The Legal Rights of the Convicted makes a unique scholarly contribution to an important and emerging field. It is a comprehensive examination of the legal rights of convicted offenders. Belbot and Hemmens do more than simply discuss court cases and legal doctrines. They provide both the historical and political context in which the decisions were rendered. The text is especially good at helping students appreciate the prison environment and how the legal issues that prisoners raise are impacted by that unique setting. The text introduces students to the place where law intersects with corrections and has cross appeal to students of corrections, law, and the sociology of law. This textbook incorporates a number of distinctive and innovative features, including a focus on current issues in corrections law, a discussion of recent scholarship/research on current corrections law, a discussion of the historical antecedents of constitutional corrections law, and a full discussion of the legal issues associated with community corrections, the fastest growing area in corrections law and practice. Several of these features are not covered in the existing corrections textbooks. I recommend it highly and without any reservations. -- Joan Petersilia, Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

When an individual is accused of a crime he is provided, at least in theory, with numerous constitutional rights throughout the legal process. These constitutional rights, however, are soft and flexible, and are subject to a tremendous amount of manipulation by police, prosecutors, and judges. The result is that these government agents are easily able to bypass, and in fact destroy, our constitutional protections. This abuse of our fundamental rights is extremely dangerous. Far from being mere technicalities, constitutional rights benefit all citizens, not just the factually guilty, in ways that go unappreciated by most of us. In today’s hyper-vigilant, tough-on-crime climate, many good people from all walks of life find themselves charged with serious crimes for behaving in ways that most of us would be shocked to learn are criminal. For these reasons, it is in all of our interests to ensure strong constitutional safeguards for everyone. Tried and Convicted explains several individual constitutional rights that are intended to protect us from the vagaries of the criminal justice system, and gives detailed examples of how government agents routinely circumvent those rights. It also exposes the underlying problems that enable government agents to circumvent the constitution, and concludes by offering potential solutions to these problems. Using real life examples throughout, Cicchini provides a wake-up call for all of us.

Examines the causes for mass incarceration of Americans and calls for the reform of the bail system. Traces the history of bail, how it has come to be an oppressive tool of the courts, and makes recommendations for reforming the bail system and alleviating the mass incarceration problem.

"A definitive and compelling study of the American correction system"--Cover.