Leo's Book Wins Criminal Justice Award
November 18, 2009
Associate Professor Richard Leo received the prestigious Outstanding Book Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences for his book Police Interrogation and American Justice.
The award honors a book that provides an extraordinary contribution to the study of crime and criminal justice.
Leo's book exposes the structure and development of police interrogation methods and examines the manipulative nature of systematic police questioning. He argues with case studies and police evidence that forceful interrogation often coerces criminals into false confessions and wrongful convictions. The book was also the co-winner of the Herbert Jacob Book Prize this year and won the 2009 Honorable Mention for Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship from the Pacific Sociological Association.
The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, of which Leo is a member, is an international association that promotes professional and scholarly activities in the criminal justice field. The awards ceremony will take place in San Diego at their annual meeting in February.
"Richard's books represent great scholarship in an area critical to the well being of our nation," USF School of Law Dean Jeffrey Brand said. "At a time when due process is under attack on many fronts, Richard's works are an emphatic reminder that undermining the constitutional rights of criminal defendants undermines the strength of our democracy."