Reveals the secretive, inaccurate, and often violent ways that the
American criminal system really works
Curtis Flowers spent twenty-three years on death row for a murder he did
not commit. Atlanta police killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a
misguided raid on her home. Rachel Hoffman was murdered at age
twenty-three while working for Florida police.
Such tragedies are consequences of snitching. Although it is nearly
invisible to the public, the massive informant market shapes the
American legal system in risky and sometimes shocking ways. Police rely
on criminal suspects to obtain warrants, to perform surveillance, and to
justify arrests. Prosecutors negotiate with defendants for information
and cooperation, offering to drop charges or lighten sentences in
exchange. In this book, Alexandra Natapoff provides a comprehensive
analysis of this powerful and problematic practice. She shows how
informant deals generate unreliable evidence, allow serious criminals to
escape punishment, endanger the innocent, and exacerbate distrust
between police and poor communities of color.
First published over ten years ago, Snitching has become known as the
"informant bible," a leading text for advocates, attorneys, journalists,
and scholars. This influential book has helped free the innocent, it has
fueled reform at the state and federal level, and it is frequently
featured in high-profile media coverage of snitching debacles. This
updated edition contains a decade worth of new stories, new data, new
legislation and legal developments, much of it generated by the book
itself and by Natapoff's own work. In clear, accessible language, the
book exposes the social destruction that snitching can cause in
heavily-policed Black neighborhoods, and how using criminal informants
renders our entire penal process more secretive and less fair. By
delving into the secretive world of criminal informants, Snitching
reveals deep and often disturbing truths about the way American justice
really works.
