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We cannot avoid noticing that some institutions fail in their missions. The problem has existed since the dawn of civilization. Hopefully, individual and collective efforts arise to fix things.

One recently published book reveals a huge systemic problem overlooked until now. Another details efforts to combat workplace injustices, while a third suggests a formula for identifying the right person to lead resistance.

Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception and Injustice on the Gulf Coast, by Pamela Colloff, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2026, 320 pages

Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has overturned multiple convictions obtained through “junk science.” The U.S. Supreme Court ended the abuse, but prosecutors’ temptation to cut corners remains.

Pamela Colloff’s riveting book shines a light on the neglected problem of the “jailhouse snitch,” a prisoner who brings to the authorities fabricated confessions by fellow inmates in exchange for leniency or early release.

Relying on such evidence often results in tragedy, as Colloff, Texas writer and National Magazine Award winner, reveals. Paul Skalnik, the “devil” of this book, became a con-man extraordinaire, bilking his wives, friends and acquaintances out of their assets, writing bad checks and stealing property. The victim in Colloff’s investigation, Jim Dailey, a Vietnam vet who descended into alcoholism, had the misfortune of mixing with the wrong people.

Whenever authorities imprisoned Skalnik, he wriggled out by becoming a snitch. Despite suspicions about him from some who knew him, authorities kept using Skalnik. When not lying, he embellished facts already in the public domain. Prosecutors ignored that, too. He told them what they wanted to hear.

In 1984, Dailey watched his buddy kill. The murderer pointed at Dailey, but his claim lacked proof. Enter Skalnik, who concocted a confession. Dailey, now 80, remains on death row. Skalnik, meanwhile, graduated to a career sexually abusing girls as young as 12, while police covered up his crimes.

Lifeguard: A Love Story, by Janet Fash and Clio Chang, Simon & Schuster, 2026, 240 pages

This evocative memoir rekindled my memories of spending summers growing up in Rockaway Beach, Queens. Its first female chief lifeguard, Janet Fash, who always felt deep ties to the ocean, met her husband on the New York City beach. Now 66, she recounts the rescues and rambunctious behind-the-scenes camaraderie and hijinks among lifeguards.

Fash’s co-author, Clio Chang, a writer and a surfer, also lives in Rockaway. Together they expose the discrimination, sexual harassment and assault Fash and her female colleagues endured, the corruption in the union and the indifference of city officials.

The manipulative Peter Stein, who was the ultimate hiring authority for beaches, also served as union president. This illegal conflict of interest gave Stein almost dictatorial power. He hired loyal, if incompetent, lifeguards, while his paranoia led him to fail qualified candidates in the swimming test and exile those he feared.

Worst of all, Stein understaffed busy outposts. Needless drownings resulted, which he then concealed. He rigged union elections and succeeded in currying favor with politicians, including mayors.

Rebellious, Fash handled abuse with well-placed punches and insults. However, when it came to corruption, she was unable to fight it alone. Her colleagues stayed silent out of fear for their jobs.

Decades later, when she organized collective resistance, the work environment began to shift. Nevertheless, Stein retired without penalty, and the lifeguards his henchmen abused and raped never obtained redress.

How to Be a Dissident, by Gal Beckerman, Crown, 2026, 208 pages

Gal Beckerman, writer at The Atlantic and former book editor at the New York Times, has written a fascinating study analyzing the power to push back. Based on the lives of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, Václav Havel and others, he formulates 10 requirements for success.

“Dissident” literally means sitting apart, unlike people who succumb to conformity. Strict moral codes, including religion-based ones (which Beckerman, son of two Israelis, discounts), tend to compel dissent.

But successful dissidents mock their world and question everything, remaining realistic but persistent. They must combine cautious recordkeeping with bold, goal-oriented risk-taking, audacity, solidarity with others in their group, love of humanity and forward-thinking.

It comes down to exercising free will with clear eyes, Beckerman says. And remaining persistent. “The job of a dissident [is] to be vigilant,” he writes, “always ready with another ‘no.’”