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A review by apenguinkeeper
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton, Lara Love Hardin
It feels wrong to rate this book, so I’m not going to.
Honestly, changed my whole perspective on death row. I listen to true crime avidly, so I’ve developed a strong sense of justice for the victims of murder. I’ve always felt a little iffy about death row, but one quote really confirmed my belief that it’s wrong. “Justice demanded a life for a life. Retribution. The perpetrator should not live while the victim has no choice. People on death row had earned their spots on death row, and Justice cannot be consumed with protecting the rights of the guilty. But the system didn’t know who was guilty. I wasn’t blind. There is a moral difference between kidnapping and murdering a man, and imprisoning and executing a man. There is no moral equivalence, even when both things end in death. But death has never deterred death. And we can’t be sure of guilt, save for admission of guilt. A person could believe in the death penalty and still believe it should be ended, because men are fallible and the justice system is fallible.”
Honestly, changed my whole perspective on death row. I listen to true crime avidly, so I’ve developed a strong sense of justice for the victims of murder. I’ve always felt a little iffy about death row, but one quote really confirmed my belief that it’s wrong. “Justice demanded a life for a life. Retribution. The perpetrator should not live while the victim has no choice. People on death row had earned their spots on death row, and Justice cannot be consumed with protecting the rights of the guilty. But the system didn’t know who was guilty. I wasn’t blind. There is a moral difference between kidnapping and murdering a man, and imprisoning and executing a man. There is no moral equivalence, even when both things end in death. But death has never deterred death. And we can’t be sure of guilt, save for admission of guilt. A person could believe in the death penalty and still believe it should be ended, because men are fallible and the justice system is fallible.”