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A review by _rumpelstiltskin_
Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law by Preet Bharara
3.0
I am ambivalent about this book.
On one hand, this is evidently an important book, as it presents a detailed portrait of a prosecutor's office, life and choices. This is not only for law students; everyone who's part of this society should know our justice system works - in this case, from the point of view of the government. What is it like being a prosecutor? What factors do you have to weigh when people's lives hang in the balance? What can and can't you say, what is and isn't your responsibility? These people shape the cities, the countries we live in. Plus, crime stories are fascinating.
On the other hand, crime stories are also moral tales. And sometimes I have the feeling the attorneys get too comfortable in their beliefs; they act like there are moral absolutes. That there are bad folks that must be punished and good folks that must be avenged and that most of the time it is pretty easy to say who is who. However, Bharara spends quite some time describing the horrific, inhumane conditions of Rikers Island. If we keep sending men to languish there, though, does this denouncing mean anything? Nietzche said that heaven has a view to hell so that virtuous people are twice satisfied: they enjoy not only the pleasure of being in heaven, but also of seeing the suffering of the sinners in hell. That's the schadenfreude quality of prison. For all the horrors of incarceration, we continue to see long, harsh sentences as "justice being done". While the book does discuss the moral vagaries of certain cases (most notably of the woman who kidnapped a baby girl and raised her as her own child), it seems to imply that gray zones are the exception and harsh punishment necessary to bring peace to victims.
Laws are made up by people and administered by people and that's the strongest and most vulnerable aspect of the book. It explains how the system is flawed because people have flaws, but the biggest problem is that, by definition, we cannot see our blind spots.
On one hand, this is evidently an important book, as it presents a detailed portrait of a prosecutor's office, life and choices. This is not only for law students; everyone who's part of this society should know our justice system works - in this case, from the point of view of the government. What is it like being a prosecutor? What factors do you have to weigh when people's lives hang in the balance? What can and can't you say, what is and isn't your responsibility? These people shape the cities, the countries we live in. Plus, crime stories are fascinating.
On the other hand, crime stories are also moral tales. And sometimes I have the feeling the attorneys get too comfortable in their beliefs; they act like there are moral absolutes. That there are bad folks that must be punished and good folks that must be avenged and that most of the time it is pretty easy to say who is who. However, Bharara spends quite some time describing the horrific, inhumane conditions of Rikers Island. If we keep sending men to languish there, though, does this denouncing mean anything? Nietzche said that heaven has a view to hell so that virtuous people are twice satisfied: they enjoy not only the pleasure of being in heaven, but also of seeing the suffering of the sinners in hell. That's the schadenfreude quality of prison. For all the horrors of incarceration, we continue to see long, harsh sentences as "justice being done". While the book does discuss the moral vagaries of certain cases (most notably of the woman who kidnapped a baby girl and raised her as her own child), it seems to imply that gray zones are the exception and harsh punishment necessary to bring peace to victims.
Laws are made up by people and administered by people and that's the strongest and most vulnerable aspect of the book. It explains how the system is flawed because people have flaws, but the biggest problem is that, by definition, we cannot see our blind spots.