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The Autobiography Of An Execution (2010)

by David R. Dow(Favorite Author)

3.96 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0446562068 (ISBN13: 9780446562065)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Twelve

review 1: This is a really compelling / disturbing look at the US Justice System. Dow is not a literary writer, but the book doesn't suffer at all for that. He raises important questions about the death penalty, and makes clear how innocent people can be swept toward their deaths by seemingly unstoppable forces. Although I agree wholeheartedly that the death penalty is NOT justice, I wonder how Dow thinks justice could be served in these cases. Is life in prison justice? Does the work of the penal system have anything at all to do with justice?
review 2: The Autobiography of an Execution is a compelling look at death penalty cases from the perspective of a death penalty lawyer. One of the things that makes this book unique is that Dow doesn't focus on cases of the wrongl... morey executed, which would easily gain more sympathy from readers. Instead we're shown an array of condemned men, from the inexcusably guilty to the mentally incompetent killer to the one who was, in all likelihood, innocent. Most people unfamiliar with the inner workings of our justice system would assume the appeals process is in place in order to ensure the guilt of those convicted prior to their execution. This is absolutely not the case. Appeals are about technicalities and administrative errors. They're about filing exactly the right motion, worded exactly the right way, at exactly the right time. Dow takes us along through his workdays, showing us just how broken and corrupt our justice system has become. Another aspect making this a compelling read is Dow's willingness to make it personal. He invites us into his world, letting us see how emotionally draining it is to race against the clock, only to then watch his clients die at the hands of the state. The transition between the darkness of his work and the bright light of his family is a difficult hurdle to jump over and over again. That bright light, though, is what keeps him grounded and allows him to work within such a bleak environment. When I consider the death penalty, I most often think of the men and women locked away waiting for us to kill them. I think about guilt and innocence, and the fact that executing even one innocent person is unacceptable. David Dow does a superb job of showing me the lawyer's viewpoint. Maybe looking for the innocent needle in the guilty haystack is the wrong approach to reform. If the system worked the way it was supposed to, we would have no fear of executing an innocent or a mentally retarded person. Better yet, maybe this book can serve as a lesson that a reasonable society shouldn't have the death penalty at all. less

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