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Finding Life On Death Row: Profiles of Six Inmates
Joseph Carl Shaw, a military policeman who suffered from schizophrenia and attempted to medicate himself with illegal drugs, committed three murders after being turned away from a mental health clinic; a court-appointed lawyer advised him to plead guilty and put his fate in the hands of a politically ambitious judge who sentenced him to death. Judy Haney was convicted of killing a man who had abused her and her children; she was represented by a lawyer who appeared in court so drunk that the presiding judge sent him to jail to dry out, and then later appointed the same lawyer to handle Haney's appeal.
For many prisoners on death row, the stories are similar, the dispensing of justice questionable. Katya Lezin now shows in this thought-provoking book how an array of factors often lead people to commit capital crimes -- and how perfunctory treatment by judges and court-appointed attorneys often leads them to death row.
Drawn from the case files of appeals attorney Stephen B. Bright, Lezin provides illuminating profiles of six convicted murderers, two of whom have been executed. She tells about the crimes, life circumstances that contributed to the capital offenses, the legal cases, and the torment endured by the families of the condemned. Her compelling portraits of these men and women underscore the question of whether the death penalty is more often imposed on the poorest and most vulnerable perpetrators rather than on the worst criminals.
Lezin's work goes behind the slogans of the war on crime to unmask the human face of capital punishment. It casts new light on the inequities inherent in the criminal justice system and offers food for thought for anyone struggling with the moral dilemmas raised by the death penalty.
For many prisoners on death row, the stories are similar, the dispensing of justice questionable. Katya Lezin now shows in this thought-provoking book how an array of factors often lead people to commit capital crimes -- and how perfunctory treatment by judges and court-appointed attorneys often leads them to death row.
Drawn from the case files of appeals attorney Stephen B. Bright, Lezin provides illuminating profiles of six convicted murderers, two of whom have been executed. She tells about the crimes, life circumstances that contributed to the capital offenses, the legal cases, and the torment endured by the families of the condemned. Her compelling portraits of these men and women underscore the question of whether the death penalty is more often imposed on the poorest and most vulnerable perpetrators rather than on the worst criminals.
Lezin's work goes behind the slogans of the war on crime to unmask the human face of capital punishment. It casts new light on the inequities inherent in the criminal justice system and offers food for thought for anyone struggling with the moral dilemmas raised by the death penalty.
- GenresTrue Crime
212 pages, Paperback
First published August 19, 1999
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 5, 2007
This is a book written from the lawyer's prospective who defended death row inmates during their appeals process. It also has writings and journal entries and letters from the inmates themselves. It shows the other side. Mentally handicapped people. People on prescription drugs for diseases they did not infact have that caused reactions and hallucinations, etc.
February 6, 2008
Interesting information, but not the most well written book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews