Get Off My Neck: Black Lives, White Justice, and a Former Prosecutor’s Quest for Reform

Hines, a former public prosecutor in Baltimore and now a private defense attorney, debuts with a scathing indictment of the criminal justice system. Mincing no words, she charges that the system is riddled with racism, populated by police officers with white supremacist views and by prosecutors who value convictions over justice. Hines provides ample evidence drawn from her own experiences in Baltimore’s courtrooms and gleaned from studies that show Black people are more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police, sentenced to longer prison terms, and victimized by police brutality. For example, she cites reports that officers in more than 100 police departments have been found to have sent racist emails, and that prosecutors are 50% more likely to charge Black people under habitual offender laws, which require harsher sentences. Among other pragmatic suggestions for countering the injustice embedded in the current system, Hines advises readers to join activist “court watcher” groups that attend trials and document their observations. While similar ground has been covered by others, what makes Hines’s account uniquely worthwhile is her detailed and intriguing behind-the-scenes analysis of how prosecutors operate. This passionate firsthand critique will appeal to those interested in criminal justice reform. (Mar.)