Description

Book Synopsis
Crossing over the Line describes the folly of the Mann Act of 1910a United States law which made travel from one state to another by a man and a woman with the intent of committing an immoral act a major crime. Spawned by a national wave of white slave trade hysteria, the Act was created by the Congress of the United States as a weapon against forced prostitution. This book is the first history of the Mann Act's often bizarre career, from its passage to the amendment that finally laid it low. In David J. Langum's hands, the story of the Act becomes an entertaining cautionary tale about the folly of legislating private morality. Langum recounts the colorful details of numerous court cases to show how enforcement of the Act mirrored changes in America's social attitudes. Federal prosecutors became masters in the selective use of the Act: against political opponents of the government, like Charlie Chaplin; against individuals who eluded other criminal charges, like the Capone mobster Ma

Crossing over the Line Legislating Morality and

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    A Paperback / softback by David J. Langum

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      View other formats and editions of Crossing over the Line Legislating Morality and by David J. Langum

      Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
      Publication Date: 01/01/2007
      ISBN13: 9780226468709, 978-0226468709
      ISBN10: 0226468704
      Also in:
      Criminal law: procedure and offences

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Crossing over the Line describes the folly of the Mann Act of 1910a United States law which made travel from one state to another by a man and a woman with the intent of committing an immoral act a major crime. Spawned by a national wave of white slave trade hysteria, the Act was created by the Congress of the United States as a weapon against forced prostitution. This book is the first history of the Mann Act's often bizarre career, from its passage to the amendment that finally laid it low. In David J. Langum's hands, the story of the Act becomes an entertaining cautionary tale about the folly of legislating private morality. Langum recounts the colorful details of numerous court cases to show how enforcement of the Act mirrored changes in America's social attitudes. Federal prosecutors became masters in the selective use of the Act: against political opponents of the government, like Charlie Chaplin; against individuals who eluded other criminal charges, like the Capone mobster Ma

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