Illusion of Justice

Inside Making a Murderer and America's Broken System

By: Jerome F. Buting

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Interweaving an insider’s account of the true crime saga driving Netflix sensation Making a Murderer with other controversial cases from his career, this powerful memoir from Steven Avery’s defense attorney reveals the flaws in America's criminal justice system and puts forth a provocative, persuasive call for reform.

Not since The Thin Blue Line has there been a true crime saga as engrossing as Making A Murderer. Captivating audiences across demographic lines, it made Steven Avery a household name and thrust defense attorney Jerome F. Buting—and his fight against America’s dysfunctional criminal justice system—into the spotlight.

In Illusion of Justice, Buting uses the Avery case as a springboard to examine the shaky integrity of our law enforcement and legal systems, which he has witnessed firsthand for nearly four decades. From his early career as a public defender to his success overturning wrongful convictions, his story provides a compelling insider’s view into the high-stakes world of criminal defense, and suggests that while in principle the law presumes innocence, in practice it more often than not presumes guilt.

Combining narrative reportage with critical commentary and personal reflection, Buting explores his professional motivations, the high-profile cases that defined his career, and the path to much-needed criminal justice reform. Taking its place beside acclaimed bestsellers such as Just Mercy and The New Jim Crow, Illusion of Justice is a tour-de-force from a relentless and eloquent advocate for justice who is determined to fulfill his professional responsibility—and, in the face of overwhelming odds, make the judicial system work as it is designed to do.

Incredible

So incredibly well written. Brings very interesting things to light that it's so important for the public to know and start creating a much-needed change!

Great! Must Must read!

Everyone who is old enough to vote needs to read this amazing book. it is filled with many facts and areas we need to improve on in our justice system!

There is a lot to admire in Mr. Buting, and his book is good.

I still believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Steven Avery killed Theresa Halbach. But I also like Mr. Buting, and enjoyed his book. But I am not totally convinced that even he truly believes in Mr. Avery’s innocence.

I watched Mr. Buting in Making A Murderer during that scene with the vaccutube stopper, and I work in the medical field and knew that the hole in the top is not suspicious or sinister, and one can see that moment when he is totally deflated—-he thinks he has found actual proof of police conspiracy, and he is jumping for joy, and then he realizes that’s how the blood gets in a vaccutube.

But he doesn’t say, “I was mistaken, never mind, I didn’t know about vaccutube technology”. Of course instead he says, “Well, the state will just find some way to twist it around. No point in even trying to use this proof of police misconduct...”

To me, Mr. Butings book is an enjoyable memoir by a competent lawyer...and then it gets to the Steven Avery case, where every other attorney who writes a book explains their theory of the case, and he instead says something about how he doesn’t want to belabor the facts of this dead-horse case, so he’ll just argue the main points. And then he makes some points about everyone involved except Steven Avery, and then he sort of trails off...

But hey, you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t. It’s hard to argue innocence for someone who appears so clearly to be guilty and maintain credibility or make logical sense. Mr. Buting does as good a job as anyone can.

Sad injustice for our “justice department”

Absolutely great book! I finished in three days! I hope this promotes more people to want reform.

Absolutely tragic

I was mesmerized by the story, even though I had watched MAM. I highly recommend this book!