Synopses & Reviews
In 2004, an underground rap DVD entitled Stop Snitching appeared on the crime-ridden streets of inner-city Baltimore. A rash of Stop Snitching t-shirts soon spread through dozens of American cities, including Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. The DVD and T-shirts admonished criminal informants--often younger, black men involved in drug dealing--for ratting out their peers in exchange for leniency. In fact, this underground debate reflected a little-known national problem. In waging the wars on drugs and crime, police and prosecutors commonly allow their informants to continue committing crime in their home communities. Alexandra Natapoff argues that this practice has produced few positive results, and instead generates bad information, endangers innocent people, allows criminals to avoid punishment, compromises the integrity of police work, and incites violence and distrust in socially and economically vulnerable neighborhoods.
Snitching is the first comprehensive analysis of the powerful impact of criminal informant use throughout the American legal system and beyond. It exposes the social destruction caused by criminal snitching in some poor, high-crime African American neighborhoods, and how the practice renders the entire penal process more secretive and less fair. Driven by dozens of real life stories and tragedies, Natapoff explores the legal, political, and cultural significance of snitching: from the war on drugs to hip hop music, from the FBI's mishandling of its murderous mafia informants to the new surge in white collar and terrorism informing. She explains how existing law functions and proposes new reforms. By delving into the secretive world of criminal snitching, Natapoff reveals deep and often disturbing truths about the way American justice really works.
Review
“If there is one form of communication that criminals universally condemn, it is snitching. Yet the use of criminal informants is everywhere in the American legal system, says Alexandra Natapoff.”
- The Chronicle Review
Review
“Vital for understanding the legal process and the moral standard of law enforcement. An excellent read and a harsh glimpse at what the future might hold for the fabric of our justice system. A must have for the urban reader.”
- Immortal Technique, hip hop artist and President of Viper Records
Review
“Natapoff has written a compelling and searing book about snitching. It not only comprehensively describes the problem, but offers sharp, clear, and unambiguous solutions. If we really want to address the legal and moral implications of snitching, every judge, defense lawyer, prosecutor, and police officer should read this book.”
- Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Review
“Superb. . . . A searing indictment of how the secretive dynamics of informing have helped corrupt inner city life in America, and a deep scholarly analysis of how our legal rules contribute to this problem and can be reformed to mitigate it. This brilliantly original book is . . . wise and ruthlessly honest in its understanding of the street level practices of informant-reliance.”
- Robert Weisberg, Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, founder and director of the Stanford Center for Criminal Justice
Review
“As [Natapoff] reveals in this scrupulously researched and forcefully argued new book, our system of rewarding criminal snitches for information is a ‘game without rules, played almost entirely in the shadows and off the books. . . . Snitching is a highly readable, provocative argument for reforming a system that allows our machines of criminal prosecution to commit near-criminal acts of compromise.”
- Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor, Slate
“Vital for understanding the legal process and the moral standard of law enforcement. An excellent read and a harsh glimpse at what the future might hold for the fabric of our justice system. A must have for the urban reader.”
- Immortal Technique, hip hop artist and President of Viper Records
“Natapoff has written a compelling and searing book about snitching. It not only comprehensively describes the problem, but offers sharp, clear, and unambiguous solutions. If we really want to address the legal and moral implications of snitching, every judge, defense lawyer, prosecutor, and police officer should read this book.”
- Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
“Superb. . . . A searing indictment of how the secretive dynamics of informing have helped corrupt inner city life in America, and a deep scholarly analysis of how our legal rules contribute to this problem and can be reformed to mitigate it. This brilliantly original book is . . . wise and ruthlessly honest in its understanding of the street level practices of informant-reliance.”
- Robert Weisberg, Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, founder and director of the Stanford Center for Criminal Justice
“If there is one form of communication that criminals universally condemn, it is snitching. Yet the use of criminal informants is everywhere in the American legal system, says Alexandra Natapoff.”
- The Chronicle Review
Review
"This is a useful book that can be read with profit by practitioners, scholars, and the general public." "[T]hought-provoking. Natapoff…offers the most up-to-date and trenchant analysis of 'snitching' in the criminal justice system [and]…insightful proposals for reform…. Th[is] impressive text make[s] important substantive and theoretical contributions to the scholarship on race, class, crime, and the legal system." "Natapoff does a good job of explaining the law that governs the use of informants, and of describing how the all-too-rare regulatory schemes, such as FBI guidelines, work. One would expect this much from any law professor; Natapoff, however, goes much further. One of the truly impressive contributions of the book comes in her explanation of the effects of widespread use of informants for the criminal justice system, our social structures, and our democracy... If it simply described [the] dramatic downsides in order to properly tally both benefits and risks of informant use,
Snitching would be a very successful book. But to her credit, Natapoff does more than just catalogue these problems. She gives us a comprehensive picture of what we must do to make the use of informants acceptable within our criminal justice system... Alexandra Natapoff had produced a useful, timely, and important book.
Snitching should find a place in every law school course looking at legal issues in the criminal justice arena, and on the syllabi of every university course in criminal justice that aims to give students a realistic and nuanced view of how the system really works. Natapoff's observations, as fair as they are, may not sit well with those committed to getting the bad guys at any cost. But that is the book's real gift: showing us what that cost is, and suggesting ways of constructing a system of criminal justice that accurately mirrors the values to which we aspire."
“As [Natapoff] reveals in this scrupulously researched and forcefully argued new book, our system of rewarding criminal snitches for information is a ‘game without rules,’ played almost entirely in the shadows and off the books. . . . Snitching is a highly readable, provocative argument for reforming a system that allows our machines of criminal prosecution to commit near-criminal acts of compromise.”
“Vital for understanding the legal process and the moral standard of law enforcement. An excellent read and a harsh glimpse at what the future might hold for the fabric of our justice system. A must have for the urban reader.”
Review
"Rafter's is a superb intellectual and cultural history of biological theories of crime, inspired by the author's desire to find "a new or third way" to integrate biological, sociological, and historical approaches to crime (251)...
Review
“Rafter impressively documents the genealogy of biological ideas in criminology. She shows that criminology must take new biological ideas seriously and contextualize sociologically both the ideas and the phenomena in which biologists engage. The Criminal Brain warrants thorough and broad discussion.”
-Joachim J. Savelsberg,co-author of Constructing White-Collar Crime: Rationalities, Communication, Power
Review
“Rafter is well known for her provocative and thoughtful work on the history of crime and criminal justice. In The Criminal Brain she tackles one of the most significant yet complex topics in the field today. As we witness new discoveries regarding the brain, genetics, consciousness, and human behavior, Rafter makes a persuasive case that we need to understand our past in order to chart our future course. I highly recommended Rafters book for criminological theorists and researchers alike.”
-John H. Laub,co-author of Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70
Review
“The Criminal Brain will have an important impact on social, political, and moral debates as biological criminology becomes increasingly prominent in coming years.”
-Simon A. Cole,author of Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification
Review
“The book takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of criminology and details where the field stands today.“
-Scientific American,
Review
“It's truly an eye-opening book and a fascinating look at how much police work depends on a system no one wants to talk about, as ironic as that may be. I can't imagine anyone devoted to police procedurals wouldn't find it engrossing.”
-Barnes and Noble,
Review
“Alexandra Natapoff has written analytically and creatively about informants and their handlers.”
-California Lawyer,
Synopsis
2010 Honorable Mention, Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association
Uncovers the powerful and problematic practice of snitching to reveal disturbing truths about how American justice works
Albert Burrell spent thirteen years on death row for a murder he did not commit. Atlanta police killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a misguided raid on her home. After being released by Chicago prosecutors, Darryl Moore--drug dealer, hit man, and rapist--returned home to rape an eleven-year-old girl.
Such tragedies are consequences of snitching--police and prosecutors offering deals to criminal offenders in exchange for information. Although it is nearly invisible to the public, criminal snitching has invaded the American legal system in risky and sometimes shocking ways. Snitching is the first comprehensive analysis of this powerful and problematic practice, in which informant deals generate unreliable evidence, allow criminals to escape punishment, endanger the innocent, compromise the integrity of police work, and exacerbate tension between police and poor urban residents. Driven by dozens of real-life stories and debacles, the book exposes the social destruction that snitching can cause in high-crime African American neighborhoods, and how using criminal informants renders our entire penal process more secretive and less fair. Natapoff also uncovers the far-reaching legal, political, and cultural significance of snitching: from the war on drugs to hip hop music, from the FBI's mishandling of its murderous mafia informants to the new surge in white collar and terrorism informing. She explains how existing law functions and proposes new reforms. By delving into the secretive world of criminal informants, Snitching reveals deep and often disturbing truths about the way American justice really works.
Synopsis
Winner of the 2010 American Bar Association Honorable Mention for BooksAlbert Burrell spent thirteen years on death row for a murder he did not commit. Atlanta police killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a misguided raid on her home. After being released by Chicago prosecutors, Darryl Moore—drug dealer, hit man, and rapist—returned home to rape an eleven-year-old girl.
Such tragedies are consequences of snitching—police and prosecutors offering deals to criminal offenders in exchange for information. Although it is nearly invisible to the public, criminal snitching has invaded the American legal system in risky and sometimes shocking ways. Snitching is the first comprehensive analysis of this powerful and problematic practice, in which informant deals generate unreliable evidence, allow criminals to escape punishment, endanger the innocent, compromise the integrity of police work, and exacerbate tension between police and poor urban residents. Driven by dozens of real-life stories and debacles, the book exposes the social destruction that snitching can cause in high-crime African American neighborhoods, and how using criminal informants renders our entire penal process more secretive and less fair. Natapoff also uncovers the farreaching legal, political, and cultural significance of snitching: from the war on drugs to hip hop music, from the FBIs mishandling of its murderous mafia informants to the new surge in white collar and terrorism informing. She explains how existing law functions and proposes new reforms. By delving into the secretive world of criminal informants, Snitching reveals deep and often disturbing truths about the way American justice really works.
Synopsis
What is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted that criminality was innate, a trait inherent in the offender's brain matter. While they were eventually repudiated as pseudo-scientists and self-deluded charlatans, today the pendulum has swung back. Both criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk for theft, violence, and sexual deviance. If that is so, we may soon confront proposals for genetically modifying "at risk" fetuses or doctoring up criminals so their brains operate like those of law-abiding citizens. In
The Criminal Brain, well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter traces the sometimes violent history of these criminological theories and provides an introduction to current biological theories of crime, or biocriminology, with predictions of how these theories are likely to develop in the future.
What do these new theories assert? Are they as dangerous as their forerunners, which the Nazis and other eugenicists used to sterilize, incarcerate, and even execute thousands of supposed "born" criminals? How can we prepare for a future in which leaders may propose crime-control programs based on biology? Enhanced with fascinating illustrations and written in lively prose, The Criminal Brain examines these issues in light of the history of ideas about the criminal brain. By tracing the birth and growth of enduring ideas in criminology, as well as by recognizing historical patterns in the interplay of politics and science, she offers ways to evaluate new theories of the criminal brain that may radically reshape ideas about the causes of criminal behavior.
About the Author
Nicole Rafter is Professor and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University and author of many books, including The Criminal Brain: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime.