Above the Law: Secret Deals, Political Fixes, and Other Misadventures of the U.S. Department of Justice

Former New York Times reporter Burnham, who has investigated the Internal Revenue Service (A Law unto Itself), here offers a meandering, anecdotal survey of scandal and questionable practices, both past and present, within the vast U.S. Department of Justice. Justice includes not only agencies such as the FBI, the DEA and the INS but also the Attorney General and the 93 U.S. attorneys distributed around the country. The author's main conclusion: the department remains underscrutinized, which allows this ``chaotic, slipshod, almost medieval institution'' to ignore certain responsibilities and follow political pressure. Among his arguments: federal officials exaggerate crime statistics to promote their political agendas; the availability of high-tech equipment will allow federal gumshoes to act on ``ever higher levels of official paranoia''; a mix of class bias, political deals and bad laws has kept the department from truly prosecuting white-collar crime. Though unwieldy, this book remains a potent call for reform. (Feb.)