The Criminal Justice Club: A Career Prosecutor Takes on the Media--and More - Hardcover

Walt Lewis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0978787005 ISBN 13: 9780978787004

Publisher: Walbar Books, 2008

Synopsis

A 32-year career prosecutor in the Los Angeles County DA's Office reveals the inside story of how the criminal justice system really works, and debunks many media-created myths about the system. The book documents many years of liberal media bias against the system. This is a story that needs to be told because the public only knows what the media tell us.

It is also the author's personal story, a high school dropout raised in a liberal household who grew up believing the media myths about the criminal justice system. He joined the ACLU and became a prosecutor only to learn how the police and prosecutors operated. His goal was to take this knowledge into his private law practice and defend those he believed were the real victims of society: minorities, the poor, the downtrodden and yes, the criminals. The author discusses his emotional attachment to his liberal views and tracks his slow conversion from a liberal Democrat to a moderate conservative.

The Criminal Justice Club reveals many startling facts about the criminal justice system, facts that are unknown to much of the public. For examples:

How few crimes are ever solved by the police: the chances of a reported serious crime in California leading to a prison sentence for the perpetrator are about 5%, which is about the national average;

Why California, for thirteen years (1965-1978), paid its 58 counties $4,000 for each convicted felon who was not sentenced to prison;

The real reason California's death row inmates wait about twenty years from conviction to execution--while the delay in other states is far less;

The lack of truth in sentencing: how little prison time convicted criminals really serve for felony crimes in California and around the country. The median prison term actually served by convicted murderers in the United States in 2001 was eight years, eight months--up from 5 1/2 years in 1988-even though the media correctly reported the sentence the judge gave the murderer in court: life in prison or a maximum sentence of life. The media rarely reports the likely parole dates of convicted felons.

About 630,000 illegal aliens enter our nation's jails and prisons each year for crimes committed in this country;

The consequences of the Los Angeles Police Department's hiring of a person to be a police officer who had been arrested five times for felony crimes, and who had been convicted of attempted burglary--to meet affirmative action goals;

Reveals whether career criminals really suffer from low self-esteem;

Answers the question so often asked of criminal defense attorneys: How can you defend a person charged with murder, rape or child molestation when you believe, or know, your client is guilty?

The author discusses many of his courtroom experiences, some humorous, some gratifying, some heartbreaking and some frustrating.

The Criminal Justice Club is guaranteed to entertain, shock and educate the reader.

About this title

About the Author:

Walt Lewis was a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney from 1968 to 2000. He has prosecuted numerous felony cases, including murderers, rapists, arsonists, armed robbers, child molesters and white-collar fraud defendants. The Criminal Justice Club is Walt's story of his conversion from a young ACLU liberal, who believed the biased mainstream media and always sympathized with the criminal, into an advocate for crime victims and for tougher laws for violent and career criminals. Walt's conversion was partly the result of his witnessing the suffering of crime victims and their families throughout his career as a deputy DA.

Review:

Probably the best insight into California's penal and court system that has come along in a long time. A story that only could have been told by someone of Walt Lewis's prosecutorial experience. This is a must read by those in and out of the system who want to make it work. --Steve Cooley, District Attorney, Los Angeles County

The Criminal Justice Club offers the reader a totally realisitc picture of what occurs in California's criminal justice system. Lewis's writing style is clear and understandable. --Judge Peter S. Smith, Los Angeles Superior Court (Ret.)

[The Criminal Justice Club] should be mandatory reading for law students interested in a career in criminal law and police recruits who will be part of the criminal justice system. --Daniel B. Watson, Chief of Police, City of South Pasadena, California

[The Criminal Justice Club]was a wonderful book, a great read.--Roi Brown, retired Los Angeles police officer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walbar Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0978787005
• ISBN 13: 9780978787004
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 424