judicial corruption

"As an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct, Lacy Stoltz sees plenty of corruption among the men and women elected to the bench. In The whistler, she took on a crime syndicate that was paying millions to a crooked judge. Now, in The judge's list, the crimes are even worse. The man hiding behind the black robe is not taking bribes--but he may be taking lives"--Provided by publisher.

In 1785, Louis XVI presented Benjamin Franklin with a snuff box encrusted with diamonds and inset with the King's portrait. Americans believed it threatened to "corrupt" Franklin by altering his attitude toward the French in subtle psychological ways. In 2010, one of the most consequential Court decisions in American political history gave wealthy corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence elections. With unlimited spending transforming American politics for the worse, warns Teachout, if the American experiment in self-government is to have a future, then we must revive the traditional meaning of corruption and embrace an old ideal.

Forty-two-year-old former Florida state investigator Mick Stranahan, having just speared an intruder with a stuffed marlin head, realizes that someone wants him dead, but it is going to take a lot of work to sort through the long list of suspects.

Traces the rise and fall of billionaire lawyer Dickie Scruggs, documenting how he made his fortune through class-action lawsuits directed at the tobacco and asbestos industries before his conviction for conspiring to bribe a Mississippi state judge.