Ward, Daniel P.

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DePaul Law Review Volume 1 Issue 2 Spring-Summer 1952 Article 23 Busch: Prisoners at the Bar ; Guilty or Not Guilty Daniel P. Ward Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review Recommended Citation Daniel P. Ward, Busch: Prisoners at the Bar ; Guilty or Not Guilty, 1 DePaul L. Rev. 318 (1952) Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol1/iss2/23 This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in DePaul Law Review by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact digitalservices@depaul.edu. DE PAUL LAW REVIEWacts of lesser injustice, principally in the economic sphere, now recognized asoffenses against social justice. But the sociological implications of law fore-shadowed by his treatise, while identifying in a certain way each member ofthe society in question with the victim of certain types of injustice, madethe rights of society derivatives of the rights of individuals in their social rela-tionships, rather than inherent powers exercised by an amoral entity.DR. BRENDAN F. BROWN'Prisoners at the Bar. By FRANCIS X. BUSCH. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-MerrillCo., Inc., 1952. Pp. v, 288.Guilty or Not Guilty. By FRANCIS X. BUSCH. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-MerrillCo., Inc., 1952. Pp. v, 287.This reviewer would confess that he approached Prisoners at the Bar andGuilty or Not Guilty with a measure of suspicion that here were but two morevolumes concerning admittedly important criminal trials which might prove tobe but literary husks. Perhaps the known ability and experience of the authorshould have compelled a more hopeful attitude but, alas, the legal reader in thisfield is too familiar with publishers' offerings, too optimistically heralded, whichare but drab recitals of crimes, awkwardly supplemented by the inevitable andtoo often random excerpting from trial transcripts.Happily, Mr. Busch does not conform to this tired pattern and for each trialfurnishes the reader with a preliminary statement describing the crime in-volved, followed by a genuinely fascinating narrative of the trial proceedingsand a concise statement of the trial's aftermath.The crimes described in these two volumes represent a nearly exhaustivecatalogue of the American criminal causes c~lbres of the past forty years.In Prisoners at the Bar will be found accounts of the trials of William Hay-wood and George Pettibone for the murder of Gov. Steuenberg of Idaho; ofSacco and Vanzetti for murders which were obscured by the internationalreaction to their trials and executions; of Loeb and Leopold for the senselessand brutal slaying of a Chicago boy and of the drama that was Darrow's effortin their behalf; and of the phlegmatic Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnappingmurder of the son of Colonel Lindbergh.Guilty or Not Guilty describes the crimes concerned and trials of D. C.Stephenson, the one-time Grand Dragon of the then evilly powerful Ku KluxKlan, which trial involved a highly interesting problem of homicidal causation;of Samuel Insull on a charge of colossal mail fraud and of the controversialAlger Hiss for perjury. This volume, in what is perhaps its most interestingtrial account, tells also of the nearly forgotten Leo Frank, who was convictedin Georgia of the murder of a 13 year old girl under a cloud of alleged anti-Semitism and who, when his death sentence was commuted to life imprison-ment in an atmosphere of national tension, was wrested from the penitentiaryby a mob and murdered.In the author's accounts of these trial proceedings can be clearly discernedthe sure hand of the perceptive trial advocate of experience. His characteriza-tion of cross examination as having been telling or inept, his observation that aprosecutor concluded his case, as he should, with a strong witness, his conclu-sion that certain testimony though vigorously attacked was apparently con-Dean of the School of Law, Catholic University of America.REVIEWSvincing-these portray appreciation of the criminal trial as a psychological aswell as legal drama.Mr. Busch's authority and competence as a trial commentator rests in a legalexperience that has included service as a law school dean, as Corporation Coun-sel of the City of Chicago, as a legal author in the field of trial practice and as atrial lawyer of national reputation. In vast compliment it can be said that hisskill at narration is commensurate with his legal ability.This reviewer is of the opinion that it will be an insensitive legal readerindeed who is not captivated by Prisoners at the Bar, and Guilty or Not Guilty.DANIEL P. WARD*Cases on Constitutional Law. By JOHN B. SHOLLEY. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1951. Pp. vi, 1144. Supplement 1951 Pp. 27. $9.00 withSupplement.One of the most important objectives of a course in Constitutional Law is toestablish firmly in the minds of the students the manner in which the SupremeCourt of the United States has interpreted the Constitution of the United Statesas to certain important matters. Here are some of the vital questions to beanswered: How far have the interpretations gone in establishing the relation-ships of the federal government to the states, of the states to one another, andof the federal government and the states to the individuals under their jurisdic-tion? Has the Supreme Court, in upholding the exercise of powers by the fed-eral government-express, implied and inherent-indicated a definite trend to-ward a unitary government in place of the federal system? How far can thefederal government go in controlling local transactions under its great com-merce and taxing powers? To what extent can a state exercise its three greatpowers-the police power, the power of eminent domain, and the taxing power?What has the Supreme Court indicated as to state power under the four greatlimitations, found in the Federal Constitution-due process of law, equal protec-tion of the laws, privileges and immunities, and impairment of the obligationsof a contract? What are the limitations as to state and national interferencewith the freedoms of the individual, protected by the Constitution?The editor of this casebook has presented a selection of cases which willenable students to draw conclusions as to these vital constitutional problems.Following the historical approach, the editor has divided his casebook intoseven chapters. Each chapter covers an era. The division into chapters hasbeen made on the basis of the leadership of certain justices of the SupremeCourt, such as the Marshall Court and the Taney Court. The editor indicatesin the preface to his casebook that he favors the historical approach over themore or less conventional doctrinal approach. However, in each chapter, hepresents, together, the cases dealing with the same doctrinal subject matter.One great advantage of this historical approach is that the student may studythe decisions in each chapter in the light of the political, social and economicconditions of the period covered by the chapter.The editor's selection of cases is excellent, especially in the last chapter. Yet,with few exceptions, the selection is practically the same as found in any goodcasebook on Constitutional Law. The arrangement of the eases, only, is differ-ent. The editing of the cases is fine. Two outstanding features are: (1) the* Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois.

Busch:  Prisoners at the Bar ; Guilty or Not Guilty

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Busch: Prisoners at the Bar ; Guilty or Not Guilty

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