Crossing over the Line: Legislating Morality and the Mann Act - Couverture rigide

Langum, David J.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0226468801 ISBN 13 : 9780226468808

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 1994

Synopsis

This work describes the folly of the Mann Act of 1910 - a United States law which made travel from one state to another by a man and a woman with the intent of committing an immoral act a major crime. Spawned by a national wave of "white slave trade" hysteria, the Act was created by the Congress of the United States as a weapon against forced prostitution. This book provides a history of the Mann Act's often bizarre career, from its passage to the amendment that finally laid it low. Langum recounts the colourful details of numerous court cases to show how enforcement of the Act mirrored changes in America's social attitudes. He shows how federal prosecutors became masters in the selective use of the Act: against political opponents of the government, like Charlie Chaplin; against individuals who eluded other criminal charges, like the Capone mobster "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn; and against black men, like singer Chuck Berry and boxer Jack Johnson, who dared to consort with white women. In addition, the Act engendered a thriving blackmail industry and was used by women like Frank Lloyd Wright's wife to extort favourable divorce settlements.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Crossing over the Line describes the folly of the Mann Act of 1910 a United States law which made travel from one state to another by a man and a woman with the intent of committing an immoral act a major crime. Spawned by a national wave of "white slave trade" hysteria, the Act was created by the Congress of the United States as a weapon against forced prostitution. This book is the first history of the Mann Act's often bizarre career, from its passage to the amendment that finally laid it low. In David J. Langum's hands, the story of the Act becomes an entertaining cautionary tale about the folly of legislating private morality. Langum recounts the colorful details of numerous court cases to show how enforcement of the Act mirrored changes in America's social attitudes. Federal prosecutors became masters in the selective use of the Act: against political opponents of the government, like Charlie Chaplin; against individuals who eluded other criminal charges, like the Capone mobster "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn; and against black men, like singer Chuck Berry and boxer Jack Johnson, who dared to consort with white women. The Act engendered a thriving blackmail industry and was used by women like Frank Lloyd Wright's wife to extort favorable divorce settlements. "Crossing over the Line is a work of scholarship as wrought by a civil libertarian, and the text . . . sizzles with the passion of an ardent believer in real liberty under reasonable laws" Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

Biographie de l'auteur

David J. Langum is research professor of law at Samford University and the author of numerous books, including William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 1994
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0226468801
• ISBN 13: 9780226468808
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 2
• Nombre de pages: 324
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible