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Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice, Second Edition

byAlexandra Natapoff

Legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff exposes the largely hidden system of criminal informants, in which police and prosecutors trade leniency, money, or protection for information. Because deals occur with little transparency, unreliable testimony can produce wrongful convictions, unequal punishment, corruption, and violence against vulnerable people. The updated edition examines informant use from street-level cases to major investigations and explains how race, poverty, and prosecutorial discretion shape who bears the risks. Natapoff argues that snitching is not a marginal tactic but a widespread institution requiring disclosure, oversight, and enforceable limits.

Publisher

New York University Press

Publication date

2022

Format

Print edition

Pages

—

ISBN

9781479807697