Book Review of 25 to Life by Lesley Snyder

363 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women discrimination in the criminal justice system

Book Review of 25 to Life by Lesley Snyder Leslie Crocker Snyder is a New York Supreme Court Justice. As a child, she already had her sights set on a career in law. She entered college at 16 with her eyes on the prize. She eventually became a part of the system over 30 years ago. This career path has taken her to many interesting destinations. She looks back down the legal road in 25 to Life: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth. Snyder discusses the barriers she faced in the late 1960's as a woman in a male-dominated profession. When she expressed her desire to try homicide cases, she was told to "bring a letter of permission from her husband." Not one to let anything stand in her way, the author eventually got the job (without the letter) and moved her way up the legal ladder, eventually forming the Manhattan District Attorney's Sex Crimes Division. Most of 25 to Life is devoted to stories from the trenches. Snyder recollects her most memorable cases. She plays no favorites, candidly discussion the good, the bad and the ugly of lawyers and their clients. The author has a reputation for tough sentences, thus earning nicknames like "Ice Princess" and "25 to Life" among defendants. Several criminals who passed through her courtroom have threatened her life. Her family has had round-the-clock protection on several occasions. One chapter in this book is devoted to the judge's experience and perspective as a "victim" in regards to these threats. Though Snyder is clearly tough as nails, she doesn't appear to have the ego that is evident in some legal/law enforcement memoirs. She's very honest and forthcoming about her opinions, yet respectably grounded when talking about her calling.

Show More
Related

  • On Punishment And Teen Killers By Jenkins

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Prison Legal News - Legal articles, cases and court decisions." Prison Legal News - Legal articles, cases and court decisions. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2014. .

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Bring Back Flogging

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jacoby can be easily perceived as an upset and alarmed individual who blames the rise of criminal activity in the United States on the failure of the criminal justice system. He cares about people and believes that the safety of individuals is decreasing because criminals are not punished effectively by imprisonment and that some even receive a “sign of manhood” from going to prison (197). Additionally, he is upset that the ineffective system is so expensive. His concern for his audience’s safety and his carefully argued grounds, which he uses to support his claim, create a persona of an intelligent person of

    Read More

  • SHOCK INCARCERATION

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    6. Neubauer, D.W. (2002). America’s Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.

    Read More

  • No matter how loud I shout

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fear and confusion plays a huge part in the criminal justice system because of the huge number of cases and facilities unable to handle them. The building is condemned and they have new judge had begun his position as the new supervising judge. His name is Roosevelt Dorn. Beckstrand is excited to be working on Duncan's. His case is a well known infamous one and Beckstrand almost hated the kid. Offenders in this case are used to a substantial number of setbacks in the system and and finding her main witness is becoming trouble for Beckstrand. Ronald, along with the other young delinquents, doesn't seem to care about anything.

    Read More

  • Movie Review: The Documentary Gideon's Army

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    When 12 million citizens are arrested each year, this invites a great deal of stress into the lives of public defenders who are responsible for 180 to 200 cases at a time. I personally would never put myself in a work environment which lead my hair to fall out and anxiety to take over because my life was being threatened. The realization that people exist like that is daunting. One element that struck me most in the film was when Williams’ co-worker, Brandy Alexander, spoke about representing people who admit to the crime. I had a hard time processing how a father would pride himself in raping his own daughter. I actually rewound the movie because I thought my ears deceived me at the fact he would do it again given the opportunity. Representing a case in that capacity would break me mentally. It was well said that defenders must “go at war with the system even when the client is guilty”.

    Read More

  • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

    2637 Words  | 6 Pages

    Columbia Law Review, 104, 1-20. doi:10.2307/4099343. Reynolds, S. (2009). The 'Standard'. An interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Death Penalty

    1653 Words  | 4 Pages

    “ ….Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system….Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.” (Baude, 21).

    Read More

  • Healthcare Disparities in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Community

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is important to identify at risk populations who suffer from health care disparities in order to decrease these disparities. Health care disparities can result in negative health outcomes when at risk populations are not afforded proper health treatment. According to Ranji, Beamesderfer, Kates, and Salganicoff (2014) health concerns and risk factors affecting the LGBT community include HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), drug abuse, mental health issues, and sexual and physical violence. The LGBT community is an at risk population due to barriers in health care linked to discrimination, prejudice, social stigma, and lack of access to health insurance especially for same-sex couples. (Healthypeople.gov 2013). It is important to identify community resources in the city of Houston for LGBT people in order to improve the health, safety, and well-being of these individuals. In an effort to promote the health of LGBT people, a health and wellness plan should be targeted within the LGBT community in the city of Houston.

    Read More

  • Home Confinement: An Alternative to Incarceration

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    McCarthy, Belinda R. Intermediate Punishments: Intensive Supervision, Home Confinement and Electronic Surveillance. New York: Criminal Justice Press, 1987.

    Read More

  • Coeliac Disease Essay

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    A working diagnosis of coeliac disease has been made for patient MJ, in this report I will explain and analyse the patient’s immune responses and attempt to suggest several treatments. Coeliac disease is usually triggered by the ingestion of gluten which contains the peptide gliadin found in wheat, alternatively other peptides in the prolamin family are able to elicit an immune response in CD sufferers (C. Gianfrani, 2005). The gliadin antigen works by enlarging tight junctions, allowing larger proteins to permeate through the membrane (Lammers, K.M., 2008), thus inducing an immune response and leading to small intestine enteropathy (C. Gianfrani, 2005). CD is a relatively common disease, it’s estimated that 1% of the population in the US and in Europe suffer from the condition (Catassi, C., et al., 2001). It is a multifactorial disease hence depending upon several aspects such as environmental and genetic input (Sollid, L.M., 2000).

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct and Corruption

    2505 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hodgson, Jacqueline. "Adding Injury to Injustice: The Suspect at the Police Station." Journal of Law and Society Mar. 1994: 85-101. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

    Read More

  • A Minimum Wage Increase Will Stimulate the Economy

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Raising the pay for minimum wage workers will be the proper way to create effective results, yet there exists those who oppose an increase. Neal Asbury, an American entrepreneur, writes “Raising the Minimum Wage Brings Minimum Benefits” to express how a hike in wages will increase unemployment levels. The author introduces a survey done in 1992 regarding economists’ beliefs towards an increase in minimum wage, where 72 percent claim it would hurt unemployment levels (Asbury). According to this claim, more than half of economists argue that if a rise in minimum wage is to occur, unemployment will soar among the country. Businesses will be prone to lay off employees or hire fewer workers because of higher costs and will lead low-skilled workers to be jobless. An increase in pay will lea...

    Read More

  • Gay Marriage Persuasive Essay

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    As an American citizen, a person should be entitled to marry whoever they choose, regardless of gender or sexual preference. Gay marriage is something that some people consider to be taboo while other people are very supportive of it; I am one of the latter. The ability to marry someone is a basic human right and it should not be taken away from someone because they love a person of the same gender. One of the main reasons that gay marriage is illegal in the United States is because of what the Bible says about it, regardless of the fact that the first Amendment of the US Constitution says that there is to be a separation between church and state. Approximately three point eight percent of the United States population is made up of people

    Read More

  • Dickens, Thurber, Andersen, London and Perseus

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charles Dickens’ (1812-1970) father had great financial difficulties. The boy had a rather miserable childhood, and the lad spent much of his time in poorhouses and workhouses. Did poverty overwhelm Charles Dickens? Was his negative environment to blame for an unproductive and fruitless life? No it wasn’t. Dickens retreated into his imaginary world and incisively wrote about the need for social reform in what later became such literary classics such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.

    Read More

  • Court Room Observation Paper

    3274 Words  | 7 Pages

    With in this courtroom observation paper I will form two articles and classroom knowledge to show the relevance they play within courts today. First, local legal culture, in "court culture" concept is based on dimensions of solidarity and sociability, the intersections of which create four cultures with associated case management types: hierarchical culture (rule-oriented case management); networked culture (judicial consensus); autonomous culture (self-managing); and communal (flexible case management). The second being, court guidelines and the sentencing structure, how’s it work, and why out comes different areas that defer from Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan as a hole.

    Read More

More about Book Review of 25 to Life by Lesley Snyder

Open Document