Cover image for Capital defense : inside the lives of America's death penalty lawyers
Capital defense : inside the lives of America's death penalty lawyers
Title:
Capital defense : inside the lives of America's death penalty lawyers
Author:
Gould, Jon B., author.
ISBN:
9781479873753
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
v, 287 pages ; 24 cm
Contents:
Behind the curtain : "if people mess up, my client may die" -- A cruel and unusual job : "you've got someone's life in your hands" -- Race and identity : "it's not always what we think" -- The client : "everyone is more than the worst thing they ever did" -- Gender dynamics : "I'm your lawyer" -- The toll : "you can't just turn it off" -- Defending the defenders : "I've helped the lowest of the law. ... I'm proud of doing that".
Abstract:
What motivates someone to make a career out of defending some of the worst suspected killers of our time? In 'Capital Defense', Jon B. Gould and Maya Pagni Barak give us a glimpse into the lives of lawyers who choose to work in the darkest corner of our criminal justice system: death penalty cases. Based on in-depth personal interviews with a cross-section of the nation's top capital defense teams, the book explores the unusual few who voluntarily represent society's "worst of the worst." With a compassionate and careful eye, Gould and Barak chronicle the experiences of American lawyers, who-like soldiers or surgeons-operate under the highest of stakes, where verdicts have the power to either "take death off the table" or put clients on "the conveyor belt towards death." These lawyers are a rare breed in a field that is otherwise seen as dirty work and in a system that is overburdened, under-resourced, and overshadowed by social, cultural, and political pressures. Examining the ugliest side of our criminal justice system, 'Capital Defense' offers an up-close perspective on the capital litigation process and its impact on the people who participate in it.
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