Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Windmill (2011), Paperback, 288 pages
Description
"A riveting, artfully written memoir of a lawyer's life as he races to prevent death row inmates from being executed"--Provided by the publisher.
Media reviews
In describing the fraught relationship between law and truth, Dow laments the fact that when it comes to the law, “the facts matter, but the story matters more.” But having created a brilliant, heart-rending book that can’t be properly fact-checked, Dow almost seems to have joined the ranks
Show More
of people who will privilege emotion over detail, and narrative over precision. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member lilithcat
David Dow works in the belly of the beast. He's the litigation director of the Texas Defender Service, which represents death row inmates, mostly in federal habeas corpus proceedings (or what's left of them), and provides assistance to capital trial lawyers. The TDS' mission is to "establish a fair
This isn't, however, a diatribe against capital punishment. It's about how this work affects someone who does it, how you balance your commitment to someone whose life is, quite literally, in your hands with your commitment to your family. He misses the Hallowe'en visit to a haunted house he promised his son. His family goes on vacation without him. He tries to juggle overwhelming workloads and not enough time and resources, and how that means that his office can't do anything to help a man who believes that Jesus has arranged that he will walk out of Death Row, a mentally ill man who was allowed to represent himself at trial and on appeal.
The "hook" here is the story of Henry Quaker, a man convicted of killing his wife and children, whom Dow is representing. Then he receives a letter from another inmate, telling him that Quaker is innocent, that this man had hired another to kill a woman who had been stealing from him and that he'd killed the wrong person. What happened? Hell, this is Texas. What do you think happened?
There's one thing that bothers me about this book. Dow writes about the death penalty system that "the abolitionists' single-minded focus on innocence makes them seem as indifferent to principle as the vigilantes are." And there is something to that. But it seems to me that by centering this memoir around the execution of a probably innocent man, Dow is doing the same thing. It's as if he felt that writing about representing the guilty would somehow diminish his memoir, and I don't believe it would.
Dow tells the story of a childhood friend of his wife's, a famous artist, who, inebriated, reveals herself to be "racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, narcissistic, and altogether unlikable." Dow says that he realized that his "clients were better people than this piece of garbage, and they even killed somebody." But, you know, I take a different lesson. Katya tells him, "She's been my friend since she was eight years old, which is way before she was a terrible person. What am I supposed to do? Abandon her?" They remain friends for the same reason we ask juries not to kill our clients: we are more than the worst thing we've ever done.
(The names of people in this book have mostly been changed, some circumstances altered, in order to respect the confidences of clients. In an appendix, Meredith Duncan, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, discusses the duty of confidentiality that lawyers have to their clients. I appreciated this very much, because it's something most people don't understand, particularly when it comes to people like the Cook County public defenders whose client confided in to them that he was responsible for a murder for which another man had been convicted. Counsel kept the secret for years, until the client, who had given them permission to reveal the confidence after his death, died. The lawyers were vilified, but they were right.)
Show More
and just criminal justice system in Texas". Yeah, well, good luck with that one. In Texas, they'd as soon send you to Death Row as look at you.This isn't, however, a diatribe against capital punishment. It's about how this work affects someone who does it, how you balance your commitment to someone whose life is, quite literally, in your hands with your commitment to your family. He misses the Hallowe'en visit to a haunted house he promised his son. His family goes on vacation without him. He tries to juggle overwhelming workloads and not enough time and resources, and how that means that his office can't do anything to help a man who believes that Jesus has arranged that he will walk out of Death Row, a mentally ill man who was allowed to represent himself at trial and on appeal.
The "hook" here is the story of Henry Quaker, a man convicted of killing his wife and children, whom Dow is representing. Then he receives a letter from another inmate, telling him that Quaker is innocent, that this man had hired another to kill a woman who had been stealing from him and that he'd killed the wrong person. What happened? Hell, this is Texas. What do you think happened?
There's one thing that bothers me about this book. Dow writes about the death penalty system that "the abolitionists' single-minded focus on innocence makes them seem as indifferent to principle as the vigilantes are." And there is something to that. But it seems to me that by centering this memoir around the execution of a probably innocent man, Dow is doing the same thing. It's as if he felt that writing about representing the guilty would somehow diminish his memoir, and I don't believe it would.
Dow tells the story of a childhood friend of his wife's, a famous artist, who, inebriated, reveals herself to be "racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, narcissistic, and altogether unlikable." Dow says that he realized that his "clients were better people than this piece of garbage, and they even killed somebody." But, you know, I take a different lesson. Katya tells him, "She's been my friend since she was eight years old, which is way before she was a terrible person. What am I supposed to do? Abandon her?" They remain friends for the same reason we ask juries not to kill our clients: we are more than the worst thing we've ever done.
(The names of people in this book have mostly been changed, some circumstances altered, in order to respect the confidences of clients. In an appendix, Meredith Duncan, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, discusses the duty of confidentiality that lawyers have to their clients. I appreciated this very much, because it's something most people don't understand, particularly when it comes to people like the Cook County public defenders whose client confided in to them that he was responsible for a murder for which another man had been convicted. Counsel kept the secret for years, until the client, who had given them permission to reveal the confidence after his death, died. The lawyers were vilified, but they were right.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
Somewhere out there, there might be a book out there that will convince death penalty advocates that the death penalty is an immoral, inefficient, capricious, and unnecessary punishment, but this isn't it. "The Autobiography of an Execution," whose author has the unenviable task of handling the
Dow is well aware of his position as one of the few people who has to get his hands dirty enforcing a social policy that most people are comfortable to support from a distance, and his book's most concrete contribution to the death penalty debate might be his decision to give his readers a glimpse of his average workday. It's difficult, after all, to get too excited about the execution of an innocent man when you've got another death row inmate's case waiting for you when you return to the office. Dow describes a legal system where his clients' lives depend on the judicial decisions, and sometimes the whims, of judges and elected officials who don't seem to appreciate the gravity of the decisions they've been tasked with and aren't required to be present at the executions they authorize. Quaker's story isn't unique; Dow claims to have represented seven clients he believes were innocent of the crimes for which they were executed. If anything, Quaker's experience is representative of a slipshod, deeply dysfunctional legal process.
How much the reader enjoys "Autobiography of an Execution" might ultimately depend on how they get along with its author. Dow paints himself as a prickly, complex character. He's a loner who's not afraid to let you know how much he depends on his family, a lawyer driven by an unshakable moral compass who doesn't mind engaging in endless, pointless legal maneuverings to save his clients' lives, a man dwarfed by the demands of the job he's taken on who doesn't mind letting you know that he thinks of himself as a damn good lawyer. Dow is also nothing if not forthcoming, transcribing in minute detail not just the emotional hardship faced by those in his chosen line of work but also his stray thoughts, daydreams, and doubts. "Autobiography" makes for an interesting read, if perhaps not a great book.
Show More
appeals of Texas death row inmates who cannot afford their own counsel, is a curiously personal take on a social issue which reveals as much about its author as about the system he works in. The book provides parallel accounts of the execution of an inmate known as "Henry Quaker," whom the author believes to be innocent, and the author's own relationship with his wife and young son. While the reader gets an idea of the psychic strain Mr. Dow endures to keep these aspects of his life compartmentalized, the sections in which he describes his feelings for an interactions with his son often drift toward sentimentality. His description of his last-ditch attempts to prove Quaker's innocence and save his life fare better, offering a clear-eyed description of the execution process without becoming dry reportage. Dow has a keen eye for absurdity, perhaps developed out of sheer necessity, and he's good at describing moments in which the inmates' unpredictable, sometimes pathetic humanity butts up against a legal process that can seem simultaneously unfeeling and chaotic. Dow describes the rituals that accompany a state execution, the waiting, the last meal, the final goodbyes, with real sensitivity. Dow is well aware of his position as one of the few people who has to get his hands dirty enforcing a social policy that most people are comfortable to support from a distance, and his book's most concrete contribution to the death penalty debate might be his decision to give his readers a glimpse of his average workday. It's difficult, after all, to get too excited about the execution of an innocent man when you've got another death row inmate's case waiting for you when you return to the office. Dow describes a legal system where his clients' lives depend on the judicial decisions, and sometimes the whims, of judges and elected officials who don't seem to appreciate the gravity of the decisions they've been tasked with and aren't required to be present at the executions they authorize. Quaker's story isn't unique; Dow claims to have represented seven clients he believes were innocent of the crimes for which they were executed. If anything, Quaker's experience is representative of a slipshod, deeply dysfunctional legal process.
How much the reader enjoys "Autobiography of an Execution" might ultimately depend on how they get along with its author. Dow paints himself as a prickly, complex character. He's a loner who's not afraid to let you know how much he depends on his family, a lawyer driven by an unshakable moral compass who doesn't mind engaging in endless, pointless legal maneuverings to save his clients' lives, a man dwarfed by the demands of the job he's taken on who doesn't mind letting you know that he thinks of himself as a damn good lawyer. Dow is also nothing if not forthcoming, transcribing in minute detail not just the emotional hardship faced by those in his chosen line of work but also his stray thoughts, daydreams, and doubts. "Autobiography" makes for an interesting read, if perhaps not a great book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tangledthread
I learned of this book when David Dow was interviewed on an NPR program. As mentioned in other reviews, this is a work of creative nonfiction (memoir) in order to be within the constraints of confidentiality placed upon a legal practitioner. The author is a law professor and the litigation director
The format of the book is autobiographical with the cases of several death row inmates braided together with glimpses into the author's personal life. There is one main death row defendant story in the book, a man convicted of murdering his wife and children, whom the author believes to be innocent.
Through out the book the reader is given glimpses of the machinations of the death penalty process after conviction. However, from the initial arrest to the implementation of the death penalty, the author makes the reader aware of the many ways that a person's constitutional rights can be, and are, abridged by those in power. From law enforcement to Supreme Court Justice death penalty decisions can be based on issues of personal convenience or personal convictions while life in question is held at at arms length.
The author stands on his convictions, but does not make himself out to be a hero. His doubts, failures, and willingness to acknowledge the smallest things as a success are revealed through the story.
Like the author, I acknowledge that there is evil in the world. But I am encouraged that there is also good in the kind of work that this author and his colleagues are doing.
And based on the blatant miscarriage of justice characterized in this book, I plan on staying out of Texas!
Show More
at the Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit that represents death row inmates in Texas.The format of the book is autobiographical with the cases of several death row inmates braided together with glimpses into the author's personal life. There is one main death row defendant story in the book, a man convicted of murdering his wife and children, whom the author believes to be innocent.
Through out the book the reader is given glimpses of the machinations of the death penalty process after conviction. However, from the initial arrest to the implementation of the death penalty, the author makes the reader aware of the many ways that a person's constitutional rights can be, and are, abridged by those in power. From law enforcement to Supreme Court Justice death penalty decisions can be based on issues of personal convenience or personal convictions while life in question is held at at arms length.
The author stands on his convictions, but does not make himself out to be a hero. His doubts, failures, and willingness to acknowledge the smallest things as a success are revealed through the story.
Like the author, I acknowledge that there is evil in the world. But I am encouraged that there is also good in the kind of work that this author and his colleagues are doing.
And based on the blatant miscarriage of justice characterized in this book, I plan on staying out of Texas!
Show Less
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
What a difficult subject.
It seems like Dow isn't anti-death penalty as much as he is anti-unfairness in death penalty sentencing. He argues that poor and mentally challenged people are dis-proportionately sentenced to death and that whether or not someone is actually executed has more to do with
He is believable.
He has quite a few smaller tirades against "lazy" judges who are just in it because of who they know and who don't actually care about truth or justice. Perhaps he's right. How would we know otherwise.
I liked how he covered several cases, and provided some background into his life and history, and I didn't even mind his "family life" scenes because they sorta grounded the story in reality a bit. I didn't like all the "dreams" that were detailed... what role do dreams play in a biography?
It seems like Dow isn't anti-death penalty as much as he is anti-unfairness in death penalty sentencing. He argues that poor and mentally challenged people are dis-proportionately sentenced to death and that whether or not someone is actually executed has more to do with
Show More
their lawyer's skills (a.k.a. money) and the political environment at the moment.He is believable.
He has quite a few smaller tirades against "lazy" judges who are just in it because of who they know and who don't actually care about truth or justice. Perhaps he's right. How would we know otherwise.
I liked how he covered several cases, and provided some background into his life and history, and I didn't even mind his "family life" scenes because they sorta grounded the story in reality a bit. I didn't like all the "dreams" that were detailed... what role do dreams play in a biography?
Show Less
LibraryThing member meggyweg
This is a brilliant memoir/creative nonfiction that has intensified my opposition to the death penalty. The author runs a legal aid clinic that handles death row inmates' appeals in Texas, a state notorious for its large number of executions. I knew the system was seriously flawed, but I didn't
There are several cases in this story, but the central case involves a man convicted of murdering his wife and children, who is facing execution in a matter of weeks. His trial lawyer was really bad and basically presented no defense at all. As the attorney works on the appeal, he discovers clear and convincing evidence that his client is innocent. But can he stop the execution? To coin a cliché, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.
This book qualifies as "creative nonfiction" because it's not strictly factual. The author disguised his clients and all the details of the crimes, and changed everyone's names, so that the real people involved could not be identified. He says so in the introduction to the book. There's also a useful essay in the back written by another lawyer, explaining the restrictions of attorney-client privilege and why Dow had to write the book this way.
This is a frankly stunning book. I think anyone interested in the criminal justice system and the death penalty -- on both sides of the debate -- should read it.
Show More
realize it was THIS bad. I was frankly horrified by what I read.There are several cases in this story, but the central case involves a man convicted of murdering his wife and children, who is facing execution in a matter of weeks. His trial lawyer was really bad and basically presented no defense at all. As the attorney works on the appeal, he discovers clear and convincing evidence that his client is innocent. But can he stop the execution? To coin a cliché, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.
This book qualifies as "creative nonfiction" because it's not strictly factual. The author disguised his clients and all the details of the crimes, and changed everyone's names, so that the real people involved could not be identified. He says so in the introduction to the book. There's also a useful essay in the back written by another lawyer, explaining the restrictions of attorney-client privilege and why Dow had to write the book this way.
This is a frankly stunning book. I think anyone interested in the criminal justice system and the death penalty -- on both sides of the debate -- should read it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Eliz12
I have no problem with the death penalty and this book did nothing to change my mind. I also found the author's style a bit irritating at times (those cozy, cutesy moments with his son, invariably filled with snippets of wisdom that read like a Hallmark card).
Nonetheless, I gave this book four
First, Dow did give me a great deal to consider - namely, the failure not of the justice system itself but of the men and women who function within it (I will never forget the defense attorney who fell asleep during trial).
Second, while I was sometimes rubbed the wrong way by his revelations about exactly who he is (an atheist, an Obama supporter, a man who considers himself "spiritual," though without religion), I understand the reason this material was included and I have no doubt he is sincere.
Most of all, I appreciate the fact that he's pretty honest about his clients, that most are guilty and that most are very creepy. Dow does get into the difficult childhoods of his clients (I didn't care), but at least he's not too sentimental about it.
Nonetheless, I gave this book four
Show More
stars for various reasons.First, Dow did give me a great deal to consider - namely, the failure not of the justice system itself but of the men and women who function within it (I will never forget the defense attorney who fell asleep during trial).
Second, while I was sometimes rubbed the wrong way by his revelations about exactly who he is (an atheist, an Obama supporter, a man who considers himself "spiritual," though without religion), I understand the reason this material was included and I have no doubt he is sincere.
Most of all, I appreciate the fact that he's pretty honest about his clients, that most are guilty and that most are very creepy. Dow does get into the difficult childhoods of his clients (I didn't care), but at least he's not too sentimental about it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jenn_stringer
David Dow manages to convey the emotions of being a death row attorney in a matter of fact unemotional way. He steps us through the legal machinery of execution and enlightens the average citizen to the bizarre legal appeals process. A must read for anyone on either side.
LibraryThing member sallylou61
Although this is a memoir on an important topic – the author is a lawyer whose clients are on death row – the book is disappointing. Mr. Dow shows the capriciousness of the system, and how unlikely it is he will be able to halt the execution of most of his clients.
The book primarily concerns
The book primarily concerns
Show More
the case of Henry Quaker (a pseudonym), a man who was executed although he was probably innocent. However, Mr. Dow keeps interrupting the story with descriptions of his own home life or with a discussion of another case. Show Less
LibraryThing member preetalina
This book is really relevant right now, especially with these recent high-profile executions in Texas of people who might have been (or might be) innocent. Or at least not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In theory, there is a presumption of innocence in the American legal system, innocent until
p191
Our justice system is one of those things that sounds great in theory, but in execution... Well, it's a little lacking. There are so many factors that have to be in place for someone to get a "fair" trial, when that's the goal of the whole thing to begin with. Reading through this book highlighted a lot of those factors and showed how unfair a trial (and subsequent appeals) can be.
I used to support the death penalty. I changed my mind when I learned how lawless the system is. If you have reservations about supporting a racist, classist, unprincipled regime, a regime where white skin is valued far more highly than dark, where prosecutors hide evidence and policemen routinely lie, where judges decide what justice requires by consulting the most recent Gallup poll, where rich people sometimes get away with murder and never end up on death row, then the death penalty system we have here in America will embarrass you to no end.
p18
A little history about me: I used to be adamantly for the death penalty. I often put myself in the shoes of the victims' families and would imagine how I would feel and what I would want. Thus, my support for it came from an highly emotional place, where I was for vengeance. But as the years went by and I learned more about the system, and about many cases where people were exonerated, often after they'd been in jail for years, my support started waning. The amount of things that can go wrong, mistakes that are made, and particularly the unfairness that often comes into play, make putting someone to death a huge problem. Also, justice should not be based on emotions. That is essentially what putting someone to death is.
Until I met her, my focus was on the law, on why some legal rule or principal meant that my client should get a new trial. I do exhaustive research, write a powerful legal argument, and then watch no one pay it any heed. The problem with this lawyerly approach is that nobody cares about rules or principles when they're dealing with a murderer.
The lawyer says that the Constitution was violated every which way, and the judge says, Yeah, but your client killed somebody, right? For all our so-called progress, the tribal vengefulness that we think of is limited to backward African countries is still how our legal system works.
p138
Even if you are for the death penalty, I feel that you cannot ignore all the issues that are mentioned above, which come into play in every aspect of the system.
This book is written by a death penalty lawyer in, of all states, Texas. It will infuriate you and then depress you. What is interesting to me is that he used to support the death penalty and moved to the opposite side as time passes and he gained more experience. What I loved was his honesty - he does not think people should be put to death, but that doesn't mean he likes who he represents.
He made the same mistake that death penalty supporters routinely make. He assumed that because I represent guys like him, I must like guys like him. He assumed that because I'm against the death penalty and don't think he should be executed, that I forgive him for what he did. Well, it isn't my place to forgive people like Green, and if it were, I probably wouldn't. I'm a judgmental and not very forgiving guy. You can ask my wife.
p20
The book is interspersed with glimpses into the author's life. At first, I found this jarring, but got used to it and even found it revealing, as I read more. It was really fascinating to read how his work could affect his life - I mean, it's obvious that it would, right?
I think this book is a must-read for anyone who is involved in these issues or cares about what is happening. I finished it a few days ago and I'm still ruminating over it.
A few more of my favorite quotes:
Eric Dickerson went to Sealy high school. He's a Hall of Fame running back. There's a billboard at the exit reminding you of that. Dickerson played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1980s. One day in practice the head coach, John Robinson, criticized Dickerson for not working hard. Dickerson said he was working hard. Robinson told him that if he was really working, he'd be sprinting on the running plays instead of just jogging. Dickerson said, I am running, Coach. Robinson went out onto the field and ran next to him. Well, he tried to. From a distance, ease can easily be mistaken for indifference.
p6
But just because you believe in black-and-white doesn't mean that you can't also believe in gray, because even though something that is true cannot be a lie, and even though a lie can never be true, not everything that is true is equally true. Happening truth is not false; it is just less true than story truth. Happening truth just is; story truth needs a teller. That's what law is. The facts matter, but the story matters more.
p101
There are certain truths in life you have to evade in order to keep being the person you have convinced yourself that you are.
p175
Some people think that the law is about truth. It isn't, exactly. It is about timing.
p193
Jurors and judges who send someone to the gallows should be required to witness their deed and observe the execution. Every court of appeals judge who upholds a death sentence should have to visit that's growing deliver the news personally. Supreme Court justices who refuse to grant a death row inmate a stay of execution should have to deliver the news face-to-face to the inmate has he waits in the holding cell eight steps down the dank hall from the execution chamber, instead of having one of their law clerks call the inmate's lawyer. If we are going to execute people in our society because we believe that it is an appropriate punishment for people who callously and irresponsibly take another's life, then the people with the power not to execute ought to take responsibility themselves for imposing the punishment, or at least not negating it. It's easier to kill somebody if it's someone else's decision, and if somebody else does the killing. Our death penalty regime depends for its functionality on moral cowardice.
p219
Proximity to death is religion's most successful proselytizer.
p233
People who are so young that they still believe themselves to be immortal should be barred from facilitating death.
p 241
In theory, there is a presumption of innocence in the American legal system, innocent until
Show More
proven guilty, but in practice, it is just the opposite. Juries trust the police and the prosecutors, especially when all the jurors are middle-class white folks, as they were at Quaker's trial. They think that if someone gets arrested and goes on trial, there must be good reasons to believe that he did it.p191
Our justice system is one of those things that sounds great in theory, but in execution... Well, it's a little lacking. There are so many factors that have to be in place for someone to get a "fair" trial, when that's the goal of the whole thing to begin with. Reading through this book highlighted a lot of those factors and showed how unfair a trial (and subsequent appeals) can be.
I used to support the death penalty. I changed my mind when I learned how lawless the system is. If you have reservations about supporting a racist, classist, unprincipled regime, a regime where white skin is valued far more highly than dark, where prosecutors hide evidence and policemen routinely lie, where judges decide what justice requires by consulting the most recent Gallup poll, where rich people sometimes get away with murder and never end up on death row, then the death penalty system we have here in America will embarrass you to no end.
p18
A little history about me: I used to be adamantly for the death penalty. I often put myself in the shoes of the victims' families and would imagine how I would feel and what I would want. Thus, my support for it came from an highly emotional place, where I was for vengeance. But as the years went by and I learned more about the system, and about many cases where people were exonerated, often after they'd been in jail for years, my support started waning. The amount of things that can go wrong, mistakes that are made, and particularly the unfairness that often comes into play, make putting someone to death a huge problem. Also, justice should not be based on emotions. That is essentially what putting someone to death is.
Until I met her, my focus was on the law, on why some legal rule or principal meant that my client should get a new trial. I do exhaustive research, write a powerful legal argument, and then watch no one pay it any heed. The problem with this lawyerly approach is that nobody cares about rules or principles when they're dealing with a murderer.
The lawyer says that the Constitution was violated every which way, and the judge says, Yeah, but your client killed somebody, right? For all our so-called progress, the tribal vengefulness that we think of is limited to backward African countries is still how our legal system works.
p138
Even if you are for the death penalty, I feel that you cannot ignore all the issues that are mentioned above, which come into play in every aspect of the system.
This book is written by a death penalty lawyer in, of all states, Texas. It will infuriate you and then depress you. What is interesting to me is that he used to support the death penalty and moved to the opposite side as time passes and he gained more experience. What I loved was his honesty - he does not think people should be put to death, but that doesn't mean he likes who he represents.
He made the same mistake that death penalty supporters routinely make. He assumed that because I represent guys like him, I must like guys like him. He assumed that because I'm against the death penalty and don't think he should be executed, that I forgive him for what he did. Well, it isn't my place to forgive people like Green, and if it were, I probably wouldn't. I'm a judgmental and not very forgiving guy. You can ask my wife.
p20
The book is interspersed with glimpses into the author's life. At first, I found this jarring, but got used to it and even found it revealing, as I read more. It was really fascinating to read how his work could affect his life - I mean, it's obvious that it would, right?
I think this book is a must-read for anyone who is involved in these issues or cares about what is happening. I finished it a few days ago and I'm still ruminating over it.
A few more of my favorite quotes:
Eric Dickerson went to Sealy high school. He's a Hall of Fame running back. There's a billboard at the exit reminding you of that. Dickerson played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1980s. One day in practice the head coach, John Robinson, criticized Dickerson for not working hard. Dickerson said he was working hard. Robinson told him that if he was really working, he'd be sprinting on the running plays instead of just jogging. Dickerson said, I am running, Coach. Robinson went out onto the field and ran next to him. Well, he tried to. From a distance, ease can easily be mistaken for indifference.
p6
But just because you believe in black-and-white doesn't mean that you can't also believe in gray, because even though something that is true cannot be a lie, and even though a lie can never be true, not everything that is true is equally true. Happening truth is not false; it is just less true than story truth. Happening truth just is; story truth needs a teller. That's what law is. The facts matter, but the story matters more.
p101
There are certain truths in life you have to evade in order to keep being the person you have convinced yourself that you are.
p175
Some people think that the law is about truth. It isn't, exactly. It is about timing.
p193
Jurors and judges who send someone to the gallows should be required to witness their deed and observe the execution. Every court of appeals judge who upholds a death sentence should have to visit that's growing deliver the news personally. Supreme Court justices who refuse to grant a death row inmate a stay of execution should have to deliver the news face-to-face to the inmate has he waits in the holding cell eight steps down the dank hall from the execution chamber, instead of having one of their law clerks call the inmate's lawyer. If we are going to execute people in our society because we believe that it is an appropriate punishment for people who callously and irresponsibly take another's life, then the people with the power not to execute ought to take responsibility themselves for imposing the punishment, or at least not negating it. It's easier to kill somebody if it's someone else's decision, and if somebody else does the killing. Our death penalty regime depends for its functionality on moral cowardice.
p219
Proximity to death is religion's most successful proselytizer.
p233
People who are so young that they still believe themselves to be immortal should be barred from facilitating death.
p 241
Show Less
LibraryThing member alb2219
David Dow is simply amazing at conveying the heartbreak that is the US criminal justice system. This story is compelling, making it hard to put down. The thing I like the most is that he is not preachy - he does not often get down on anyone in particular in the justice system and I don't feel like
Show More
he gets on a soap box about capital punishment in general. He brings to light legitimate problems that he himself encounters on a regular basis with the process of putting someone to death. I feel like every individual in America should read this book even if you don't agree with his stance on capital punishment. Show Less
LibraryThing member Darcia
The Autobiography of an Execution is a compelling look at death penalty cases from the perspective of a death penalty lawyer. One of the things that makes this book unique is that Dow doesn't focus on cases of the wrongly executed, which would easily gain more sympathy from readers. Instead we're
Most people unfamiliar with the inner workings of our justice system would assume the appeals process is in place in order to ensure the guilt of those convicted prior to their execution. This is absolutely not the case. Appeals are about technicalities and administrative errors. They're about filing exactly the right motion, worded exactly the right way, at exactly the right time. Dow takes us along through his workdays, showing us just how broken and corrupt our justice system has become.
Another aspect making this a compelling read is Dow's willingness to make it personal. He invites us into his world, letting us see how emotionally draining it is to race against the clock, only to then watch his clients die at the hands of the state. The transition between the darkness of his work and the bright light of his family is a difficult hurdle to jump over and over again. That bright light, though, is what keeps him grounded and allows him to work within such a bleak environment.
When I consider the death penalty, I most often think of the men and women locked away waiting for us to kill them. I think about guilt and innocence, and the fact that executing even one innocent person is unacceptable. David Dow does a superb job of showing me the lawyer's viewpoint. Maybe looking for the innocent needle in the guilty haystack is the wrong approach to reform. If the system worked the way it was supposed to, we would have no fear of executing an innocent or a mentally retarded person. Better yet, maybe this book can serve as a lesson that a reasonable society shouldn't have the death penalty at all.
Show More
shown an array of condemned men, from the inexcusably guilty to the mentally incompetent killer to the one who was, in all likelihood, innocent. Most people unfamiliar with the inner workings of our justice system would assume the appeals process is in place in order to ensure the guilt of those convicted prior to their execution. This is absolutely not the case. Appeals are about technicalities and administrative errors. They're about filing exactly the right motion, worded exactly the right way, at exactly the right time. Dow takes us along through his workdays, showing us just how broken and corrupt our justice system has become.
Another aspect making this a compelling read is Dow's willingness to make it personal. He invites us into his world, letting us see how emotionally draining it is to race against the clock, only to then watch his clients die at the hands of the state. The transition between the darkness of his work and the bright light of his family is a difficult hurdle to jump over and over again. That bright light, though, is what keeps him grounded and allows him to work within such a bleak environment.
When I consider the death penalty, I most often think of the men and women locked away waiting for us to kill them. I think about guilt and innocence, and the fact that executing even one innocent person is unacceptable. David Dow does a superb job of showing me the lawyer's viewpoint. Maybe looking for the innocent needle in the guilty haystack is the wrong approach to reform. If the system worked the way it was supposed to, we would have no fear of executing an innocent or a mentally retarded person. Better yet, maybe this book can serve as a lesson that a reasonable society shouldn't have the death penalty at all.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
Best book I've read so far this year. Granted, it's only February, but still. It is a memoir written by a lawyer who defends death penalty cases in Texas. I can't imagine a more frustrating job. He must feel like Sisyphus.
I'm opposed to the death penalty and fascinated by death penalty law, so this
I almost went to law school after college, and I've always wondered what kind of lawyer I would have been. I now know I couldn't be David Dow. I don't think I'd want to be married to him. But I am glad he exists.
I'm opposed to the death penalty and fascinated by death penalty law, so this
Show More
book was right in my wheelhouse. But I found myself caring as much about his relationship with his wife and son as I did about his cases. It is the best kind of memoir: one written by someone with a unique life and unique perspective, who has something to say and says it well.I almost went to law school after college, and I've always wondered what kind of lawyer I would have been. I now know I couldn't be David Dow. I don't think I'd want to be married to him. But I am glad he exists.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tshrope
Dow’s new book is made up of part philosophy, part law school 101, part case history, part memoir and part detective story. The most compelling part of these is the detective story, (where he tries to figure out if one of his clients is actually innocent) the worst part was his telling us too
Dow tells us that he used to believe in capital punishment, but now no longer does. He now works exclusively with death row prisoners to get them stays of execution. His reasons for having a change of heart aren’t detailed in this book (although I think they may have been in his previous book “Executed on a Technicality”, that I have not yet read). It seems he is now against the death penalty because it isn’t fairly applied and the criminal justice system is skewed toward executing mainly poor minorities. He hints that he doesn’t think it is morally right either--murder is murder, but later says he is not sure what he would do if someone killed his family.
When I was younger I was adamantly against the death penalty. Now that I am older and have a young son, I am still theoretically against capital punishment; however I know that if someone sexually abused, tortured and killed my son, I could personally administer the lethal injection with no qualms. So I wonder if Dow would still be against the death penalty if the same thing happened to his son, of whom he absolutely adores and fawns over in this book.
Dow shows the absurdity of how the court system works and how it is not driven by justice, but by procedures, protocols, and politics. He also shows how it is easy for everyone within this system (from jury members, to judges, and most especially the Governor, to not take responsibility for executing someone no matter if they are guilty, mentally incompetent or innocent, with the statement of “There wasn’t anything I could do.”
In addition to the too much narrative about his son in this book, his writing was a little too disjointed for me. He was all over the map--back and forth between a past client, to meeting his wife, to the main current case, to his current personal life, back to another current client, a dream, philosophical thoughts etc. He needed a better editor. These issues aside, I did think the book was informative and thought provoking and I would recommend it.
Show More
much about his precocious 6 –year old son (and while I understand that he wants to show us his personal life to give the rest of the story context, this was too much).Dow tells us that he used to believe in capital punishment, but now no longer does. He now works exclusively with death row prisoners to get them stays of execution. His reasons for having a change of heart aren’t detailed in this book (although I think they may have been in his previous book “Executed on a Technicality”, that I have not yet read). It seems he is now against the death penalty because it isn’t fairly applied and the criminal justice system is skewed toward executing mainly poor minorities. He hints that he doesn’t think it is morally right either--murder is murder, but later says he is not sure what he would do if someone killed his family.
When I was younger I was adamantly against the death penalty. Now that I am older and have a young son, I am still theoretically against capital punishment; however I know that if someone sexually abused, tortured and killed my son, I could personally administer the lethal injection with no qualms. So I wonder if Dow would still be against the death penalty if the same thing happened to his son, of whom he absolutely adores and fawns over in this book.
Dow shows the absurdity of how the court system works and how it is not driven by justice, but by procedures, protocols, and politics. He also shows how it is easy for everyone within this system (from jury members, to judges, and most especially the Governor, to not take responsibility for executing someone no matter if they are guilty, mentally incompetent or innocent, with the statement of “There wasn’t anything I could do.”
In addition to the too much narrative about his son in this book, his writing was a little too disjointed for me. He was all over the map--back and forth between a past client, to meeting his wife, to the main current case, to his current personal life, back to another current client, a dream, philosophical thoughts etc. He needed a better editor. These issues aside, I did think the book was informative and thought provoking and I would recommend it.
Show Less
Awards
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — Autobiography/Memoir — 2010)
Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award (Winner — Non-Fiction — 2010)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2010)
Original publication date
2010-02-03
Physical description
288 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
0099537532 / 9780099537533
Other editions
The Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Dow (Hardcover)