In ​“No Justice: No Victory — The Death Penalty in Texas,” author Susan Lee Campbell Solar exam­ines cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in Texas through a polit­i­cal lens and with a con­cen­tra­tion on cas­es and anec­dotes that illus­trate the sys­temic flaws she uncov­ered dur­ing her research. The book, com­plet­ed by friends and fam­i­ly of the author after she died unex­pect­ed­ly, fea­tures inter­views with attor­neys, judges and law pro­fes­sors, as well as with those on death row, their fam­i­ly mem­bers, and fam­i­lies of mur­der vic­tims. She close­ly exam­ines the cas­es of Gary Graham and Odell Barnes, Jr., who were exe­cut­ed despite strong evi­dence of inno­cence. She also reviews the case of Larry Robison, who was exe­cut­ed despite the fact that he suf­fered from para­noid schiz­o­phre­nia and was repeat­ed­ly turned away from men­tal health facil­i­ties because he was­n’t con­sid­ered vio­lent. A crime vic­tim her­self, Solar used her research to exam­ine the post civ­il war his­to­ry of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in Texas and how this flawed sys­tem has been used by politi­cians for polit­i­cal gain. (Plain View Press, 2004) See Books.

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