
Tough Cases
Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They've Ever Made
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Narrated by:
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Isabel Keating
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Richard Ferrone
About this listen
“Tough Cases stands out as a genuine revelation.... Our most distinguished judges should follow the lead of this groundbreaking volume.” (Justin Driver, The Washington Post)
A rare and illuminating view of how judges decide dramatic legal cases - Law and Order from behind the bench - including the Elián González, Terri Schiavo, and Scooter Libby cases
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have it easy - all they have to do is to present the evidence and make arguments. It’s the judges who have the heavy lift: they are the ones who have to make the ultimate decisions, many of which have profound consequences on the lives of the people standing in front of them.
In Tough Cases, judges from different kinds of courts in different parts of the country write about the case that proved most difficult for them to decide. Some of these cases received international attention: the Elián González case in which Judge Jennifer Bailey had to decide whether to return a seven-year-old boy to his father in Cuba after his mother drowned trying to bring the child to the United States, or the Terri Schiavo case in which Judge George Greer had to decide whether to withdraw life support from a woman in a vegetative state over the wishes of her parents, or the Scooter Libby case about appropriate consequences for revealing the name of a CIA agent. Others are less well-known but equally fascinating: a judge on a Native American court trying to balance US law with tribal law, a young Korean-American former defense attorney struggling to adapt to her new responsibilities on the other side of the bench, and the difficult decisions faced by a judge tasked with assessing the mental health of a woman who has killed her own children.
Relatively few judges have publicly shared the thought processes behind their decision making. Tough Cases makes for fascinating listening for everyone from armchair attorneys and fans of Law and Order to those actively involved in the legal profession who want insight into the people judging their work.
©2018 Russell F. Canan, Gregory E. Mize, and Frederick H. Weisberg (P)2019 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Words. We use them all the time, every day, mostly without giving them much thought at all. We take for granted that they’re here at our disposal whenever we need them. But if you’ve ever wished you could communicate more effectively, words are the place to start. It’s incumbent upon you to choose the best words to accomplish your goals, because how you choose to communicate influences—well, everything! The power of communication shapes our professional goals, our relationships, and our lives—so the words we choose to use carry a great deal of power.
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Fearless lawyer, feminist, activist, television and radio commentator, warrior, advocate, and winner, Gloria Allred is all of these things and more. Voted by her peers as one of the best lawyers in America, and described by Time as "one of the nation's most effective advocates of family rights and feminist causes", Allred has devoted her career to fighting for civil rights across boundaries of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and social class.
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Amazing book, amazing woman.
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What listeners say about Tough Cases
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- David Bigelow Stouffer
- 01-14-20
Puts being a judge in perspective
This is a great book for anyone curious about the demands and duties of a judge in the American judicial system. The stories were very interesting and grabbed my attention. Definitely recommend for someone who likes none-fiction legal books.
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