No More Wacos: What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It (1891;wellesley Studies in Critical) - Hardcover

Kopel, David B.; Blackman, Paul H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573921254 ISBN 13: 9781573921251

Publisher: Prometheus, 1997

Synopsis

Waco and Ruby Ridge were neither conspiracies nor flukes. They represent the worst-case scenario of problems that now plague federal law enforcement, including its militarisation, judicial rubberstamping of search and arrest applications, aggressive and violent arrest procedures, indifference to religious beliefs, the complicity of an overzealous media, and failed congressional investigations. In "No More Wacos", David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman use their expertise in law and criminology to outline the evidence in these cases and dozens of others to explain how and why such tragedies occur. Meticulously documented, this volume analyses all sides of this complex subject: flawed search warrants, authorities ignoring the difference between religious and criminal suspects, and intra-governmental deception, among other issues. Whenever problems are found, specific remedies are proposed - over one hundred solutions in all - both comprehensive and technical in nature. Each is offered in the hope of preventing future Wacos by properly placing federal law enforcement under the rule of law.

About this title

About the Author:

David B. Kopel is Research Director at the Independence, an Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, and Adjunct Professor Advanced Constitutional Law at Denver University, Sturm College of Law.

Paul H. Blackman is the former Research Coordinator of the National Rifle Association, Institute for Legislative Action.

Review:

...meticulously documents and analyzes what went wrong and suggests specific reforms to rein in federal law enforcement. The book, which won last year's Szasz Award from the Center for Independent Thought, relies exclusively on material already in the public record. But Kopel, research director at the Colorado-based Independence Institute, and Blackman, research coordinator for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, put it all together in one coherent narrative, with appendices detailing the legal changes they recommend, laying out the chronology, identifying the important figures, and summarizing the negotiation tapes. Their thoroughness makes the book a very useful reference. -- Reason, Jacob Sullum

What's wrong with common federal law enforcement policies? They often pinpoint innocent people as crime suspects, killing those who are not criminals. Ordinary citizens face danger from agents employed by the government to serve and protect, the authors maintain: this documents numerous Waco-type incidents and analyzes common confrontations between enforcement personnel and civilians, offering solutions to problems and addressing such issues as flawed search warrants and differences between religious and criminal suspects. A "must" for any legal library or college offering law enforcement courses. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1573921254
• ISBN 13: 9781573921251
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 524