Publisher: Beacon Press
Pages: 288 pages
Publication Date: August 9, 2022 (paperback)
SCROLL DOWN FOR A GIVEAWAY!
Code of Silence tells the story of federal court employee Cathy McBroom, who had to flee her job as a case manager in Galveston, Texas, after enduring years of sexual harassment and assault by her boss-US District Judge Samuel Kent. Following a decade of firsthand reporting at the Houston Chronicle, investigative reporter Lise Olsen charts McBroom’s assault and the aftermath, when McBroom was thrust into the role of whistle-blower to denounce a federal judge.
What Olsen discovered by investigating McBroom’s story and other federal judicial misconduct matters nationwide was shocking. With the help of other federal judges, Kent was being protected by a secretive court system that has long tolerated or ignored complaints about corruption, sexism, and sexual misconduct-enabling him to remain in office for years. Other powerful judges accused of judicial misconduct were never investigated and remain in power or retired with full pay, such as US Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski and Kozinski’s mentee, Brett Kavanaugh
PRAISE FOR CODE OF SILENCE
Winner of the 2022 Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Book Award
Winner of the 2022 Texas Institute of Letters Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction
“Another “true crime” book is being published later this month. But Code of Silence by Lise Olsen is not like most books – or podcasts -of that popular genre. For starters, there is no murder. We know who dunnit from the beginning. And it is anything but insensitive toward the victims and their families, a common criticism of many true crime stories. The culprit this time wasn’t a marginal member of society. U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent was a federal judge, known for both his brilliance and his bullying.” –Rick Casey, San Antonio Report
“A gutting new #metoo book,” –Rose Cahalan, Texas Monthly
“A long overdue exposé on how the judicial system suppresses claims of sexual harassment against judges. In this new era of reckoning with sexual assault and harassment, Code of Silence is essential reading.” –Anita Hill
“Code of Silence is a beautifully written, disturbing as hell example of how the American experiment fails when it lets men set themselves up as kings.” –Houston Chronicle
(Available in Paperback on 8/9/22)
| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Beacon Press |
**autographed copies available through the following Texas Indie booksellers**
| Bookwoman (Austin) | Brazos Books (Houston) |
| Deep Vellum (Dallas) | Galveston Bookshop |
| Interabang Books (Dallas) | Literarity (El Paso) |
My Book Review of Code of Silence
Nonfiction books are supposed to help readers learn about information they have never known before. And in my opinion, at a nonfiction book’s core, it is supposed to be thought-provoking. So engaging that it makes you question while driving down the road at 75 mph how could have this been possible to even have happened? Making you further question is this still happening?
Author Lisa Olsen’s Code of Silence hits these marks fully on in this powerful storytelling.
Code of Silence delves into the tough subject matter of sexual harassment with an added twist of employees under Federal Judges. Olsen takes readers on a journey of how the first US federal judge was impeached over the sexual misconduct of his employees. The background history and ongoing story are presented in a timeline manner that flows quite well into each other. Not only all of this but bits of history are interwoven throughout the book. I did not know that Federal Judges got such hefty retirement salaries.
Lisa’s main character story needed to be told and written. Sadly, I did question after reading this book how many others have been or continue to be subjected to sexual misconduct at the hands of these jurists.
Love that the author followed through to the end with the main character of this book. Knowing that she has some resemblance to normalcy and peace is a heart-warming ending.
Code of Silence is a nonfiction book, written exceptionally well. It is an eye-opening book that comes at a time when women need to be heard the most and at their loudest. Combining that with it being also an immensely thought-provoking book that will make you pay attention to the smallest stories in the news because those stories may someday come to impact us all as women.
Lise Olsen is a Texas-based investigative reporter and author who has uncovered many twisted tales, including crooked judges, an unjust execution, massive environmental disasters, myriad cases of corruption, and unsolved serial killings. Her reporting has contributed to the prosecutions of a former congressman and a federal judge, inspired laws and reforms, helped solve cold cases, restored names to unidentified murder victims, and freed dozens of wrongfully-held prisoners. Her work is featured in CNN’s “The Wrong Man” (2015) about the innocence claims of executed offender Ruben Cantu and the six-part A&E series on the victims of a 1970s serial killer, The Eleven, (2017). CODE OF SILENCE is her first book – the paperback from Beacon Press is out August, 2022. She is at work on a second book: THE SCIENTIST AND THE SERIAL KILLER.
Website * Twitter * Instagram * Amazon
THREE WINNERS: Autographed copies of Code of Silence
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 8/13/22.)
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8/5/22 |
Top Ten List |
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8/8/22 |
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8/10/22 |
Author Interview |
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8/11/22 |
Review |
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8/12/22 |
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