Atrocious Judges by Richard Hildreth
May 2025
It might seem at first glance that Atrocious Judges: Lives of Judges Infamous as Tools of Tyrants and Instruments of Oppression is out of date, but the goal of this book was never to serve as a guide to legal practice or a source of judicial precedent (although it doesn’t do such a bad job of that latter function), but rather to provide examples of what can only be described as an inherent problem with the entire concept of a judicial system: bad judges. The sixteen examples are all English judges, but throughout the book the author sprinkles in similar examples by American judges—sometimes even an American judge will use an atrocious decision from England as an excuse and blueprint for making his own atrocious ruling on the same basic issue! After all, even if every law was composed by the most brilliant scholars and most accomplished writers, all with the wisdom of Solomon, what good would it do civilization if the judges ruling on the application of those laws are corrupt, stupid... or both?
The author was a well-respected journalist, author, and historian. His six-volume History of the United States of America arguably forms the foundation for all books about the history of early America, and his profoundly exposing novel The White Slave was so realistic, well-written, and troubling that to this day many people think it is non-fiction.
The author was a well-respected journalist, author, and historian. His six-volume History of the United States of America arguably forms the foundation for all books about the history of early America, and his profoundly exposing novel The White Slave was so realistic, well-written, and troubling that to this day many people think it is non-fiction.