Two new books address the death penalty from different perspectives: one analyzing the future of capital punishment, the other, by Billy Neal Moore, relates the experience of being on death row. Alan Clarke and Laurelyn Whitt examine two factors that are gaining importance in the debate over capital punishment. The Bitter Fruit of American Justice (Northeastern 2007) contends that increasing opposition to the death penalty throughout the world could affect how other countries relate politically to the United States. The second influence is the repeated discovery of innocent people on America’s death rows. The authors suggest that these two factors could lead to the end of the death penalty in the United States.
Read more about the book here. See also International and Innocence.
In his memoir, former death row inmate Billy Neal Moore describes his time on death row, leading up to the 7 hours before his scheduled execution. Admittedly guilty of murder, Moore spent over 16 years on death row before his death sentence was overturned. He was subsequently freed because of his exemplary behavior. Moore’s account details how he asked for and received forgiveness from the victim’s family. His story is also described in the film “Execution.”
For more information on Moore’s book I Shall Not Die: Seventy-two Hours on Death Watch (AuthorHouse 2005), click here. For more information on “Execution,” click here. See also Death Row and Resources.
(Posted January 17, 2008).
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