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Confessions of Guilt

Confessions of Guilt From Torture to Miranda and Beyond

Author: George C. Thomas III; Richard A. Leo
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780195338935
Published In: April 2012
Format: Hardback , 336 pages
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Offers a controversial new theory on the development of interrogation law and the Miranda ruling

How did the United States, a nation known for protecting the <"right to remain silent>" become notorious for condoning and using controversial tactics like water boarding and extraordinary rendition to extract information? What forces determine the laws that define acceptable interrogation techniques and how do they shift so quickly from one extreme to another?

In Confessions of Guilt, esteemed scholars George C. Thomas III and Richard A. Leo tell the story of how, over the centuries, the law of interrogation has moved from indifference about extreme force to concern over the slightest pressure, and back again. The history of interrogation in the Anglo-American world, they reveal, has been a swinging pendulum rather than a gradual continuum of violence.

Exploring a realist explanation of this pattern, Thomas and Leo demonstrate that the law of interrogation and the process of its enforcement are both inherently unstable and highly dependent on the perceived levels of threat felt by a society. Laws react to fear, they argue, and none more so than those that govern the treatment of suspected criminals.

From England of the late eighteenth century to America at the dawn of the twenty-first, Confessions of Guilt traces the disturbing yet fascinating history of interrogation practices, new and old, and the laws that govern them. Thomas and Leo expertly explain the social dynamics that underpin the continual transformation of interrogation law and practice and look critically forward to what their future might hold.

Readership: Students and scholars of interrogation law, criminal procedure, the development of US law, and theMiranda ruling. Historians of law and criminal procedure.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Part One: The First Revolution in Interrogation Law: From Torture to Solicitude
Chapter 2: Early Interrogation Law
Chapter 3: English Interrogation Law from 1674-1848
Chapter 4: Early American Law of Interrogation
Part Two: The Second Revolution in Interrogation Law: The Rational Approach Comes of Age
Chapter 5: The Rise of Rationality in the Law of Interrogation
Chapter 6: The <"American Methods>" - The Third Degree
Part Three: The Third Revolution in Interrogation Law: Miranda's Volcano: Fiery, Brief, Dormant
Chapter 7: The Miranda <"Revolution>"
Chapter 8: Miranda Changes the Confessions World
Chapter 9: Miranda Today
Chapter 10: Interrogation Law: The Future?

George C. Thomas III, Board of Governors Professor of Law & Judge Alexander P. Waugh, Sr. Distinguished Scholar, Rutgers University, and Richard A. Leo, Professor of Law, University of San Francisco

George C. Thomas III is Rutgers University Board of Governors Professor of Law & Judge Alexander P. Waugh, Sr. Distinguished Scholar. Richard A. Leo is Professor of Law and Dean's Circle Research Scholar at the University of San Francisco.