From Library Journal
President Jefferson's "wall of separation" metaphor is central to U.S. Supreme Court analysis of First Amendment religious practices and relations between religious institutions and governmental activities. Dreisbach (justice, law, and society, American Univ.) demonstrates the underpinnings and both 19th- and 20th-century interpretations of this pervasive metaphor, which began as a phrase in a letter Jefferson wrote to the Danbury, CT, Baptist Association in 1802. He shows how the "wall" metaphor represents a struggle for religious liberty and in a similar fashion has been used as a component of a strict separation policy between church and state. This historical analysis offers new insight into the foundations of church-state discourse in the United States while also providing documentary underpinnings to Phillip Hamburger's analysis of 17th- to 19th-century religious writings in Separation of Church and State. Almost half of Dreisbach's volume contains extensive appendixes, notes, and a bibliography. This well-constructed book will be useful for academic libraries as an addition to their history and law collections. Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
This volume explores the interaction of race and law enforcement in the controversial area of hate crime in the US. It is an ethnographic study of how hate crime law works in practice, from the perspective of those enforcing it. It examines the way the police handle bias crimes, and the power that members of law enforcement communities have to influence the social environment by determining whether a crime will be charged as a bias crime. Bell includes in her work the experience of detectives who are women, black, Latino and Asian American, exploring the impact of the racial identity of both the hate crime victim and the officers' handling of bias crimes. The study addresses enforcers' treatment of defendants' First Amendment rights and debates the merits of "special" treatment for hate crimes. Ultimately, Bell argues for the importance of having the police diligently address even low level offenses such as vandalism, giving their devasting cumulative effects on society.
