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On the lam : a history of hunting fugitives in America / Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019]Description: xv, 223 pages, 8 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781442262584
  • 1442262583
Subject(s):
Contents:
Price of freedom : the consequences of bail -- Long arms of the law : the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- The search for 'Handsome Johnny' : public enemies, John Dillinger, and the birth of the most-wanted lists -- Infamous and elusive : on the trail of the top ten -- Flights of fancy : fugitives in American popular culture -- A mind at unrest : the psychology of living on the run -- Setting the snares : methods of pursuit, from the great chicken sting to America's most wanted -- Caught in the World Wide Web : the digital age catches up to fugitives, and the bail system faces reforms.
Summary: "On the Lam is a detailed history of fugitives in the United States. The authors explore how law enforcement officials and others, including bounty hunters and bail-bond workers, have tracked fugitives over the past two centuries. They also examine how fugitives have influenced American history and the American criminal justice system"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 364.1097 C593 Available 33111009564713
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Fugitives occupy a unique place in the American criminal justice system. They can run and they can hide, but eventually each chase ends. And, in many cases, history is made along the way.



John Dillinger's capture obsessed J. Edgar Hoover and helped create the modern FBI. Violent student radicals who went on the lam in the 1960s reflected the turbulence of the era. The sixteen-year disappearance and sudden arrest of gangster James "Whitey" Bulger in 2011 captivated the nation. Fugitives have become iconic characters in American culture even as they have threatened public safety and the smooth operation of the justice system. They are always on the run, always trying to stay out of reach of the long arm of the law. Also prominent are the men and women who chase fugitives: FBI agents, federal marshals and their deputies, police officers, and bounty hunters.



A significant element of the justice system is dedicated to finding those on the run, and the most-wanted posters and true-crime television shows have made fugitives seemingly ubiquitous figures of fear and fascination for the public. In On the Lam, Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella trace the history of fugitives in the United States by looking at the characters - real and fictional - who have played the roles of the hunter and the hunted. They also examine the origins of the bail system and other legal tools, such as most-wanted programs, that are designed to guard against flight.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Price of freedom : the consequences of bail -- Long arms of the law : the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- The search for 'Handsome Johnny' : public enemies, John Dillinger, and the birth of the most-wanted lists -- Infamous and elusive : on the trail of the top ten -- Flights of fancy : fugitives in American popular culture -- A mind at unrest : the psychology of living on the run -- Setting the snares : methods of pursuit, from the great chicken sting to America's most wanted -- Caught in the World Wide Web : the digital age catches up to fugitives, and the bail system faces reforms.

"On the Lam is a detailed history of fugitives in the United States. The authors explore how law enforcement officials and others, including bounty hunters and bail-bond workers, have tracked fugitives over the past two centuries. They also examine how fugitives have influenced American history and the American criminal justice system"-- Provided by publisher.

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