Thurgood Marshall said that the more people learned about the death penalty, the more they'd be against it. It's racist, unfair to people with mental retardation or little money, and may sometimes end in the state sanctioned murder of innocents. And no one, no matter how much they're paid, likes to be involved with the death itself.
In MACHINERY OF DEATH, death penalty expert David R. Dow and journalist Mark Dow bring together diverse views from lawyers, wardens, victims’ families, executioners, and inmates to show how America's death penalty system actually works, and what it does to those who come in contact with it. Arguing that the more we know about the system the more we'll oppose it, the book offers harrowing story after story of racist juries and unjust rulings, of backward judges and public defenders, and of families facing the ultimate decision. Together, these intimate and shocking writings show that in practice, the death penalty is impossible to administer in a fair, workable manner.
This is the first death penalty book to look beyond innocence and morality, arguing against executing even the guilty people. MACHINERY OF DEATH is a crucial link in the fiery public debate over the meaning and usefulness of this deeply flawed system.
1. The Reality of the Regime
2. Legacies of Lynching
3. Inevitability and Innocence
4. Inside the Walls
5. Lives Intertwined
6. Toward Abolition