Lawrence M. Friedman & Robert V. Percival 
The Roots of Justice 
Crime and Punishment in Alameda County, California, 1870-1910

Focusing on a single county at a time when the population grew from 24, 000 to 246, 000, the authors combine statistical analysis of documentary sources, contemporary newspaper accounts, and exploration in criminal case files to give a detailed reconstruction of the operations of the county’s entire criminal justice system. By tracing the process from arrest to trial, sentencing, and punishment, this study will have a profound effect on our perception of American criminal justice.



Originally published in 1981.



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Robert V. Percival is Robert F. Stanton Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law.