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Courtroom 302 |
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Chicago Reader reporter Bogira offers insights into the state of the American criminal justice system based on a year spent observing Chicago’s Cook County Criminal Courthouse, "the biggest and busiest felony courthouse in the nation."
Knopf, 416 pages
03/22/2005
$25.00
ISBN: 0679432523
Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics
Social Sciences
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
The average user rating for this book is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Paul D gave it a9:
Makes one despair for our current so-called criminal justice system. Very readable, and even though I wanted to hear of possible remedies, Bogira points out many reforms that are proposed, but that never pass. It seems to me that the "war on drugs" is the single biggest factor in the clogging of our courts. Makes an interesting followup to "the Corner' in providing a telling portrait of drugs and the consequences on the system.
Nikolas S gave it a10:
Steve Bogira's "Courtroom 302" avoids the 2 big pitfalls of criminal justice reporting: the Hollywood celebrity in trouble tale, and the simplistic hero-villain narrative. We read real, human stories about court house personnel, people with drug addictions, lawyers both cynical and idealistic, and a murder victim's mother. The author is a working journalist on the court house beat in Chicago for 25 years. A DePaul law school professor I know has adopted the book as required reading.
EJ Lannon gave it a10:
I found "Courtroom 302" exceptionally interesting and most decidedly revelatory. Steve Bogira reports the true, on-going story of abnormally distributed justice from within our nation's busiest criminal courthouse. "Courtroom 302" uncovers the good, the bad and the ugly realities of our criminal justice system and Bogira's story-telling style makes the book an exciting page-turning read. I found it difficult to put down and I read it in three sittings. I predict Pulitzer.
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