Civil Law

Nonie Darwish lived for thirty years in a majority Muslim nation. Everything about her life?family, sexuality, hygiene, business, banking, contracts, economics, politics, social issues, everything?was dictated by the Islamic law code known as Sharia. But Sharia isn't staying in majority Muslim...

“A passionate, incisive critique of the many ways in which women and girls of color are systematically erased or marginalized in discussions of police violence.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow Invisible No More is a timely examination of how Black women, Indigenous women...

Top political strategist Maya Rupert reveals how, for people of color, being real comes at a cost and authenticity is a privilege the marginalized cannot afford—that is, unless we change the system that keeps sending us the bill. . . One of Maya Rupert’s earliest memories was learning how to...

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice For decades, affirmative action reshaped not just American higher education but the broader society, opening doors that had been closed for centuries and transforming who entered the pathways to power. But the Supreme Court in 2023 killed...

The renowned legal experts behind Say the Right Thing return with this clarion call for reimagining the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in a divided nation. Equality in America is under siege. Corporations and universities are abandoning the DEI programs they previously championed...

Brought to you by Penguin. Our laws and justice system are vast and ancient: they might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. And they cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us they are a...

A hard-hitting exposé of how methadone clinics fail people in recovery—and an urgent, unapologetic case for their abolition Methadone is a life-saving medication. But the current system for obtaining it—the opioid treatment program, commonly known as the methadone clinic—is punitive...

A physician’s bold critique of medical rape culture—and her call for a new model of care that centers consent and empowers patients Medical culture has a problem with consent—and it’s not just a few bad doctors. That’s the conclusion of Dr. Zed Zha in Consented, a groundbreaking look...

“Chilling and convincing, Antidemocratic is a must-read.” —Heather Cox Richardson, author of Democracy Awakening “David Daley has been at the absolute forefront of educating us about the theft of our elections by radical Republicans determined to subvert everyone else’s power to choose...

In the first of the three volumes of his projected comprehensive narrative history of the role of law in America from the colonial years through the twentieth century, G. Edward White takes up the central themes of American legal history from the earliest European settlements through the Civil War.

From the award-winning author of Birth, a journey into the underground activist networks that have been working to protect women’s autonomy over their bodies amidst legal, political, religious, and cultural oppression over the past sixty years. In this definitive, eye-opening history...

In 1950, we, the people of India, gave ourselves a constitution that promised justice, liberty and equality to all its citizens. Decades later, as a nation, we still struggle with inequality in various forms—religion, sex, caste, gender. As we forge ahead, it is imperative to ask, ‘who is...

This concise but comprehensive book lays out specific answers to myriad topical questions about free speech law, and also general explanations of how and why the law distinguishes between protected and punishable speech. The book focuses on modern First Amendment law, explaining the historic factors that propelled its evolution in a more speech-protective direction—in particular, the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights the many cases, involving multiple issues, in which robust speech-protective principles aided advocates of racial justice and other human rights causes.

An urgent examination of the invisibility of Black women and girls as victims of targeted killings, and the lack of police intervention and media coverage When Black women and girls are targeted and murdered their cases are often categorized by police officers as “N.H.I.” – “No Humans...

India has taken so sharp a turn in recent years that the very centre has shifted considerably. What led to this swing? Is it possible to trace the path to this point? Is there a way back to the just, secular, inclusive vision of our Constitution-makers?This country has long been an outlier in...

There are more slaves in the world today than any other time in history.Enter the world of human trafficking and explore what we can do together to end this global crime. Where Were You?: A Profile of Modern Slavery by Matthew Friedman provides an up-to-date overview of human trafficking, a...

Habitual drug use in the United States is at least as old as the nation itself. Habit Forming traces the history of unregulated drug use and dependency before 1914, when the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act limited sales of opiates and cocaine under US law. Many Americans used opiates and other drugs medically and became addicted. Some tried Hasheesh Candy, injected morphine, or visited opium dens, but neither use nor addiction was linked to crime, due to the dearth of restrictive laws. After the Civil War, American presses published extensively about domestic addiction.

Read about the electrifying and continuing fight for voting rights—and discover your place in it—in this dramatic exploration of American democracy, from renowned thought leader Michael Eric Dyson and widely celebrated author Marc Favreau. One of the most important and least understood true...

Widely known as the "poor man's lawyer" in antebellum Boston, John Albion Andrew (1818-1867) was involved in nearly every cause and case that advanced social and racial justice in Boston in the years preceding the Civil War. Inspired by the legacies of John Quincy Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and mentored by Charles Sumner, Andrew devoted himself to the battle for equality. In this revealing and accessible biography, Stephen D. Engle traces Andrew's life and legacy, giving this important, but largely forgotten, figure his due.

The first authorized biography of Soli Sorabjee ‘A gripping life story of a Goliath who strode the Indian legal canvass for nearly seventy years.’ – Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India ‘Superbly researched, this book by Abhinav Chandrachud is a must read. ‘ – Madhavi...