THE PIG FARMER'S DAUGHTER AND OTHER STORIES OF AMERICAN JUSTICE: Episodes of Racism and Sexism in the Courts from 1865 to the Present.

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Alfred A Knopf, Inc., 1999. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. From the head of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and noted professor of law and history at the University of Pennsylvania, THE PIG FARMER'S DAUGHTER is a groundbreaking book that reveals the impact of stereotyping--of race, of class, of gender--on the American legal system. The question Mary Frances Berry asks: Whose story most strongly influences the making of legal decisions in the American justice system? Using previously unexamined material from state appellate civil and criminal court cases--cases of rape, seduction, and paternity disputes, and cases dealing with murder, inheritance, and property disputes in which sexual relations are at the heart of the story--Berry takes us through two centuries of American case law to show how attitudes toward gender, race, class, and sexuality have materially affected, and continue to affect, judicial decision making. Moving stories, shocking stories, ironic stories, tragic stories--a book that fascinates in terms of its human drama, by its demonstration of the ways in which prejudice affects justice, and by its account of how the law has evolved (or hasn't) as our racial, social, and sexual attitudes have changed. Fine, in fine, mylar-protected dust jacket. [BUND]