"On the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, Pearlman's new book American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton compares the explosive state of American race relations in 1968 to race relations today with insights from key participants and observersof the internationally-watched Oakland, California death-penalty trial that launched the Black Panther Party and transformed the American jury "of one's peers" to the diverse cross-section we often take for granted today. The book includes comments from Newton prosecutor Lowell Jensen, pioneering black jury foreman David Harper and TV journalist Belva Davis, as well as from Huey Newton's older brother Melvin Newton, former Panthers Kathleen Cleaver, David Hilliard and Emory Douglas. It also includes comments from civil rights experts including Bryan Stevenson, Barry Scheck and John Burris. American Justice on Trial also complements the documentary project of the same name by Arc of Justice Productions, Inc., a non-profit arts organization. The book incorporates quotes from filmed interviews for that historic project for which Pearlman is the co-producer and co-director with veteran documentarian Robert Richter. The progress of that film project can be followed at www.americanjusticeontrial.com." -- Publisher information.
