Editing Rush to Judgment

{{Short description|1966 book by American lawyer Mark Lane}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox book
<!-- |italic title = (see above) -->
| name             = Rush to Judgment
| image            = File:Rush_to_Judgment_book_cover.jpg
| image_size    = 200
| caption          = Cover of first American edition
| author           = [[Mark Lane (author)|Mark Lane]]
| title_orig       = 
| translator       = 
| illustrator      = 
| cover_artist     = 
| country          = United States
| language         = 
| series           = 
| subject          = [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
| genre            = 
| publisher        = [[Holt, Rinehart & Winston]]
| pub_date         = August 1966
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type       = Print ([[hardcover]])
| pages            = 478 pp.
| isbn             = 
| oclc             = 4215197
| dewey            = 
| congress         = E842.9 .L3 1966a
| preceded_by      = 
| followed_by      = 
}}

'''''Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J.D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald''''' is a 1966 book by American lawyer [[Mark Lane (author)|Mark Lane]]. It is about the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy]] and takes issue with the investigatory methods and conclusions of the [[Warren Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836375-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104024942/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836375-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2012|title=Essay: Autopsy on the Warren Commission|publisher=Time Magazine|date=September 16, 1966}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/1992/9204/9204FIL.cfm|title=Oliver Stone's JFK in Historical Perspective|author=James N. Giglio|publisher=American Historical Association|date=April 1992}}</ref> The book's introduction is by [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]], [[Regius Professor of History (Oxford)|Regius Professor of History]] at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name="Chicago Tribune; May 23, 1966">{{cite news |last=Cassidy |first=Claudi |author-link=Claudia Cassidy |date=May 23, 1966 |title=On the Aisle: Preview of Mark Lane's 'Rush to Judgment,' In Inquiry into the Evidence's Other Side|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/05/23/page/47/article/on-the-aisle |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |at=Section 2, p. 5 |access-date=July 24, 2015}}</ref> Although it was preceded by a few self-published or small press books, ''Rush to Judgment'' was the first [[mass market]] [[hardcover|hardcover book]] to confront the findings of the Warren Commission.<ref name="Hoover">{{cite news |last=Hoover |first=Bob |date=November 2, 2013 |title=The Next Page: The JFK assassination conspiracy circus |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2013/11/03/The-Next-Page-The-conspiracy-circus/stories/201311030074 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |accessdate=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref>Prior authors included [[Harold Weisberg]] and Sylvia Meagher</ref>

The title of the book was taken from [[Lord Chancellor]] [[Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine|Thomas Erskine's]] defense of [[James Hadfield]], who had attempted to assassinate [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] in 1800.<ref name="Chicago Tribune; May 23, 1966"/> According to Alex Raskin of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', "''Rush to Judgment'' opened the floodgate for [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories]]".<ref name="Los Angeles Times; December 29, 1991">{{cite news |last=Raksin |first=Alex |date=December 29, 1991 |title=Nonfiction |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-29-bk-1707-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |access-date=May 4, 2015}}</ref>

[[Bertrand Russell]], who is thanked in the acknowledgements section of the book for being "kind enough to read the manuscript and make suggestions",<ref name=ack>{{cite book |last1=Lane |first1=Mark |title=Rush to Judgment |date=1992 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |page=25}}</ref> set up the ''Who Killed Kennedy? Committee'' in response to the book. This committee, in Russell's words, was set up "for the purpose of making known the material [Lane] has uncovered and his further findings".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ayer |first1=A.J. |title=Bertrand Russell |date=1988 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Bertrand |title=The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Volume 2 The Public Years 1914-1970 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |page=576}}</ref> [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] is also thanked in the acknowledgements section for the same reason.<ref name=ack/>

==Contents==
===''Rush to Judgment''===
''Rush to Judgment'' became a number one best seller and spent 29 weeks on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list.<ref>name=Hawes Publications | url=http://www.hawes.com/1966/1966-09-11.pdf, p.2 | url=http://www.hawes.com/1967/1967-03-26.pdf</ref> Lane questions, among other things, the Warren Commission conclusion that three shots were fired from the [[Texas School Book Depository]] and focus on the witnesses who had recounted seeing or hearing shots coming from the [[Dealey Plaza#Grassy knoll|grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza]]. Lane questions whether Oswald was guilty of the murder of policeman [[J.D. Tippit]] shortly after the Kennedy murder.  Lane also states that none of the Warren Commission firearm experts were able to duplicate Oswald's shooting feat.<ref>Bugliosi, p. 1005</ref>

According to former [[KGB]] officer [[Vasili Mitrokhin]] in his 1999 book ''[[Mitrokhin Archive|The Sword and the Shield]]'', the KGB helped finance Lane's research on ''Rush to Judgment'' without the author's knowledge.<ref name=Persico>{{cite news|last=Persico|first=Joseph E.|title=Secrets From the Lubyanka: A historian examines an archive of Soviet files smuggled to the West by a former K.G.B. agent|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/10/31/reviews/991031.31persict.html|accessdate=March 31, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 31, 1999|author-link=Joseph E. Persico|location=New York}}</ref> The KGB allegedly used journalist [[Genrikh Borovik]] as a contact and provided Lane with $2,000 for research and travel in 1964.<ref name=Bugliosi>[[Vincent Bugliosi|Bugliosi, Vincent]].  ''Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy''.  2007, Norton, {{ISBN|978-0-393-04525-3}} Pg. 162</ref><ref>Christopher Andrew and [[Vasili Mitrokhin]], ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB'', [[Basic Books]], 1999. Excerpted [http://www.jfk-online.com/mitrokhin.html here]. According to the book, Soviet journalists, including KGB agent [[Genrikh Borovik]], met with Mark Lane to encourage him in his research.</ref> Mark Lane called the allegation "an outright lie" and wrote, "Neither the KGB nor any person or organization associated with it ever made any contribution to my work."<ref name="LaneLetter">{{cite news |last1=Holland |first1=Mark |last2=Lane |first2=Mark |date=2 March 2006 |title=November 22, 1963: You Are There. Much mail has come in on the subject of Max Holland's "The JFK Lawyers' Conspiracy" |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/november-22-1963-you-are-there/ |url-status=dead |accessdate=20 August 2017 |work=[[The Nation]]}}</ref>

==Documentary==
{{Infobox film
| name           = Rush to Judgment
| image          = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| native_name      = <!--(for non-English films: film's name in its native language)-->
| director       = [[Emile de Antonio]]
| producer       = <!-- or: |producers = -->
| writer         = <!-- or: |writers = -->
| screenplay     = 
| story          = 
| based_on       = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| starring       = 
| narrator       = [[Mark Lane (author)|Mark Lane]]
| music          = 
| cinematography = 
| editing        = 
| studio         = <!-- or: |production_companies = -->
| distributor    = [[Impact Films]] 
| released       = {{film date|1967}}
| runtime        = 122 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = 
| budget         = 
| gross          = <!--(please use condensed and rounded values, e.g. "£11.6 million" not "£11,586,221")-->
}}
In 1967, a documentary film based on Lane's book was directed by [[Emile de Antonio]] and hosted by Lane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://akas.imdb.es/title/tt0060920/|title=Rush to Judgment|publisher=IMDb|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720141535/http://akas.imdb.es/title/tt0060920/|archive-date=2011-07-20}}</ref><ref>[[Robert Wilonsky]], ''[[Dallas Observer]]'' blog, 21 April 2011, [http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/04/from_the_film_vaults_rush_to_j.php From the Film Vaults: Rush to Judgment] (includes full film embedded from [[archive.org]])</ref> Some of the assassination witnesses who present their observations on-camera include Nelson Delgado, [[James Tague]], [[Charles Brehm]], [[Mary Moorman]], [[Lee Bowers]], Sam Holland, [[Jim Leavelle]], James Simmons, Richard Dodd, Jessie Price, [[Orville Nix]], Patrick Dean, Napoleon Daniels, Nancy Hamilton, Joseph Johnson, Roy Jones, Harold Williams, Penn Jones, Jr. and Acquilla Clemons.

==See also==
*[[List of American films of 1967]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External Links==
*{{imdb title|0060920}}

{{Assassination of John F. Kennedy|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rush To Judgment}}
[[Category:1966 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1967 films]]
[[Category:American documentary films]]
[[Category:Documentary films about the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Films directed by Emile de Antonio]]
[[Category:Non-fiction books about the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:The Bodley Head books]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]