Unfair

The New Science of Criminal Injustice

By: Adam Benforado

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Weaving together historical examples, scientific studies, and compelling court cases - from the border collie put on trial in Kentucky to the five teenagers who falsely confessed in the Central Park Jogger case - Benforado shows how our judicial processes fail to uphold our values and protect society's weakest members. With clarity and passion, he lays out the scope of the problem and proposes a wealth of reforms that could prevent injustice and help us achieve true fairness and equality before the law.

©2015 Original Material by Adam Benforado, c/o Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"As gripping as a Grisham novel, only it isn't fiction. With captivating ease and razor-sharp science, Adam Benforado puts the justice system on trial and makes a bulletproof argument that it's fundamentally broken. This extraordinary book is a must-read for every judge, lawyer, detective, and concerned citizen in America." (Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times best-selling author of Give and Take)

"Systems of justice are built by human brains. As such, they're subject to all the foibles of human psychology, from biased decision-making to xenophobia to false memories. With the eye of a scholar and the ear of a storyteller, Benforado marshals the burgeoning research to illuminate the nexus between law and the mind sciences." (David Eagleman, PhD, Neuroscientist, Director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, New York Times best-selling author of Incognito)

"Adam Benforado's Unfair is a beautifully written book that manages to be both engrossing and important - a fascinating blend of psychological insight, legal know-how, and compelling storytelling. If you've ever wondered why the legal system doesn't work as well as it should, Benforado's intelligent take on the relationship between human psychology and the law will enlighten you - and leave you hopeful that we're capable of doing better." (Adam Alter, New York Times best-selling author of Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave, Associate Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, Affiliated appointment, NYU psychology department)

Gripping, angering stuff

This book should make you mad. Of course, you need to remember that making you mad is kind of its goal, because emotional responses create better word of mouth.
It's definitely worth the time to consume his book, in print or audio.
The reader sounds like a poor man/ Paul Giomatti.

Powerful, Compelling, Innovative

I was so impressed by this book! Truly an indictment of our completely backward justice system. Some really unexpectedly innovative paradigm shift ideas. Highly recommended

Judge a society by how it treats prisoners

This book raises issues that desperately need to be addressed by governments. The costs of not doing so are too high for any society that takes its duties seriously. Don’t take it from me -- take it from these guys.

“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
― Nelson Mandela

“It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“You can judge a society by how well it treats its prisoners”.
― Fyodor Dostoevsky

Amazing

Every American should read this book and examine our justice system in a new light!!

Really interesting and important, but too long

This book, about the fairness and unfairness of our criminal justice system, starts out with a bang. I was riveted. Every hour, though, and I felt the book drag a little more. Too much repetition with not as many fascinating anecdotes. Even though I stopped when I was about two-thirds of the way through this, the good parts were so good that I still recommend this. It is important and interesting material. It just suffered from a lack of good editing, so I just self-edited it. This book did succeed in getting me to look at criminal justice in a new way. Very good narration.

Eye opening!

Very interesting book. This really made me reconsider the assumptions I held about the fairness of the legal system. Everyone should know this stuff! It's scary to think how over reliant we are on such a flawed system!

Eye opener

Where does Unfair rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I had no idea that the judicial system was so faulty, I'm glad I picked this book.

Unfair seems unfair

In its bias toward defendants. Very little mention is made of the injustices prosecutors and victims face. Many good points and interesting facts. The performance seemed heartfelt/passionate.

A must read, for you, for society

Where does Unfair rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

An extremely important topic. Everyone should know the basics - and this book provides a wonderful basic review. It will not give you all the research on the topic, but it is a great crash course on how the (in)justice system works, from identifying suspects, to course hearings, to sentencing, to what to do next.

Good ideas

Good ideas but didn't like emphasis on technology. It makes human contact so artificial. Done