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_bb 's review for:
Tylko sprawiedliwość
by Bryan Stevenson
It starts off well as a blend of autobiography, the story of one person on death row and some history about the death penalty and prison system in this country. For me the history and context were the most interesting, but the human touches added depth and meaning to it.
About halfway through the narrative and style starts to wander and deteriorate. It's as if the author became distracted at the same time as wanting to cram in a bunch more things they still had on the agenda for the book. So it turns into a sort rambly jumble of story fragments and touching stories. While somewhat informative, it lacks focus and isn't very coherent and moving when compared with the first half of the book.
Some main points-
The death penalty is ...
* on a gradual decline (yay)
* seriously inhumane, both before execution and during (why is this even in dispute?)
* imposed on people who often have the least access to a good legal defense
The author and their related orgs have done good work ...
* getting life sentences for juveniles struck down as cruel and inhumane
* freeing innocent people from death row
* trying to change the legal and prison system in the south
The environment in post-slavery america was (is) a system of persistent terrorism against black people. (which brings to mind, among other things : Terrorism: Theirs and Ours by Eqbal Ahmed)
Closing comment - I know of at least one person who was moved to volunteering work related to prisons as a result of reading this. If the effect of this book is to successfully raise awareness and motivate people to become engaged in various kinds of anti-prison/carceral state work then that alone is a success and gain for society.
About halfway through the narrative and style starts to wander and deteriorate. It's as if the author became distracted at the same time as wanting to cram in a bunch more things they still had on the agenda for the book. So it turns into a sort rambly jumble of story fragments and touching stories. While somewhat informative, it lacks focus and isn't very coherent and moving when compared with the first half of the book.
Some main points-
The death penalty is ...
* on a gradual decline (yay)
* seriously inhumane, both before execution and during (why is this even in dispute?)
* imposed on people who often have the least access to a good legal defense
The author and their related orgs have done good work ...
* getting life sentences for juveniles struck down as cruel and inhumane
* freeing innocent people from death row
* trying to change the legal and prison system in the south
The environment in post-slavery america was (is) a system of persistent terrorism against black people. (which brings to mind, among other things : Terrorism: Theirs and Ours by Eqbal Ahmed)
Closing comment - I know of at least one person who was moved to volunteering work related to prisons as a result of reading this. If the effect of this book is to successfully raise awareness and motivate people to become engaged in various kinds of anti-prison/carceral state work then that alone is a success and gain for society.