Books

Bill Pelke tells of the life-alter­ing trans­for­ma­tion that occurred after his 78-year-old grand­moth­er was mur­dered by four teen-aged girls in his book, Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing. Though at first he sup­port­ed the death penal­ty for 15-year-old Paula Cooper, one of the young girls who had mur­dered his grand­moth­er in her home for $10 and an old car, he lat­er opposed her exe­cu­tion and suc­cess­ful­ly fought to have Cooper’s death sen­tence over­turned. The book fol­lows his per­son­al jour­ney over many years and fea­tures a for­ward by Sister Helen Prejean.

America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way pro­vides a com­pre­hen­sive review of the con­di­tions that result­ed in twelve U.S. states not hav­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The book looks at fac­tors such as eco­nom­ic con­di­tions, pub­lic sen­ti­ment, mass media, pop­u­la­tion diver­si­ty, mur­der rates, and the region­al his­to­ry of exe­cu­tions, that led to abo­li­tion in those states. The book’s authors, Professors John F. Galliher, Larry W. Koch, David Patrick Keys, and Teresa J. Guess, pro­vide an in-depth look at the nine juris­dic­tions that have banned the death penal­ty through leg­isla­tive action…

In his new book, Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), the Times-Picayune city edi­tor Jed Horne exam­ines the exon­er­a­tion of Louisiana death row inmate Curtis Kyles and how his case has impact­ed the New Orleans crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. The book inves­ti­gates the mur­der of Delores Dye, a 60-year-old house­wife who was gunned down in full view of six eye­wit­ness­es. Kyles was arrest­ed and tried twice for the crime. After an ini­tial mis­tri­al, he was con­vict­ed of the crime and…

Capital Consequences: Families of the Condemned Tell Their Stories is a new book by Rachel King of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. The book focus­es on the impact that the death penal­ty has on the fam­i­lies of those who have been con­demned to die. King, who also wrote ​“Don’t Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty,” describes these indi­vid­u­als as the unseen vic­tims of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and high­lights the expe­ri­ence of hav­ing loved ones on death row using per­son­al accounts and a moving…

Executed on a Technicality: Lethal Injustice on America’s Death Row, by Professor David Dow, to be released in April 2005, is a behind-the-scenes look at the death penal­ty through the lens of an attor­ney who for­mer­ly sup­port­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Dow, who teach­es at the University of Houston Law Center and found­ed the Texas Innocence Network, pro­vides case his­to­ries illus­trat­ing seri­ous flaws in the death penal­ty sys­tem. He uses these cas­es to guide read­ers through a web of coerced con­fes­sions, incom­pe­tent rep­re­sen­ta­tion, racist juries, and unfair judges, all of which he…

The book In Sweet Company: Conversations With Extraordinary Women About Living a Spiritual Life by Margaret Wolff fea­tures Sister Helen Prejean as one of 14 women whose spir­i­tu­al beliefs have served as the com­pass for their deci­sion-mak­ing and life’s work. Prejean, author of the Pulitzer Prize-nom­i­nat­ed book ​“Dead Man Walking” and the new­ly released ​“The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,” has been an advi­sor to those on death row and an advo­cate against the death penal­ty for more than two decades. Wolff’s book notes that Sister…

In her new book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, Sister Helen Prejean uses her per­son­al expe­ri­ences as a coun­selor to those on death row to explore the issue of inno­cence and the like­li­hood of exe­cut­ing a wrong­ly con­vict­ed per­son. The book also traces the his­tor­i­cal and legal under­pin­nings of the death penal­ty in the U.S. Prejean, who authored the #1 New York Times best­seller ​“Dead Man Walking,” begins her new book by focus­ing on the cas­es of Joseph Roger O’Dell and Dobie Gillis Williams, both…

In ​“Don’t Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty,” author Rachel King presents the sto­ries of 10 Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation mem­bers. Throughout the book, King exam­ines the rea­sons why these sur­vivors choose rec­on­cil­i­a­tion over ret­ri­bu­tion and why they active­ly oppose cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Using first-hand accounts and third-per­son nar­ra­tive, King presents the sto­ries in the con­text of the nation’s on-going death penal­ty debate. King is leg­isla­tive coun­sel for the American Civil Liberties Union. (Rutgers Press, 2003). For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it Rutgers Press.

Bill Pelke tells of the life-alter­ing trans­for­ma­tion that occurred after his 78-year-old grand­moth­er was mur­dered by four teen-aged girls in his book, Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing.

Written in the spir­it of ​“Dead Man Walking,” this book by Antoinette Bosco con­veys both the pow­er­ful per­son­al expe­ri­ence of a moth­er whose son was mur­dered and a wealth of infor­ma­tion about the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem in America. (Orbis Books, 2001) For more infor­ma­tion, or to read an excerpt, vis­it her website.