Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United

Zephyr Teachout (Fordham University). Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United (Harvard University Press, 2014).

"'Corruption in America,' includes plenty of the juicy stories . . . . We learn, for example, about a diamond-studded snuffbox that Louis XVI gave Benjamin Franklin, then our ambassador to France, and how the Revolutionary generation regarded this gift — the result of a noncontroversial custom in Europe — as a possible threat to republican virtue. We read about an officer of the Turkish government in the 1870s who agreed to sell the products of an American arms manufacturer to his government in exchange for a small consideration, and who then, having duly moved the units, went to court to have the deal enforced. Good stuff, all of it. . . . As you might have guessed, Teachout’s main target is the currently reigning money-in-politics doctrine of the Supreme Court, as defined mainly by Citizens United, the 2010 decision that struck down certain restrictions on political spending by corporations."

—Thomas Frank, New York Times

Failure to Flourish: How Law Undermines Family Relationships

Clare Huntington (Fordham University). Failure to Flourish (Oxford University Press, 2014).

"Exploring the connection between families and inequality, Failure to Flourish argues that the legal regulation of families stands fundamentally at odds with the needs of families. Strong, stable, positive relationships are essential for both individuals and society to flourish, but from transportation policy to the criminal justice system, and from divorce rules to the child welfare system, the legal system makes it harder for parents to provide children with these kinds of relationships, exacerbating the growing inequality in America.  [The book] contends that we must re-orient the legal system to help families avoid crises and, when conflicts arise, intervene in a manner that heals relationships. To understand how wrong our family law system has gone and what we need to repair it, Failure to Flourish takes us from ancient Greece to cutting-edge psychological research, and from the chaotic corridors of local family courts to a quiet revolution under way in how services are provided to families in need."

—Publisher's Website