Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty
- Downloads：6129
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-01-27 04:17:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Maurice Chammah
- ISBN：9781524760267
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Editor Reviews
10/05/2020
Journalist Chammah debuts with a nuanced and deeply reported account of evolving attitudes toward the death penalty in America。 Focusing on Texas， Chammah describes how pride in the state’s “frontier” brand of justice， coupled with a requirement that juries consider a defendant’s “future dangerousness” in capital cases， have led to more than 500 of the roughly 1，500 executions carried out in the U。S。 since the 1970s taking place in Texas。 He revisits headline-grabbing executions （Cameron Todd Willingham， Karla Faye Tucker， Gary Graham）; reviews Supreme Court decisions prohibiting the death sentence for juveniles and the intellectually disabled; and discusses the history of “racially motivated lynchings。” The book weighs the human toll of the death penalty through profiles of defense lawyers， prosecutors， and judges; wardens， guards， and prison chaplains who oversee executions; death row inmates; and， to a lesser extent， the families of victims。 Chammah complements his wide-angled perspective with deep dives into such specifics as the process of obtaining execution drugs， though readers may lose track of the many different cases and political and legislative battles he chronicles。 Still， this is a thorough， finely written， and unflinching look at one of the most controversial aspects of the American justice system。 （Jan。）
Reviews
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Paul Cohen
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Anyone concerned with justice in this country should read this important and deeply informed book， which is as essential as such classics on the death penalty as Raymond Bonner’s Anatomy of Injustice。 While the book is written in a journalistic， almost novelistic， style that will be accessible to the general public， its extensive section of notes and sources at the end provides ample support for all of the book’s facts and claims。 Chammah makes his narrative concrete by focusing on a small selec Anyone concerned with justice in this country should read this important and deeply informed book， which is as essential as such classics on the death penalty as Raymond Bonner’s Anatomy of Injustice。 While the book is written in a journalistic， almost novelistic， style that will be accessible to the general public， its extensive section of notes and sources at the end provides ample support for all of the book’s facts and claims。 Chammah makes his narrative concrete by focusing on a small selection of specific cases and individuals， but they are expertly chosen to represent the various issues which need discussion。He closes the book with a prominent attorney’s observation that trial lawyers are storytellers， but that， unlike a literary storyteller， “a lawyer cannot conclude the story。 She uses the story to leave the jury or the judge to favor the conclusion she wants， but then she must step back and wait for the conclusion: a decision in her favor or not。” Ultimately， Chammah writes， “it is up to all of us to decide the ending。” Like it or not， we all have the responsibility to decide whether capital punishment is the right thing for our society。 This is literally a life-or-death decision。 Chammah’s excellent book gives us the tools “to decide the ending” for ourselves。 。。。more
Sabrina
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This book by Maurice Chammah was a great read！ I have been a fan of Chammah’s work ever since reading articles written by him for the Marshall Project， and this book did not disappoint。 It was clear that the author did extensive research on the subjects of the book， and the interviews he featured were interesting and insightful。 I would have liked to see more focus on the criminal cases he mentioned in the book but I understand that the primary focus of the novel was the lawyers working on these This book by Maurice Chammah was a great read！ I have been a fan of Chammah’s work ever since reading articles written by him for the Marshall Project， and this book did not disappoint。 It was clear that the author did extensive research on the subjects of the book， and the interviews he featured were interesting and insightful。 I would have liked to see more focus on the criminal cases he mentioned in the book but I understand that the primary focus of the novel was the lawyers working on these cases。 I rated the book 3 stars because I agree with another reviewer in that the book did seem disjointed at times and some of the parts did not connect well with each other in my opinion。 Thank you to Random House and Crown Publishing for this ARC！ 。。。more
Dana
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Interesting。 New perspective on our prison system - life in prison or execution？ Interviews with those on death row。 I thought I knew my stand on the death sentence， now I'm not so sure。 Good read。 Interesting。 New perspective on our prison system - life in prison or execution？ Interviews with those on death row。 I thought I knew my stand on the death sentence， now I'm not so sure。 Good read。 。。。more
John Bishop
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The author， Maurice Chammah， paints a compelling picture of the past， current， and potential future of the death penalty in the American criminal justice system。 A largely even-handed approach to the subject matter and the people who color the pages of this book， Chammah lays out how and why America came to romanticize "frontier justice" and how our attitudes toward capital punishment are changing。 Chammah largely focuses on the stories of the prosecutors and defense attorneys who have battled o The author， Maurice Chammah， paints a compelling picture of the past， current， and potential future of the death penalty in the American criminal justice system。 A largely even-handed approach to the subject matter and the people who color the pages of this book， Chammah lays out how and why America came to romanticize "frontier justice" and how our attitudes toward capital punishment are changing。 Chammah largely focuses on the stories of the prosecutors and defense attorneys who have battled over the death penalty but paints a slightly more favorable light on those who are "caught in the middle" on the issue。 This is not a quarrel with the book， but it simply highlights the fact that the reader should determine for themselves where exactly they stand on the issue - as the subjects of the book have done in their own differing ways。I highly recommend this book to anyone。 。。。more
Kayla
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Overall I thought this was a great read。 It gives a good overview of the death penalty， particularly in the state of Texas， but it does branch out a bit beyond that。 It really only covers the last 50 years or so， and again mainly focuses on Texas， but it paints a good picture of the system as a whole。
Anna
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hmmm。。。I'm hovering between a 2。5 and 3 star rating for this one。 I'll start with what I appreciate about the book。 It's extensively researched and I can definitely appreciate the work that goes into interviewing people， sifting through archives， and parsing the language of court cases。 It's also a really accessible account of the legal and political landscape surrounding the death penalty in Texas （and nationally to a certain extent）。 The author doesn't get too bogged down in the legal details hmmm。。。I'm hovering between a 2。5 and 3 star rating for this one。 I'll start with what I appreciate about the book。 It's extensively researched and I can definitely appreciate the work that goes into interviewing people， sifting through archives， and parsing the language of court cases。 It's also a really accessible account of the legal and political landscape surrounding the death penalty in Texas （and nationally to a certain extent）。 The author doesn't get too bogged down in the legal details so I think this book ultimately is a good overview for someone who has a mild interest in understanding the legal mechanics of the judicial system。 My number one complaint is that the book feels extremely disjointed and hard to follow most of the time。 The chapters seem like they would be better off as standalone articles; there's not really any connection between the various sections。 When there were connections between multiple chapters， I found it hard to follow。 The author jumped between timeframes in weird and unpredictable ways。 I found myself going back a few pages many times in order to understand what was going on when the author rapidly flipped from one anecdote to the next。 I also feel like the title is an inaccurate description of the book。 This wasn't so much charting the "rise and fall" of the death penalty， but was more of a biographical account of the lawyers， judges， and death row inmates in Texas。 I missed the theme of "rise and fall。" I struggled to find the overarching theme or argument from the author。 Again， this book was more autobiographical/ethnographical。 Finally， at times I felt like it was overwritten。 Particularly when talking about the lawyers involved in the cases。 It's interesting to read about both prosecutor and defense attorney's responses to the cases， but there was too much anecdotal information that wasn't necessary to further the alleged theme of the book。 This isn't a bad book， but it's not the best either。Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC！ 。。。more
Roxanne
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I am from Calif and one of the items on the ballot a long time ago was voting for or against the death penalty。 I voted for it。 I do not know in the long run if if deterred crime or not。 This book is most interesting because it talks about the death penalty especially in Texas but across the nation also。 It comes from the perpective of prosecuters， judges， people who deal with this in the prisons， the prisoners themselves and their families。 This book gave me a lot to think to think about。 I hav I am from Calif and one of the items on the ballot a long time ago was voting for or against the death penalty。 I voted for it。 I do not know in the long run if if deterred crime or not。 This book is most interesting because it talks about the death penalty especially in Texas but across the nation also。 It comes from the perpective of prosecuters， judges， people who deal with this in the prisons， the prisoners themselves and their families。 This book gave me a lot to think to think about。 I have not changed my mind。 But it would be far better if our society did not have not murders to start with。 。。。more
Kim McGee
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A look at the death penalty in this country and all its implications focusing primarily on the Huntsville prison in Texas from the 1970's to the present。 The author gives a vivid and humanistic look at the inmates， their jailers and groups like the Texas Resource Center who sent young attorneys to help with getting a stay of execution or last minute appeals。 They worked tirelessly winning some and sadly attending the last minutes of their client's lives with others。 Even now， there are groups wh A look at the death penalty in this country and all its implications focusing primarily on the Huntsville prison in Texas from the 1970's to the present。 The author gives a vivid and humanistic look at the inmates， their jailers and groups like the Texas Resource Center who sent young attorneys to help with getting a stay of execution or last minute appeals。 They worked tirelessly winning some and sadly attending the last minutes of their client's lives with others。 Even now， there are groups who attend every scheduled execution at Huntsville to protest and pray outside those formidable walls。 Maurice Chammah is a journalist from Texas who gives a passionate and well-researched account and history of capital punishment and leaves it up to the reader to decide if this is well dispensed justice or a morally unacceptable part of our system。 My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy。 。。。more
Brenda
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Is the death penalty a deterrent？ Who "qualifies"？ Who are the decision makers at all levels？ This compelling book's focus is the death penalty in Texas from differing perspectives including those who made practice procedural runs for the first lethal injection， the families on both sides who watch （or don't）， the crowds outside the prison， prison workers and the legal team。 Of course the case for or against the death penalty， the question of morals and humane treatment and legislation are discu Is the death penalty a deterrent？ Who "qualifies"？ Who are the decision makers at all levels？ This compelling book's focus is the death penalty in Texas from differing perspectives including those who made practice procedural runs for the first lethal injection， the families on both sides who watch （or don't）， the crowds outside the prison， prison workers and the legal team。 Of course the case for or against the death penalty， the question of morals and humane treatment and legislation are discussed as well as the actual procedure and injection effects on the prisoner and those around him or her。 Judge Elsa Alcala and lawyer Danalynn Recer figure prominently throughout as we are given glimpses into their emotions and push for what they believed in。 Racial discrimination is another important discussion point in the book and as is shown has a lot of bearing on the outcomes of trials and imprisonment and sentences。 Mentions of last words and last meals add poignancy to the very sobering topic。。。they make it even more real。 It is fascinating to read about those who are physically involved in the deaths and how they do what they do and the toll it takes on them。 Another aspect I found intriguing was how several infamous prisoners faced their deaths。 A lot of history is included here， too。Be sure to read the thorough chapter notes at the back。 The depth of research involved in this book is staggering。My sincere thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this riveting and moving read in exchange for an honest review。 Much appreciated。 。。。more
Sara Broad
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