No More Wacos: What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It

by David B. Kopel, Paul H. Blackman

Waco and Ruby Ridge were neither conspiracies nor flukes. They represent the worst-case scenario of problems that now plague federal law enforcement, including its militarisation, judicial rubberstamping of search and arrest applications, aggressive and violent arrest procedures, indifference to religious beliefs, the complicity of an overzealous media, and failed congressional investigations. In "No More Wacos", David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman use their expertise in law and criminology to outline the evidence in these cases and dozens of others to explain how and why such tragedies occur. Meticulously documented, this volume analyses all sides of this complex flawed search warrants, authorities ignoring the difference between religious and criminal suspects, and intra-governmental deception, among other issues. Whenever problems are found, specific remedies are proposed - over one hundred solutions in all - both comprehensive and technical in nature. Each is offered in the hope of preventing future Wacos by properly placing federal law enforcement under the rule of law.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

532 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 1997

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a carefully researched analysis of the 1993 Waco siege. The authors have explicit opinions concerning the appropriate lessons of that event, but they take great pains to justify their conclusions with thousands of citations. Even better, they are careful to present evidence that weakens their position. This thoroughness does not make for the most engaging reading (there is a fair amount of repetition; the last chapter, however, picks up quite a bit), but I whole-heartedly approve of their decision to favor completeness over style. The book is frequently interspersed with historical and legal gems presented so concisely and with such insight that, after reading them, one has trouble remembering how one used to formulate them differently. Some of these topics include the Posse Comitatus Act and the distinction between law enforcers and the military, the War on Drugs and the manner in which it has blurred this distinction, the necessity of unequivocally enforcing rules against submitting improperly-obtained evidence in court, the necessity of defining religious freedom in the broadest possible terms, and a description, beginning with Prohibition, of the increasing powers of federal law enforcement. In fact, this latter point was especially striking to me. To read a book written half a decade before 9/11 where the major players use all of the same language that characterized the post-9/11 freedom-versus-security debate was very striking; to see early vestiges of that language which dated back to the '20s was even more so.

my favorite quote: "One symptom of groupthink is deindividuation, which results in individuals becoming less self-aware, and more inclined to go along with group decisions. Rather than taking personal responsibility for their own actions, de-individuated people see responsibility as diffused and placed on the group as a whole."

[Joe Martin]

No More Wacos: What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It by David B. Kopel (1997)

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting the federal gov't out of law enforcement

[Fred Leland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book that gets into the details and decision making during the Waco incident.