The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Amazon.com

John Grisham tackles nonfiction for the first time with The Innocent Man, a true tale about murder and injustice in a small town (that reads like one of his own bestselling novels). The Innocent Man chronicles the story of Ron Williamson, how he was arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit, how his case was (mis)handled and how an innocent man was sent to death row. Grisham's first work of nonfiction is shocking, disturbing, and enthralling--a must read for fiction and nonfiction fans. We had the opportunity to talk with John Grisham about the case and the book, read his responses below. --Daphne Durham

20 Second Interview: A Few Words with John Grisham

Q: After almost two decades of writing fiction, what compelled you to write non-fiction, particularly investigative journalism?
A: I was never tempted to write non-fiction, primarily because it's too much work. However, obviously, I love a good legal thriller, and the story of Ron Williamson has all the elements of a great suspenseful story.

Q: Why this case?
A: Ron Williamson and I are about the same age and we both grew up in small towns in the south. We both dreamed of being major league baseball players. Ron had the talent, I did not. When he left a small town in 1971 to pursue his dreams of major league glory, many thought he would be the next Mickey Mantle, the next great one from the state of Oklahoma. The story of Ron ending up on Death Row and almost being executed for a murder he did not commit was simply too good to pass up.

Q: How did you go about your research?
A: I started with his family. Ron is survived by two sisters who took care of him for most of his life. They gave me complete access to the family records, photographs, Ron's mental health records, and so on. There was also a truckload of trial transcripts, depositions, appeals, etc., that took about 18 months to organize and review. Many of the characters in the story are still alive and I traveled to Oklahoma countless times to interview them.

Q: Did your training as a lawyer help you?
A: Very much so. It enabled me to understand the legal issues involved in Ron's trial and his appeals. It also allowed me, as it always does, to be able to speak the language with lawyers and judges.

Q: Throughout your book you mention, The Dreams of Ada: A True Story of Murder, Obsession, and a Small Town. How did you come across that book, and how did it impact your writing The Innocent Man?
A: Several of the people in Oklahoma I met mentioned The Dreams of Ada to me, and I read it early on in the process. It is an astounding book, a great example of true crime writing, and I relied upon it heavily during my research. Robert Mayer, the author, was completely cooperative, and kept meticulous notes from his research 20 years earlier. Many of the same characters are involved in his story and mine.

Q: You take on some pretty controversial and heated topics in your book--the death penalty, prisoner's rights, DNA analysis, police conduct, and more--were any of your own beliefs challenged by this story and its outcome?
A: None were challenged, but my eyes were open to the world of wrongful convictions. Even as a former criminal defense attorney, I had never spent much time worrying about wrongful convictions. But, unfortunately, they happen all the time in this country, and with increasing frequency.

Q: So many of the key players in this case are either still in office or practicing attorneys. Many family members and friends still live in the same small town. How do you think The Innocent Man will impact this community and other small rural towns as they struggle with the realities of the justice system?
A: Exonerations seem to be happening weekly. And with each one of them, the question is asked--how can an innocent man be convicted and kept in prison for 20 years? My book is the story of only one man, but it is a good example of how things can go terribly wrong with our judicial system. I have no idea how the book will be received in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, or any other town.

Q: What do you hope your readers will take away from The Innocent Man?
A: A better understanding of how innocent people can be convicted, and a greater concern for the need to reimburse and rehabilitate innocent men after they have been released.

Book Description

John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.

In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory.

Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits—drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.

In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder.

With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

Customer Reviews:

Unbelievable In This Day and Age.......2007-09-30

I read this book thinking it had to be another Grisham work of fiction because if the story were true, America is in trouble.
This story is riveting, fast-paced and shows how truly horrible our justice system can be for those who can't afford a "Johnny Cochran".
I couldn't put this book down. The more you read the more you can't believe it really happened. Thank goodness for the pictures of the people in this story, it really brought home the fact that it's a true story.
Excellent job by Mr. Grisham.

Real Life Horror.......2007-09-29

"The Innocent Man" is a chronicle of Ron Williamson (former minor league baseball star), his life and ordeal as he was wrongly accused of murder and sentenced to death row as a result. He was forced to suffer this horror for 11 years until finally the system began to work for him, but only through the diligence and persistence of attorneys assigned to him years later, Mark Barrett and Barry Scheck, his loving mother and persistent sisters, in particular, his sister Annette. The cruelties and disrespect by the officers and District Attorney Bill Peterson that were inflected on him were horrifying. The shabby police work and "junk science," as well as the district attorney's expert witnesses (a majority of them picked from men and women serving time for horrendous crimes themselves) and brought to the stand to testify against Ron, was not only incomprehensible in itself but the fact that the Judge allowed their testimony to stand and control a man's life sentence is abominable. Ron's hometown of Ada, Oklahoma completely turned on him and he was proven guilty without a shred of hard evidence as was his friend, a respected 7th grade Science teacher, Dennis Fritz, merely by association. The book goes on to tell Ron's sad story as only it can be told by such an esteemed author/attorney as John Grisham. I would highly recommend everyone read this true story; it is a real eye opener as to how our justice system can go astray with the wrong people serving in our trusted government positions.

No good ending here.......2007-09-27

I seldom read Grisham but found his first non-fiction work hard to put down. The story of Ron Williamson has no happy ending. Not for Ron nor the young woman who was so brutually murdered.

Grisham does an excellent job of drawing us into the story. If you have never experienced justice (or lack of) in a small town you need to read this book. Had Ron lived in New York City or even Dallas he may have gone unnoticed wandering the streets and babbling like a mad man. But not in Ada, OK.

Lack of remorse in Oklahoma.......2007-09-26

This story had a tremendous impact on me. I support the death penalty but was abhorred to see how flippantly it was applied in Ada Oklahoma. Read this book first and then log onto District Attorney Peterson's web site to read his defense of his actions that were the subject of the book. The first thing he displays on his website is the American flag. Then he has a lengthy and tedious defense of all the minor points in Grisham's novel. He provides statistics on the probability of innocent people being convicted of felonies as if this is excuses him for almost sending an innocent person to his death. Peterson tries to blow off Grisham as an anti-death penalty advocate. I truly fear for the soul of Mr. Peterson and the good people of Ada Oklahoma - a bit of remorse and repentance for what they almost did to an innocent man would help them when they meet their Maker. Hiding behind the American flag might help now but certainly not later!

Had it been a work of fiction I would have given it 1 star..........2007-09-18

... but it's not. It only looks like fiction in bad taste. Instead, this truly happened as described.

I'm not summarizing the story as the editorial reviews and most reviewers before me are quite descriptive.
May I just say that I think that every judicial system has its share of faults and flaws, but what's revealed in this book is simply astonishing and unbelievable from beginning to end. I can only hope that it rattles a few consciences whilst increasing awareness to prevent disastrous consequences for those involved.

As it always happens when I read J. Grisham's books, I've appreciated and enjoyed the clear and well structured narrative, even more so on this occasion. Being a real-life story, I'm sure it must have been quite a task to extrapolate all the relevant facts from all the interviews and paperwork generated by this case during the years, in order to present them clearly to the readers.

Unless you already know the epilogue, try not to peek at the photographs published right in the middle of the book. Some are quite revealing for the yet-to-be-read rest of the story. They don't actually "spoil everything" -in fact, whatever unfolded after turning those pages kept me on the alert and as incredulous as ever- but I still think it would have been preferable to print them at the very end of the book.

A part from that, "The Innocent Man" is highly recommendable.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row

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Very Moving
Interesting peek into San Quentin
Escaping from our own prisons
Changes lives of my students every year
Spirituality At Its Best

Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row
Jarvis Jay Masters
Manufacturer: Padma Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 188184708X

Book Description

Finding Freedom is a collection of prison stories - sometimes shocking, sometimes sad, often funny, always immediate-told against a background of extreme violence and aggression, written by a prisoner on death row who has become a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism.

Customer Reviews:

Very Moving.......2007-09-10

I first spotted this book when I had half an hour up my sleeve on the way to a visit at Bunbury Prison. It moved me big time.

In my working capacity over the years as a teacher and facilitator within the Western Australian Prison system I have often used chapters of this book as a pivotal point in my classes.

I am sure Jarvis would be pleased to know that this book has moved the lives of many - including that of many prisoners. To demonstrate how freedom can be found under circumstances of incarceration until death with stories that prisoners can truly relate to is an awesome feat.

The story about the 4th of July really provoked much deep and meaningful discussion.

'Scars', and 'My Sisters' really got them thinking too.

But this book is not only of great benefit to prisoners; it's messages are universal to us all.

Interesting peek into San Quentin.......2007-01-12

This book was an easy read, and gave me a good sense of what it was like for Masters to go from angry to peaceful in prison. It's not professionally written, but one wouldn't expect it to be. I think it would be interesting to people who study prison psychology, violence, Buddhism and meditation, and/or personal growth and transformation.

Escaping from our own prisons.......2006-09-18

This book was deeply moving on many levels, but I was especially struck by how Jarvis Masters was able to find freedom possibly the worst situation one could be in, while many of us, with relatively good lives, never question our own imprisionment. We're all in one sort of prison or another. Jarvis was shown a path to his own freedom, and in the true Boddhisatva tradition, he makes that path clear to the rest of us. Jarvis is an inspiration and one hopes that his message will be read by all.

Changes lives of my students every year.......2005-05-10

Since I began using this book in my 11th grade American Literature/Contemporary Composition classes a few years ago, students have consistently remarked that it has changed the way they view life, the world, and themselves. They consistently say that it is the most meaningful literature we read all year. From Jarvis, they learn life lessons and how to go beyond self-pity and anger. Jarvis is a beautful man and I recomend this book heartily to anyone wishing to open their heart.

Spirituality At Its Best.......2004-01-30

I recommend that anyone who is seeking to be spiritual read this book. Jarvis Masters provides a shining example of compassion in action in cirumstances where it is very difficult to be a holy human being.

The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions

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Scraping Bottom For A Cause
Helen Prejean at her very best
A Topic always worth thinking about, but not convincing to me
Three Florida cases: Jerry Rogers, Roy Swafford, Peter Ventura
A Devastating Read

The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions
Helen Prejean
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679759484
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Amazon.com

Since the 1993 publication of her memoir Dead Man Walking and the 1995 film it inspired, Sister Helen Prejean has become a powerful and articulate presence in the fight against the death penalty in America. In The Death of Innocents, Prejean focuses her argument on the ways in which an unjust system may be killing innocent people. She tells the story of two inmates she came to know as a spiritual adviser. Dobie Williams, a poor black man with an IQ of 65 from rural Louisiana, was executed after being represented by incompetent counsel and found guilty by an all-white jury based mostly on conjecture and speculation. Joseph O'Dell was convicted of murder after the court heard from an inmate who later admitted to giving false testimony for his own benefit. O'Dell received neither an evidentiary hearing nor potentially exculpatory DNA testing and was executed, insisting on his innocence the whole while. Besides exploring the shaky cases against them, Prejean describes in vivid detail the thoughts and feelings of Williams and O'Dell as their bids for clemency fail and they are put to death. The second part of the book details "the machinery of death," the legal process that Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, dismayed at the inequities of the death penalty, cited as his reason for resigning and that current justice Antonin Scalia has boasted of being a part of. Prejean is impassioned as she describes what she sees as an arrogant attitude by both Scalia and the contemporary judicial system. Her chance confrontation with Scalia at an airport is a gripping collision of disparate worlds. In recent years, DNA testing has overturned the convictions of scores of prisoners, including many on death row. As the death penalty is increasingly called into question, Sister Helen Prejean will surely be a force in that debate. --John Moe

Book Description

From the author of the national bestseller Dead Man Walking comes a brave and fiercely argued new book that tests the moral edge of the debate on capital punishment: What if we’re executing innocent men? Two cases in point are Dobie Gillis Williams, an indigent black man with an IQ of 65, and Joseph Roger O’Dell. Both were convicted of murder on flimsy evidence (O’Dell’s principal accuser was a jailhouse informant who later recanted his testimony). Both were executed in spite of numerous appeals. Sister Helen Prejean watched both of them die.

As she recounts these men’s cases and takes us through their terrible last moments, Prejean brilliantly dismantles the legal and religious arguments that have been used to justify the death penalty. Riveting, moving, and ultimately damning, The Death of Innocents is a book we dare not ignore.

Customer Reviews:

Scraping Bottom For A Cause.......2007-07-01

Neither of the two men executed in this book were innocent. Evidence against both of them was overwhelming and convincing - especially to the numerous juries and judges who heard these cases and appeals.

It's interesting to me that liberal do-gooders like Ms. Prejean never seem to champion the cause of crime victims, or even law abiding citizens.

I'm glad the states of Louisiana and Virginia decided to put victims first, and these two losers last - dead last.

Helen Prejean at her very best.......2006-11-15

All those who support "lawful" executions must read this book. It should give even the most ardent supporters pause to think. This may be especially true for those public officials still in office today.

A Topic always worth thinking about, but not convincing to me.......2006-08-15

The facts of Prejean's first book have been disputed by victims and others. The truth isn't always obvious, but putting together Prejean's remarks in her book about Robert Lee Willie; the interviews that they both gave; Debbie Morris's account in Forgiving the Dead Man Walking: Only One Woman Can Tell the Entire Story, of what Prejean told her; the testimony of other witnesses, I'd have to say that she was lying when she described him as remorseful, and her credibility is compromised. Prejean is also willfully gullible when it comes to her advisees; she isn't so trusting with everyone. The first part of this book deals with the cases of two executed men whom Prejean claims were innocent. I don't know whether to believe her or not.

I also found this book considerably less moving since it does not include the soul-searching that made her first book so profound. Prejean is now apparently much more confident of her own righteousness, or at least less inclined to acknowledge other points of view.

The second part is arguments against the death penalty. Here Prejean is talking particularly, though not exclusively, to fellow Catholics, pointing out the changes in the Church's teachings. As an atheist, I will only say that I agree with Walter Berns in For Capital Punishment: the Christian model of redemption, presided over by an all-knowing god, is not a suitable model for a human legal system.

Prejean would argue that our lack of omniscience is a chief reason why we should not condemn anyone to death; life-without-parole is an adequate substitute. In my opinon, if we release a person we have good reason to believe is dangerous, we are an accessory to further violence. Not as guilt as if we executed an innocent person, but still guilty. If we didn't have the death penalty, I don't believe that we would have life without parole. I can remember the 1960s and 1970s: Karl Menninger's book The Crime of Punishment sums it up: "men of science" would "cure" criminals. Prejean's argument that we cannot predict future behavior is thus deeply ironic. Many of the people now arguing for life-without-parole used to argue for short sentences, employing the same basic arguments presented here. Hugo Bedau argued that surely ten years was enough for any crime, however heinous. If the death penalty is eliminated, I assume that many abolitionists will revert to their earlier, more sincere beliefs and campaign for quick parole. Having a death penalty is a very crude solution, but I don't know of any other.

In Dead Man Walking, Prejean quotes Susan Jacoby's brilliant book, Wild justice: The evolution of revenge. Jacoby argues that state justice exists partly to restrain excessive vengeance, like blood feuds, but "`... law exists not only to restrain retribution but to mete it out ... A society that is unable to convince individuals of its ability to exact atonement for injury ... runs a constant risk of having its members revert to wilder forms of [vigilante] justice.'" [brackets Prejean's] I think that our society lost its faith not so much in the ability as the will of the legal system to exact atonement.

I have discussed this at length with a friend who is a pre-sentencing investigator, who thus talks to everyone involved in a case and sees the final outcome. While our politicians may strut about talking about getting tough, existing laws may be unenforced and people get out the back door. In some states, parole agreements are unenforceable; probation is piled upon probation; parole is granted simply for time, not behavior. We are told that it is the public's fault: we refuse to pay for an adequate legal system. But since the "get tough" is considerably more public than the loopholes, I think this is doubtful. It's like maintaining any infrastructure: the temptation is always to shave here and shave there to finance more visible projects, knowing that it will take awhile for the neglect to become obvious.

Prejean also brings up a number of my least favorite arguments:
1. "The legal system is unfair to the poor and minorities". Eliminating capital punishment only solves this if unfairness only affects capital cases, or if you think a wrongful lengthy prison sentence is a trifle. I attended a debate on the death penalty: someone suggested that the solution is to provide a better defense. I thought this was a brilliant idea, benefitting all indigent defendants, not just the tiny fraction up on capital charges. The opponents of the death penalty said that it is impossible to improve the quality of the defense. There are at least three different systems for providing counsel to the poor - surely they can't all work the same. And the justice (or injustice) meted out to the wealthy shows that a defense can be much more effective. I also don't see how it would help the victims of crimes that the legal system more or less ignores. Do they want others to be treated as badly as they are, or do they want to be taken seriously?

2. "It is unfair that different jurisdictions hand down different penalties". No, we deliberately set up a system that allows these differences. Anyone who doesn't like it can certainly campaign to change the constitution, but that's the system now. It is also inappropriate to judge individual states by nationwide statistics. Further, if we require uniformity, more states have the death penalty than don't - a scale can be balanced from both sides.

3. "If something is wrong for an individual, it is wrong for the government". In that case, the government has no right to imprison people, either, let alone collect taxes, enforce public health laws, etc.

Prejean's statistics leave a lot to be desired. They are incomplete or inappropriately applied, e.g., taking statistics from "The Death Belt" and applying them to the entire country. Prejean also uses an "any weapon that comes to hand" approach that means that she talks out of both sides of her mouth: the death penalty is unconstitutional in Texas because they use it too much, and unconstitutional because most of the states only rarely apply it. I'm rather incredulous that Prejean says that human beings can't make distinctions: I think I can see the difference between killing someone because one's car skidded on ice and being a serial killer.

Three Florida cases: Jerry Rogers, Roy Swafford, Peter Ventura.......2006-07-01

Jerry Layne Rogers, Sr. -- wrongfully convicted and innocent. From 1989 - 1992, I was his investigator at CCR [The Office of Capital Collateral Representative, a state agency representing death-sentenced persons].

Mr. Rogers' case consisted in 1992 of at least 80 boxes of documents, from court files, prosecutor and law enforcement files, trial and evidentiary hearing transcripts, etc. Mr. Rogers's case was the largest and most complicated that CCR has ever represented that I am aware of.

The second largest and most complicated was that of Mr. Gerald Stano, whose lead attorney during most of the development of his case was Mark E. Olive.

In 1995, Mr. Rogers began receiving pro bono representation from the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling. The result was an unanimous Florida Supreme Court (FSC) 26 page opinion ordering a new trial in Mr. Rogers' case due primarily to prosecutorial misconduct, in particular Brady v. Maryland violations.

To read the opinion, go to the FSC website, then at "Public Information", to the recent opinions, to the year 2001, then toward the bottom at February 15, 2001, one will find the FSC opinion.

During the summer of 2002, Mr. Rogers was re-convicted, however sentenced to life upon the jury recommendation. Now twice Mr. Rogers has been wrongfully convicted.

In 2004, the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal denied relief. The FSC declined to accept jurisdiction and thus denied the petition for review.

Mr. Rogers' case is pending Federal review.

For those interested in reading the narrowly decided by four to three vote Florida Supreme Court opinions regarding two more death sentenced persons whose innocence is an authentic issue, please go to the FSC website, then go to the recent opinions, then chose the correct year and scroll down to the following two cases:

Roy Swafford: April 18, 2002

Peter Ventura: May 24, 2001

Additionally, the issue in the below cases is DNA testing that proves that Roy Swafford did not rape Brenda Rucker:

Roy Swafford: March 26, 2004 Case Nos. SC03.931 and SC03.1153

Please also read other books about Florida's death row by David von Drehle and Michael Mello - also availabe at Amazon.

A Devastating Read.......2006-05-02

For those of us who like to think that the justice system of the USA is the best in the world, the contents of this book will be nothing less than devastating. Sr. Helen details how two men, both probably innocent, were executed in spite of the purported "safeguards" in the death penalty process. Revealed for all to see is a "justice" system that has become corrupt, populated with judges and prosecutors whose passion for justice has been expropriated by a passion for the law, with The Law the end, instead of merely a servant of justice. As an example, an appeal submitted by one of these two men's attorneys was titled "Notice of Appeal" instead of "Petition for Appeal" and so the Virginia Supreme Court refused to review the case--then and forever, in spite of strong new DNA evidence that showed this man was probably innocent. This was a very powerful argument against the death penalty, and against the legalism that has almost entirely taken over our courts.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States

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Inspiring book & Film
A powerful indictment of the death penalty in America
Great Read
Absolutely worth considering
An eye opener!!

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States
Helen Prejean
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679751319
Release Date: 1994-05-31

Book Description

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana's Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier's death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. At the same time, she came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute him--men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.

Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Confronting both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the needs of a crime-ridden society and the Christian imperative of love, Dead Man Walking is an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty, a book that is both enlightening and devastating.

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring book & Film.......2007-03-31

This is both a book and a movie that you need to interact with. Particularly in a day and age when there is a movement here in Canada to try to bring the death penalty back. The book is much more in depth than the movie. The book profiles the first three men that Sr. Prejean goes to the death chamber with as Spiritual Director. It profiles her mistakes as she journeys down this path for the first few times. She witnessed her first execution on April 5th, 1984 and she has been advocating against the death penalty since then.

The book does a great job of showing the disparity in how the death penalty is applied. It goes through the studies on its lack of effectiveness, and how for the most part, it is the poor and the African-American who are on death row. Even if you only read the appendices, the book will challenge you to view the death penalty in a different way.

The movie was the inspiration and starred Susan Sarandon. Sarandon was given the book while on a personal retreat at a monastery; she came home and gave the book to her partner, Tim Robbins, who directed the film. Together they approached Sr. Prejean, who went out and rented Bull Durham. She was a little leery of having them do the film, but after meeting with them went ahead with the project.

The film co-stars Sean Penn as Matthew Poncelet, a compilation of the 3 men in the book. The movie, while slow moving, is incredibly intense and draws you into the drama of waiting for a death when you know the date and time of that approaching death.

As an interesting aside, another good book is Forgiving the Dead Man Walking by Debbie Morris, who was one of the victims of Robert Lee Willie from the book. Debbie always said if they ever made a movie, Penn would have to play Willie because they looked so much alike.

So read the book and watch the movie, and if you want yet another challenging book, give Forgiving the Dead Man Walking a read also.

A powerful indictment of the death penalty in America.......2006-04-09

This book, written by a Catholic nun, is a powerful indictment of the death penalty in America. She describes in vivid detail her role as "spiritual adviser" to two death row inmates, and in graphic detail, describes their deaths at the hands of the state.

While steadfastly anti-capital punishment (how can we trust a government that screws up so much in other areas in the application of this ultimate punishment?), Sister Prejan does not shy away from discussing her views with the families of the victims, and does not shy away from presenting the families' views to the reader with dignity and respect. She describes how she goes on to form both an abolitionist and victims' rights group in Louisana. She also goes on to point out how much more costly it is to execute someone than to put them in jail for life with no possibility of parole.

It's difficult to imagine how one could expect forgiveness for people who have brutally murdered people. Sister Prejan does not lecture, it seems even she does not expect this to be possible for most. She does, however, put the thought in the reader's mind - how can one advocate abandoning our humanity to fall to the level of the killer, while at the same time showing their humanity back to us. Sad and disturbing, but one of the most important works on the subject ever published. Strongly recommended.

Great Read.......2006-01-20

Dead Man Walking

By: Helen Prejean

The nonfiction book by: Helen Prejean is an enlightening book about a nun who becomes a spiritual advisor for convicted killer of two teenagers, who is sentenced to the electric chair. In 1982 sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor of Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana's Angola state prison. In the months before Sonniers death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he was once terrifying. This book was entertaining and very memorable. In the book there are many argumentative statements about the electric chair. The chair was unjust but the chair had to be given to him. This book suggests that the eletriic chair isn't always effective but it does get the job done. Until reading this book most people don't understand how unjust the chair really is. There are many people who have lived through the chair and it is just like torture to keep putting them through the chair. This book has changed many thoughts about the electric chair because it has changed people's lives. And lastly this book is a great read and I suggest it to anyone who likes the mysteries of the prison life.

Absolutely worth considering.......2005-09-23

Sister Helen's case is a highly serious and convincing one, and she has bolstered it by the results of detailed and careful investigations which she has incorporated on top of her experience as a spiritual adviser to delinquents, whose executions she watched in person.

To the initial barbarity and the violence of the delinquent, capital punishment does nothing but add a further barbarity, this time on the part of the prosecutors viz the state; the death penalty literally improves nothing.

The new insights I gained, apart from the wellknown facts (capital punishment does not deter heinous criminality more than other kinds of punishment do, states which maintain the death penalty tend to inflict it more on poor rather than on rich delinquents, and to aggravate punishment according to the "importance" of the crimes' victims):

The death penalty, if administered in civilized States, requires more expenditure of time and funds than life imprisonment would. To implement it, even in the U.S., harsh infringements of human dignity, sometimes also torture, can barely be avoided, even though great efforts may be made by the personnel to conform with the laws.

Courts can never be absolutely sure that the deliquent is guilty: evidence is practically never 100% safe.

And, as Sister Helen has stated: Capital punishment wouldn't even be ok if such uncontrovertible evidence were forthcoming every time.

"It isn't and never will be because of what it does to us. There's a death of innnocence in all of us. Look what happens to Supreme Court Justices who do these nuanced constitutional arguments and send people to their deaths and never touch the human cheek, the suffering. So I say, even for our own sake as a society, let's take death off the table. We can't handle it." (Interview with TIME Magazine, February 2, 2005.)

There may be those who wish to maintain capital punishment for reasons of atonement: Anything less would be unjust towards the victims and the bereaved families, they say. Society should express its abhorrence of these extremely heinous crimes by this ultimate punishment. On the basis of this book, even persons of such firm, and respectable, convictions should reconsider the price for such a collective expression. This price does appear too high.

Human justice, in dealing with some crimes, simply reaches its limits. This seems to me the main moral lesson from this book.

As a citizen of Western Europe, one is grateful that capital punishment has been abolished hereabouts. What grips the average European is the image of Sister Helen as it emerges from the margins of the account.

Sister Helen shows no squeamishness. Still, she makes her clearly justified point with discretion, exhibiting great commitment to her aim, again keeping clear of bitterness and exaggeration. She never speaks in a loud voice, but in whatever she says hits the essential point. Suddenly one tells oneself: Here is one exemplary woman.

An eye opener!!.......2005-02-05

If you are thinking of buying this book....go for it. You won't regret it. This book opened my eyes to a completly different side to capital punishement I was never aware of, however i was never for it anyway. Its full of facts and true stories, it's so beautifully written. Sister Prejean is truly an amazing and special women. If you've seen the movie, the book is concerning the two real men she was a spiritual adviser for, both men were I suppose combined to form Sean Penn's character in the Tim Robbin's film. Enjoy.

The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America (Cambridge Studies in Criminology)

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The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America (Cambridge Studies in Criminology)
Marie Gottschalk
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521682916

Book Description

Over the last three decades the United States has built a carceral state that is unprecedented among Western countries and in US history. Nearly one in 50 people, excluding children and the elderly, is incarcerated today, a rate unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. What are some of the main political forces that explain this unprecedented reliance on mass imprisonment? Throughout American history, crime and punishment have been central features of American political development. This book examines the development of four key movements that mediated the construction of the carceral state in important ways: the victims' movement, the women's movement, the prisoners' rights movement, and opponents of the death penalty. This book argues that punitive penal policies were forged by particular social movements and interest groups within the constraints of larger institutional structures and historical developments that distinguish the United States from other Western countries.

Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition

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Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521815908

Book Description

The editors of this study isolate the core issues influencing legislation so that they can be incorporated into strategies that advise governments in changing their policy on capital punishment. What are the critical factors determining whether a country replaces, retains or restores the death penalty? Why do some countries maintain the death penalty in theory, but in reality rarely invoke it? These questions and others are explored in chapters on South Korea, Lithuania, Georgia, Japan and the British Caribbean Commonwealth, as well as the U.S.

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Another great book from Lisa
Death of a judge
"Final Appeal" Should Be Reversed and Remanded
Almost a 4
Why didn't I read the Amazon reader reviews first?

Final Appeal
Lisa Scottoline
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060539550

Book Description

To Philadelphia lawyer Grace Rossi, who's starting over after a divorce, a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But Grace doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court, in the form of an affair with her boss, Chief Judge Armen Gregorian. Then the truly unimaginable happens, and Grace finds herself investigating a murder.

As Grace searches for the truth, she unearths a six-figure bank account kept by a judge with an alias; breaks into another judge's chambers; and follows a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI.

In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.

Download Description

Grace Rossi's life is complex: she's tangled in a death penalty appeal and an affair with her boss. And now she's investigating a murder that's stumped the FBI.

Customer Reviews:

Another great book from Lisa.......2007-02-04

I have ready many of Ms. Scottoline's novels and have found all of them to be worth my time. This one was faced pace and had a couple turns I did not see coming. Highly recomend.

Death of a judge.......2006-10-06

Grace Rossi is a single mother who is a parttime lawyer for a federal appeals court. Much to her dismay, she is assigned a murder case but things improve when Grace's researching the case leads to romance. After a romantic evening, Grace is horrified to discover that her lover has died of an apparent suicide. She discovers that he had had an active love life and she immediately suspects his wife of murdering him. This is the fourth Lisa Scottoline book I have read and is probably the weakest one so far. Most of the action and suspense are contained in the first few chapters, and the book begins to meander and lose focus after that.

"Final Appeal" Should Be Reversed and Remanded.......2005-09-05

After reading and enjoying "Everywhere That Mary Went," Lisa Scottoline's first mystery novel, I was disappointed in this effort. Although the main character is sufficiently developed and the story will be of interest to those familiar with Philadelphia, the plot itself -- the cornerstone of any mystery novel -- is fair at best. The various clues seem contrived. There are fewer of the clever observations which permeated "Mary". Worst of all, the novel lacks the suspense which mystery readers crave: "whodunit" is reasonably predictable, and for obvious reasons.

I am surprised that this novel won an Edgar. It held my interest, but is nowhere near the novels of, say, Michael Connelly. It is a nice, quick beach read, but you can find many better novels in this genre.

Almost a 4.......2005-09-01

I found this book entertaining to read, although the beginning was a little confusing. I just went back to read the first paragraph and it still doesn't really make sense to me - but after I got through the first chapter I was hooked. I didn't rate it a 4 because the author skipped ahead of herself, leaving what I felt was important details behind. Perhaps that was her intention and in a way it was refreshing because you couldn't get bogged down by details. The characters weren't terribly believable, yet they were likeable.
This is an easy read, so if you want something to just take your mind of the mundane of life, I would recommend you give this book a try.
I liked it enough to give another one of her books a try.

Why didn't I read the Amazon reader reviews first?.......2004-03-26

I learned long ago to skim through the Amazon reader reviews before I invest a weekend ( or a long rainy afternoon ) in an unknown ( to me ) author. But since my wife brought a paperback copy of "Final Appeal" home, and it WAS cold and raining outside, I took a chance. I now know that I should have walked over to the local library instead and started with one of Scottoline's later ( and presumed much, much better ) offerings. I suggest you do the same; pass this one by and get one of her later mysteries.

Back from the Dead: One Woman's Search for the Men Who Walked off America's Death Row

Average customer rating:

THE PEOPLE THEY KILLED DIDN'T GET TO COME BACK FROM THE DEAD!
Interesting, but...
Both sides of the story
Fears and Foible in Finding Fellows Having Faced a Death Sentence
Thoughtprovoking, shocking and brutaly honest...

Back from the Dead: One Woman's Search for the Men Who Walked off America's Death Row
Joan M. Cheever
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0470017503

Book Description

What would happen if the United States abolished the death penalty and emptied its Death Rows? If killers were released from prison? What would they do with their second chance to live? Would they kill again?

Back From The Dead is the story of 589 former death row inmates who, through a lottery of fate, were given a second chance at life in 1972 when the death penalty was abolished; it returned to the United States four years later.

During the years she represented Walter Williams on Texas’ Death Row, Cheever always wondered what would happen if his death sentence was reversed and he was eventually released from prison. Would he have killed again? Two years after Williams’ execution, Cheever was determined to find the answer. Leaving her young family and comfortable life in suburbia, she traveled across the U.S. and into the lives and homes of former Death Row inmates, armed only with a tape recorder, notepad, a cell phone that didn’t always work, and a lot of faith. In Back from the Dead , Cheever describes her own journey and reveals these tales of second chances: of tragedy and failure, racism and injustice, and redemption and rehabilitation.

Visit www.backfromthedeadusa.com to find out more.

Back From the Dead is an excellent choice for your Book Reading Group or School Group. On the website www.backfromthedeadusa.com there are questions for group discussion, as well as an 'interview with the Author'.

Joan Cheever will chat by speakerphone with any group that chooses Back From the Dead. Now you have the chance to ask your questions directly to the author. Why did Joan Cheever write this book? What was she looking for? Did she find it? How did she research Back From the Dead? What difficulties did she encounter? What was it like, interviewing and meeting former Death Row inmates? How did she leave her little children to do this? What was she feeling while on th