In Her Honor, Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell provides a rare and
thought-provoking insider account of our legal system, sharing vivid
stories of the cases that came through her courtroom and revealing the
strengths, flaws, and much-needed changes within our courts.
Judge Cordell, the first African American woman to sit on the Superior
Court of Northern California, knows firsthand how prejudice has
permeated our legal system. And yet, she believes in the system. From
ending school segregation to legalizing same-sex marriage, its progress
relies on legal professionals and jurors who strive to make the
imperfect system as fair as possible.
Her Honor is an entertaining and provocative look into the hearts and
minds of judges. Cordell takes you into her chambers where she haggles
with prosecutors and defense attorneys and into the courtroom during
jury selection and sentencing hearings. She uses real cases to highlight
how judges make difficult decisions, all the while facing outside
pressures from the media, law enforcement, lobbyists, and the friends
and families of the people involved.
Cordell's candid account of her years on the bench shines light on all
areas of the legal system, from juvenile delinquency and the shift from
rehabilitation to punishment, along with the racial biases therein, to
the thousands of plea bargains that allow our overburdened courts to
stay afloat--as long as innocent people are willing to plead guilty.
There are tales of marriages and divorces, adoptions, and contested
wills--some humorous, others heartwarming, still others deeply
troubling.
Her Honor is for anyone who's had the good or bad fortune to stand
before a judge or sit on a jury. It is for true-crime junkies and people
who vote in judicial elections. Most importantly, this is a book for
anyone who wants to know what our legal system, for better or worse,
means to the everyday lives of all Americans.
