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Tag Archives: Criminal Justice System – America

Crime and Prison Songs: “Jumpin’ Judy”

[display_podcast] In 1933, John and Alan Lomax visited prison farms in the South in the hope of recording African-American songs that dated back to the time of slavery. Their visits were based on the theory that the best places to find songs of slavery preserved in their purest form were in prison camps, with their […]

Early American Crimes: Burglary Wrap-Up

[display_podcast] Over the past year or so I have been writing about burglars and burglary in early America. To conclude this informal series I am going to try something a little different. Please click on the audio media file attached to this post to hear me talk about my reflections and conclusions about burglary in […]

Early American Criminals: Henry Tufts in the Castle

[display_podcast] Note: This post follows “Henry Tufts’s Partners in Crime.” While living in Massachusetts in 1793, Henry Tufts purchased a silver tablespoon and five teaspoons from John Stewart, who said he found them while clearing out a cellar. Tufts used the spoons until a neighbor recognized them as stolen and reported Tufts to the authorities. […]

In the Media: The Supreme Court and the Execution of Children

J. L. Bell, who writes the Boston 1775 blog, recently wrote a series of posts that breaks down the recent ruling by the Supreme Court on whether a life sentence for a seventeen-year-old convicted of two armed robberies–or for any juvenile offender who hasn’t committed murder–constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment to […]

In the Media: EAC on the Radio

I was recently interviewed by Leonard Sipes about “Early American Crime in the Media” for D.C. Public Safety Radio, which presents audio programs on crime, criminal offenders, and the criminal justice system. The program lasts a half hour and covers the criminal justice system in colonial America, how crime was covered in early American newspapers, […]