cover image Greylord

Greylord

James Tuohy. Putnam Publishing Group, $19.95 (271pp) ISBN 978-0-399-13385-5

Greylord, one of the most complex and successful federal sting operations, was set in motion in 1980 in Chicago's court system, rife with cronyism and corruption. By the summer of 1988, 87 judges, lawyers and court personnel had been charged with crimes. So deeply ingrained was the system of bribery that the FBI had to concoct bogus cases in which the victims, the perpetrators and the witnesses were all working with the government. And even when the existence of Operation Greylord was widely bruited about, most of the corrupt judges continued to sell verdicts in cases involving traffic tickets, drugs and divorces. Warden and Tuohy, editors of Chicago Lawyer magazine, have done an exceptional job of covering the operation, imparting a certain light touch but never losing sight of the seriousness of their subject. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)