Book Review: Framed by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey

John Grisham is so well known for his legal thrillers that he hardly needs any introduction, but he does occasionally dabble in nonfiction, taking a particular interest in cases that see our nation’s criminal justice system used to incriminate, convict, and sometimes kill innocent people. Jim McCloskey is a minister who founded Centurion Ministries, an organization devoted to freeing people who have been wrongly convicted of heinous crimes, who has also written a popular memoir. It only makes sense then that the pair would team up for this book that, through 10 true tales, highlights some serious flaws in the ways that American law enforcement functions at every level.

Thanks to the way the Police and our courts are portrayed in popular media, most of us rest easy thinking that the amount of innocent people sent to jail or, even worse, put to death for crimes they didn’t commit is miniscule. Not so, say Framed‘s authors before they lay out a series of thoroughly detailed stories proving their point.

In every one of the murder cases presented here, it becomes very clear that the Police have the wrong person, but both they and the D.A. refuse to look elsewhere, even when the real killer effectively falls into their laps. Exculpatory evidence is repeatedly withheld, often not coming out until months later, with prosecutors and sometimes even judges knowingly hiding facts that exonerate the people before them. Even more alarming is the number of documented instances in which evidence supporting their theories is simply made up out of thin air, a crime for which no one involved ever seems to be punished.

Each of the authors takes on writing duties for 5 cases, and while McCloskey’s inside knowledge of those he tackles means they are rich in detail, Grisham’s natural writing talent means his are slightly more engagingly written. That said, the material presented in all 10 is so shocking and outrageous, readers will be glued to the page either way.

Framed certainly doesn’t paint law enforcement in a very positive light, especially in Southern states like Texas which are heavily represented here, but it does offer up that not all officers and court employees are dishonest. In many cases, the truth is ultimately revealed when new, more honorable people are installed in these positions of power and finally release pertinent evidence, though sadly this doesn’t happen often enough.

Reading Framed will have your blood boiling at the horrible ways that these supposed “officers of the law” and the teams of grifters that orbit and support them directly and indirectly inflicted severe emotional and physical suffering on innocent Americans, many of whom were current or former members of our Armed Forces. In one particularly egregious example detectives constructed a ludicrous story that led to the wrongful arrest of 7 Navy sailors despite all of them being excluded by DNA evidence.

This may wind up being the most important book in either author’s career and despite how angry one gets while reading it, it shouldn’t be missed. It shatters our faith in the reliability of our court system and drives home the need for urgent reforms to ensure stories like these become as rare as we previously believed them to be. Framed should be required reading for all Americans, and perhaps especially those hired to protect and serve. ★★★★★