Chambers v. Florida and the Criminal Justice Revolution

In 1940, the United States Supreme Court decided in Chambers v. Florida to ban confessions obtained through mental or physical coercion in criminal trials. This landmark ruling laid the groundwork for many later protections for those in the custody of law enforcement. This book shows how the case contributed to what is now known as the “criminal procedure revolution,” a series of Supreme Court rulings that found protections in the Bill of Rights applied not only to defendants in federal cases but also to those in state legal systems.

Join Dr. Richard Brust as he discusses the trial in 1933 Pompano, Florida, that sparked this chain of events and how the landmark ruling is still impacting us today. His book Chambers v. Florida and the Criminal Justice Revolution was published by the University Press of Florida earlier this year and is a volume in the series Government and Politics in the South.