Crime & the Politics of Hysteria

the long version

Remember Willie Horton? His ghost continues to haunt American politics as Republican candidates seek to make Democratic opponents look soft on crime. Republicans used his story to attack the state's Democratic governor, Michael Dukakis, in the 1988 presidential campaign, igniting a national controversy over negative advertising and racism. Why won't Willie Horton go away? In part because that controversy remains unresolved. In hindsight, however, as David C. Anderson argues in his compelling and sobering book, Crime and the Politics of Hysteria, it is apparent that Horton also stands for something far more specific than political tactics and taboos. His story is the locus classicus that inspires a particular kind of reaction, one that has abetted a disturbing shift in American attitudes. What was the real story of the Willie Horton case, and what was the real story of how his crimes were used by ambitious and deeply cynical politicians? And what has been the story's enduring - and deforming - impact on America's criminal-justice system? This startling and powerful book is both an investigation of and a meditation on the way some politicians and institutions play upon our deepest fears, exploiting them shamelessly. A violent tale told by a gifted reporter, Crime and the Politics of Hysteria is a mirror of our turbulent times.