Confessions of Guilt

"Thomas and Leo have explored the long history of the ways in which the law has dealt with confessions of guilt. The book is particularly relevant, and valuable, in its treatment of what led up to the famous Miranda case-and what happened afterwards. This is a comprehensive and deeply researched book, which examines with insight and passion a particularly dark and murky corner of the world of legal doctrine. It is an invaluable guidebook for scholars of crime and punishment. And for judges and lawyers, if only they could be brought to read and absorbed the insights that dot the pages of this study." --Lawrence M. Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law, Stanford Law School "George Thomas and Richard Leo demonstrate once again why they are widely regarded as two of the nation's foremost commentators on police interrogation and confessions. Their writing is crisp and powerful, yet always graceful. With enormous range, they cover such topics as torture in the days of the Roman Empire, confession law in colonial America, the cultured forces that shaped various developments in interrogation tactics, whether Miranda was really a victory for liberals, the law (or lack of it) governing the questioning of suspected terrorists, and the future of police interrogation." --Yale Kamisar, Clarence Darrow Distinguished University Professor of Law Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Michigan Law School "Leo, our leading empirical expert on police interrogation, and Thomas, one of our most renowned criminal procedure scholars, have combined for a powerful and indispensable book. It offers a panoramic view of the history of interrogation in England and the US, showing that even though technical Miranda rules have dominated for five decades, we have always recurred-and should continue to recur-to background due process principles to help capture the deeper unavoidable questions that interrogation forces any morally self-conscious society to confront." --Robert Weisberg, Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law, Stanford Law School "...superb: carefully researched, gracefully written, and unfailingly fair in its analysis and its conclusions. It is a must read for anyone who wants to be taken seriously on this contentious but important subject."--Criminal Law and Justice Books