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sjanke2's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I'll be honest: I've been avoiding this book for years. I, a white woman, who knows zero incarcerated people, was too scared to read about the death penalty.
Luckily, Jan selected this book for book club, and I downloaded the audiobook. I've heard this book is fantastic in all formats, but hearing Bryan Stevenson narrate these trials of injustice made my chest tight and my eyes damp.
I'm embarrassed to say that it's taken me a long time to figure out where I stand on the issue of capital punishment. Growing up in a rural, conservative area, you're taught that "an eye for an eye" is justice. I now know that's untrue:
“The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent—strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. It has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration.”
Like Jacy said in her review, capital punishment is for those without capital. The poor, the mentally/physically ill, Black and Brown, the abused, the lost, the downtrodden. Aren't we, a nation founded upon "Christian" principles, supposed to love, forgive, and care for our unlucky neighbors?
“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is: do we deserve to kill?”
Luckily, Jan selected this book for book club, and I downloaded the audiobook. I've heard this book is fantastic in all formats, but hearing Bryan Stevenson narrate these trials of injustice made my chest tight and my eyes damp.
I'm embarrassed to say that it's taken me a long time to figure out where I stand on the issue of capital punishment. Growing up in a rural, conservative area, you're taught that "an eye for an eye" is justice. I now know that's untrue:
“The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent—strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. It has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration.”
Like Jacy said in her review, capital punishment is for those without capital. The poor, the mentally/physically ill, Black and Brown, the abused, the lost, the downtrodden. Aren't we, a nation founded upon "Christian" principles, supposed to love, forgive, and care for our unlucky neighbors?
“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is: do we deserve to kill?”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
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