My original purpose in creating the Famous Trials site was a very modest one. I wanted to post a variety of background materials for students enrolled in my Famous Trials Seminar. There is no single text that works for such a seminar, and requiring my students to purchase, say, fourteen books about fourteen trials seemed out of the question. Soon, however, I discovered through e-mails that there was a wider audience for such materials.

My purpose shifted over time. Now, I see my principal audience as high school, college, and law school instructors and students. Sure, I also hope the site will serve as a useful starting point for the serious scholar working on a major book or paper on one of the trials covered on the site. But the site does not pretend to be archival in the traditional sense. Most of the trial transcripts for the thirty-plus trials on the site run into the thousands of pages. Without grants and without significant university resources, there is simply no way that I can scan such voluminous materials and post them in complete form on the site. In fact, such a massive posting of materials would run counter to my basic goal of providing a clear, concise, and reasonably balanced understanding of the trials. Transcripts can be overwhelming. I’ve tried to present some of the most important and compelling testimony, and leave out materials that are less significant–and often mind-numbingly repetitive. I might add that editing transcripts is time-consuming work–but work that I have found important enough to justify several trips to the National Archives and other archival libraries where such transcripts are found.

Un site fascinant et fort bien documenté sur les grands procès qui ont secoué les Etats-Unis.

Source : University of Missouri-Kansas School of Law.