French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times Book

The book details the creation, structure, and function of the Chicago Municipal Court (1906), which was a model for numerous other American jurisdictions and the flagship of the Progressive socialized law movement. The local is key to understanding the criminal justice system in the United States, and the book does an excellent job providing an account of daily operations and their significance. Case studies of the Domestic Relations, Morals, and Boys' courts, as well as the Psychopathic Laboratory, illustrate how socialized law was implemented in Chicago and the effects it had on the defendants moving through the system.