Douglas O. Linder

This is an excellent lecture series that covers 24 trials from Socrates to O.J. Simpson. Many are well-known, such as the trial of the Lincoln Assassination conspirators, the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Nuremberg Trials, and so on. Others will be new to even those of us who think we know a bit about American and world history. Douglas Linder is not the smoothest of lecturers, stumbling over a word now and then and sometimes misreading his teleprompter, but he is still engaging and likable. And most importantly, he has done a great job selecting these cases and managing to summarize them intelligently and usefully in about 30 minutes each. This is certainly not a course that holds up our system of justice--or any system of justice--as a model. Too often, we see the immense harm false witnesses can bring, from the Salem Witch Trials to the McMartin Pre-school trials. Too often, we see justice not done at all, as with the Scottsboro Boys, or done only partially, as in the Mississippi Burning trial. While some of the worst injustices take place in the American South, no area of the country or any place overseas comes off too well. Occasionally, heroes show up, such as Judge Horton in the Scottsboro Boys case--but usually they do so in vain. Linder succeeds in showing why the verdicts in each trial, whether fair or not, were certainly predictable based on their place and circumstances. We can understand why a majority of the jury voted to condemn Socrates or why O.J. Simpson was acquitted. And we can hope that we don't find ourselves ever under suspicion by corrupt or simply inept prosecutors determined to get a conviction at any price--unless, of course, we can come up with our own version of Clarence Darrow or Johnny Cochran to defend us.

Highly highly recommended.… (mehr)