ROUGH JUSTICE: Days and Nights of a Young D. A.

by David Heilbroner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 1990

An engrossing chronicle of the author's three years in the office of a Manhattan D.A., and of his progressive disillusionment as he encounters dishonest police officers, lying victims, and a bureaucracy willing to prosecute the innocent along with the guilty. Heilbroner entered the D.A.'s office in 1985, an idealistic law graduate determined to help stem the crime wave engulfing his native city. Beginning with a traumatic sojourn in Criminal Court (in N.Y.C., a forum reserved for misdemeanors), he did battle with the ""runners and steerers who sold drugs under brand names; hookers with fifty condoms in their purses and bankrolls in their crotches; pickpocket teams paid by the week and recruited from the School of Fourteen Bells; [and the] perps, mopes, skels, token-suckers, and trolls"" that make up the basic cast in New York's daily drama of crime. But as he advanced to handling more serious matters--incarcerating insane murderers, extraditing high-profile fugitives, and indicting rapists and armed robbers--Heilbroner came to realize that his own sense of justice clashed with the demands of the job. In particular, he possessed a rare sympathy for the defendants that handicapped him in functioning within the ""siege"" atmosphere that gripped the D.A.'s office. On one occasion, he reports, his superiors forced him to prosecute an innocent man for armed robbery. On another, they compelled him to seek a felony indictment against a weapon-defendant who had no record and was about to graduate as a licensed electrician; the defendant killed himself. Finally fed up, Heilbroner entered private practice. A memorable and reflective portrayal, nicely leavened with humor, of one humane man's struggle with an overwhelming moral dilemma.

Pub Date: Aug. 31, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION