Black man in police custody was a homicide.

Teresa Giudice, star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, has seen it all but nothing could compare to the media firestorm that ensued after she was convicted on federal fraud charges—and sentenced to fifteen months in prison. What was a skinny Italian to do? Keep a diary, of course... In her...

Beginning innocently enough in his 20s, Neal Pollack discovers that pot makes everything - food, music, sex - better. Getting married, having a kid, and enjoying professional success didn't tamp down Pollack's addiction. As cannabis grew stronger and more widely available, Pollack's dependence was shadowed by the expansion and acceptance of the marijuana Big Business. Sober after joining a 12-step program, Neal outed himself publicly as a marijuana addict in a 2018 New York Times op-ed piece.

"With lots of twists and turns to engage the listener and an entertaining narrator, this is a light and entertaining mystery." -- Sound Commentary The “master of heart-pounding suspense”—New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin—returns with a new legal thriller starring Robin Lockwood...

A small-town lawyer has been searching for his daughter for eighteen years. Now a local girl has gone missing, and he's determined to find them both--no matter the cost. Master storyteller Robert Whitlow will keep you guessing in this gripping legal drama while also reminding you of the power of...

Teen pop star Brittany Crutcher is found dead in small-town Tennessee. For attorney Bocephus Haynes, it’s just another night in Pulaski. Bo swore off criminal work after his last case, but the beloved singer’s murder demands answers. The prime suspect is local high school football hero and the victim’s boyfriend, Odell Champagne. However, this fallen athlete is one of Bo’s son’s best friends. Bo knows this young man and does not believe him capable of the crime. When Odell is charged with murder, Bo reluctantly takes the case, sparking outrage throughout the town.

Small-town lawyer Bocephus Haynes comes home late one night to find District Attorney General Helen Lewis waiting for him. Her ex-husband has just been killed. She’s about to be arrested for his murder. And she wants Bo to represent her. There’s a lot working against them. Just before his death, Helen’s ex-husband threatened to reveal a dark secret from her past. Bo has been in a tailspin since his wife’s death.

A moving, politically-charged memoir of surviving trauma and embracing the power of activism from MSNBC legal analyst and former New York City Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley—"a book that offers hope and inspiration in a moment of division and political unrest in America" (Zerlina Maxwell, author...

On a moonless night in the summer of 1793 a crime was committed in the back room of a New York brothel—the kind of crime that even victims usually kept secret. Instead, seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer did what virtually no one in US history had done before: she charged a gentleman with rape. Her accusation sparked a raw courtroom drama and a relentless struggle for vindication that threatened both Lanah’s and her assailant’s lives.