| Boston Globe A remarkable book--part historical tract， part political manifesto--that examines one of the most bitter issues of contemporary life. From Booklist Civil War historian McFeely recounts in detail several death sentences that were appealed by a group of poorly funded lawyers in Georgia. They called in McFeely as an expert witness on the history of the Confederate battle flag's incorporation into the state flag， contending it conveys a racist message to the state's blacks. McFeely thereby got interested in their crusade， which was the impetus for this book. Although their clients are almost certainly guilty of murder， the lawyers search tirelessly for arguments that death ought not be their lot. Along with admiring descriptions of the lawyers， McFeely sympathetically narrates their pleas for commutation to life: one client had a physically abusive childhood; another seemed rueful and rehabilitated in prison; a third discovered after his conviction and death sentence that blacks had purposely been kept off his jury. The morality of capital punishment aside， McFeely's ventures into the engine room of its legal machinery create an impression of capriciousness in its application. An earnest， ruminative protest. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. See all Editorial Reviews |
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