Trials of the Century: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law

Bibliographic Details

Title: Trials of the Century: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law
ISBN: 9781598842616
Author: Johnson, Scott Patrick
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
Author: Johnson, Scott P.
Author: Scott P. Johnson Ph.D.
Subjects: Trials — United States, Criminology, Criminal Law, Popular Culture
Copyright: 2010 and 2011 (Electronic Versión)
Publication Date: 2010-10-31
Language: English
Pages: 778 (1st Edition) and 858 (2nd Edition)
Series: Gale virtual reference library
General Note: Description based on print (not electronic) version record.
Subject Term: Trials — United States.

Trials of the Century: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law Review

Publisher Comments

Crime and punishment are of perennial interest across the human species. Trials of the Century: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law examines some of the most important (and infamous) cases in American history, placing them in both historical and legal context. Among the landmark cases considered in these two volumes are the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, the Scopes “Monkey” Trial, and the O.J. Simpson murder trial. A number of civil lawsuits and political trials are also included, such as the impeachment trials of Presidents Andrew Johnson and William Jefferson Clinton.

Entries in the encyclopedia detail the events leading to each trial and introduce the key players, with a focus on judges, lawyers, witnesses, defendants, victims, media, and the public. In addition, the aftermath of the trial and its impact are analyzed from a scholarly, yet straightforward, perspective, emphasizing how the trial affected the law and society at large.

Book News Annotation

Johnson (political science, Frostburg State University, MD) chronicles trials from almost four centuries of American jurisprudence. This two-volume encyclopedia is arranged chronologically, starting with Anne Hutchison’s trial in 1637 and ending with O.J. Simpson’s second trial in 2008. Along the way, he recounts the history of some of the most famous cases such as Leopold and Loeb, The Scopes trial, Dred Scott, the Rosenbergs and even the Clinton impeachment. The accusations include murder, treason, rape, and a host of political and civil infractions. Some like Brown vs. the Board of Education, resulted in radical changes in the law. Others, like that of the Scottsboro boys highlight the inequality within the justice system. As a whole, the entries give a fascinating look at the vagaries of American trials. Each article is accompanied by a bibliography. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Synopsis

• Chronological essays on American “trials of the century” from the colonial period to the modern era

• A chronology of famous cases and U.S. legal development

• An introductory essay on the links between law and pop culture

• Case profiles for selected cases placing them in context

• Biographies of key figures

• A bibliography of literature from the fields of law, politics, and popular culture
Synopsis:
• Provides a comprehensive summary and analysis of the most important trials in American legal history, covering trials that resonate in popular culture

• Explores five centuries of legal history by examining famous murder trials as well as historic trials that changed the political, legal, religious, social, and racial landscape of America from the 1690s through today

• Presents all aspects of each trail, including historical context, proceedings, verdict, and resonance

• Will help students develop a more analytical attitude toward crime and punishment and the way that it is explored/exploited in the media
Synopsis:
This comprehensive set of essays documents the most important criminal, civil, and political trials in the United States from colonial times to the present, examining their impact on both legal history and popular culture.

Abstract to Trials of the century: an Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law

Covers important criminal, civil, and political trials in the United States from colonial times to the present, examining their impact on both legal history and popular culture.

Table of Contents

v. 1. The Anne Hutchinson Trials (1637-1638) ; Salem witchcraft trials (1692) ; John Peter Zenger Trial (1735) ; The “Great Negro Plot” trials (1741) ; The Boston Massacre trials (1770) ; Impeachment trial of Samuel Chase (1805) ; The treason trial of Aaron Burr (1807) ; The trial of Nat Turner (1831) ; Richard Lawrence trial (1835) ; Amistad trials (1839-1841) ; The Carthage conspiracy trial (1844) ; Dr. John W. Webster trial (1850) ; Missouri v. Celia, a slave (1855) ; Dred Scott trials (1847-1857) ; The trial of John Brown (1859) ; The Dakota conflict trials (1862) ; The trial of Lambdin P. Milligan (1864) ; Lincoln conspiracy trial (1865) ; Henry Wirz trial (1865) ; Andrew Johnson impeachment trial (1865) ; Susan B. Anthony trial (1873) ; Henry Ward Beecher trial (1875) ; The Mountain Meadows Massacre trials (1875-1876) ; The O.K. Corral trial (1881) ; Charles Guiteau trial (1881-1882) ; The Haymarket riot trial (1886) ; Lizzie Borden Tiral (1893) ; Herman Mudgett (alias “Henry Holmes”) trial (1895) ; Leon Czolgosz trial (1901) ; The trial of William “Big Bill” Haywood (1907) ; The Harry Thaw murder trials (1907-1908) ; The trial of Sheriff Joseph Shipp et al. (1907-1909) ; The triangle shirtwaist fire trial (1911) ; Leo Frank trial (1913) ; Joe Hill Trial (1914) ; The Chicago Black Sox trial (The State of Illinois v. Eddie Cicotte et al., 1921) ; Sacco and Vanzetti Trial (1921) ; Fatty Arbuckle trials (1921-1922) ; Nathan F. Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb trial (1924) ; The court-martial trial of General William Mitchell (1925)
The Scopes Monkey trial (1925) ; The Sweet trials (1925-1926) ; Al Capone trial (1931) ; The Massie trials (1931-1932) ; Scottsboro Boys trials (1931-1937) ; Richard “Bruno” Hauptmann trial (1935) ; The Nazi saboteurs trial (1942) — v. 2 The Hollywood Ten trials (1948-1950) ; Alger Hiss trials (1949-1950) ; The Rosenberg trial (1951) ; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas trial (1951) ; The trial of Oscar Collazo (1951-1952) ; Sam Sheppard trials (1954 and 1966) ; Gideon v. Wainwright (previously Cochran) (1963) ; Lenny Bruce trial (1964) ; The trial of Jacob Rubenstein (“Jack Ruby”) (1964) ; Albert DeSalvo (“The Boston Strangler”) trial (1967) ; Mississippi burning trial (United States v. Cecil Price and Samuel Bowers et al., 1967) ; The Clay Shaw trial (1969) ; Sirhan Sirhan trial (1969) ; The Chicago Seven trial (1969-1970) ; My Lai courts martial (1970) ; Charles Manson trial (1970-1971) ; Arthur Bremer trial (1972) ; Patty Hearst trial (1976) ; The trials of Ted Bundy (1976-1980) ; Randall Adams (“The Thin Blue Line”) trial (1977) ; The Dan White trial (1979) ; Leonard Peltier trial (1979) ; John W. Hinckley Jr. trial (1982) ; Claus von Bulow trials (1982, 1985) ; Falwell v. Flynt trial (1984) ; Bernhard Goetz trial (1987) ; McMartin Preschool abuse trials (1987-1990) ; Mapplethorpe obscenity trial (1990) ; William Kennedy Smith trial (1991) ; Manuel Noriega trial (1991-1992) ; Mike Tyson rape trial (1992) ; The trials of the Los Angeles police officers (Rodney King beating trial) (1992-1993)
The Ruby Ridge trial (1993) ; The trial of Francisco Martin Duran (1994) ; Jack Kevorkian trials (1994-1999) ; O.J. Simpson trial (1995) ; The Menendez brothers’ trials (1993-1996) ; Richard Allen Davis trial (1996) ; Jesse Timmendequas trial (1997) ; Timothy McVeigh trial (1997) ; The federal and state trials of Terry Nichols (1997, 2000) ; Clinton impeachment trial (1999) ; Ira Einhorn trials (1993-2002) ; Michael Jackson trial (2005) ; Zacarias Moussaoui trial (2006) ; O.J. Simpson Las Vegas trial (2008).