Andrew Hacker

Borrowing looms large in American life from homes to cars. But the explosion of student debt in the last few decades is a pernicious trend that colleges are helping to feed.

Lawyers may not serve on American juries, and jurors may not ask lawyer-like questions. “Most lawyers would rather have juries grope in the dark than exercise an independent judgment,” says the author, after serving on the jury of “a typical New York murder” trial. So the “truth” must be discerned on the basis of selected and conflicting evidence.