Real Justice: Jailed for Life for Being Black: The Story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

by Bill Swan

Overview

Rubin Carter was in and out of reformatories and prisons from the age of twelve. At twenty-four, he became a winning professional boxer and was turning his life around. But Carter was also very vocal about racism in the local New Jersey police force. In 1966, local policemen arrested Carter and a friend for a triple murder. The two were convicted and sent to jail for life. Carter spent nearly twenty years in jail, proclaiming his innocence. A teen from Brooklyn, Lesra Martin, heard Carter's story and believed he was innocent. He and a small group of Canadians contacted Carter and began working with Carter's lawyers in New York to get the boxer exonerated. In 1985, a judge released Carter, ruling that Carter's conviction had been based not on evidence, but on racism.

Carter moved to Canada in 1985, where until his death in 2014 he worked helping others prove that they had been wrongfully convicted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459406674
Publisher:	James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
Publication date:	10/06/2014
Series:	Lorimer Real Justice Series
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

BILL SWAN has worked as a journalism teacher, editor, and newspaper columnist. His first three novels, Fast Finish, Mud Run, and Off Track, are highly recommended by CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials. Mud Run was nominated for the Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. He is also the author of Corner Kick. He lives in Courtice, Ontario, with his wife and daughter.

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword
1 The Shooting
2 Night on the Town
3 Crime Scene
4 He's My Brother
5 Boxing Boast
6 A Title Shot
7 Bello's Story
8 The Trial
9 Life in Prison
10 Enter the Stars
11 The Second Trial
12 The Hole in the Wall
13 Lesra's Letter
14 Free at Last
15 Rescuing Others
After the Bell
i: Fighting for Others
ii: Hurricane: The Movie
iii: Dr. Rubin Carter
iv: The Heroes
Author's Note
Glossary
Additional Resources
Index

Editorial Reviews

"An inspiring story, especially for students facing obstacles similar to Carter’s— the speech impediment, the childhood abuse, the racism and all the travesties of justice that follow in its wake. A list of additional resources points those whose interest is piqued to a wealth of extra material."

Resource Links

"Students interested in the law or social justice will not be disappointed by this book. The brevity of chapters, judicious use of recreated dialogue, inclusion of two pages of photographs and a map of some key sites in Paterson should appeal to the intended audience...An inspiring, balanced portrait of a complex but inspiring man and the injustice that cost him two decades of freedom."

CM Magazine

09/01/2015
Gr 6 Up—Engaging true crime for hi-lo readers. Despite the odd-sounding title, A Police Mr. Big Sting Goes Wrong is a fascinating look at police tactics, wrongful convictions, and the inner workings of the criminal justice system. In 1990, Kylie Unger and his friends spent a night drinking and partying. In the morning, a 16-year-old girl was dead. The police used a tactic known as a "Mr. Big Sting" to trap the teen into making a false confession. The book details these events, his conviction, and fight to be acquitted. Jailed for Life recounts the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the middle-weight boxer who was wrongfully convicted of a triple murder, spent 20 years behind bars, and advocated against racist police practices. Written at a fourth-grade reading level with short, straightforward sentences and simple syntax that fits the true crime tone, these titles are ideal for sparking conversation on choice, prejudice, corruption, and social justice.

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