The Fear of Too Much Justice: How Race and Poverty Undermine Fairness in the Criminal Courts

In "The Fear of Too Much Justice," renowned lawyer Stephen B. Bright and legal scholar James Kwak expose the structural flaws in the criminal legal system that perpetuate racial bias, power abuse, and the unfairness of the death penalty. The book provides a poignant analysis of how these issues manifest in various cases, highlighting the need for abolition.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 03 August 2023
Publisher: The New Press

“An urgently needed analysis of our collective failure to confront and overcome racial bias and bigotry, the abuse of power, and the multiple ways in which the death penalty's profound unfairness requires its abolition. You will discover Steve Brights passion, brilliance, dedication, and tenacity when you read these pages.”

—from the foreword by Bryan Stevenson

Glenn Ford, a Black man, spent thirty years on Louisiana's death row for a crime he did not commit. He was released in 2014—and given twenty dollars—when prosecutors admitted they did not have a case against him.

Fords trial was a travesty. One of his court-appointed lawyers specialized in oil and gas law and had never tried a case. The other had been out of law school for only two years. They had no funds for investigation or experts. The prosecution struck all the Black prospective jurors to get the all-white jury that sentenced Ford to death.

In The Fear of Too Much Justice, legendary death penalty lawyer Stephen B. Bright and legal scholar James Kwak offer a heart-wrenching overview of how the criminal legal system fails to live up to the values of equality and justice. The book ranges from poor people squeezed for cash by private probation companies because of trivial violations to people executed in violation of the Constitution despite overwhelming evidence of intellectual disability or mental illness. They also show examples from around the country of places that are making progress toward justice.

With a foreword by Bryan Stevenson, who worked for Bright at the Southern Center for Human Rights and credits him for “[breaking] down the issues with the death penalty simply but powerfully,” The Fear of Too Much Justice is a powerful and essential read for anyone who cares about justice and the rule of law.”

Dimension: 215 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781620970256