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BOOK REVIEW A Lawyers
Reflections on by Scott Turow Farrar Straus & Giroux - October 2003 Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty I have been a fan of Scott Turow's fiction for a
number of years. So, when I was asked to read and
review his latest work, a nonfiction book dealing
with one of the most controversial topics in
America today, that of capital punishment, I
eagerly anticipated the opportunity to find out
what this bestselling author-lawyer had to say on
the subject. I was not disappointed. Turow's very
short treatise on the "ultimate punishment" (only
about 120 pages of actual discussion) immediately
brings the controversy into focus and lays out the
arguments on both sides of the issue. |
Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty, by Scott Turow |
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Admitting that initially he was an "agnostic" regarding the death penalty, Turow was appointed to serve on the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment by then-Governor George Ryan, who had declared a moratorium on further executions in Illinois on January 31, 2000, a decision that was heavily criticized by many both in his own state and also nationwide. Ryan's justification for his action was that the Illinois' capital justice system was "fraught with error." Shortly after he issued the moratorium, Governor Ryan put together a fourteen-member Commission to look into the matter of reforming the system. Former prosecutor and now-defense attorney Scott Turow has used his experience serving on the Commission to examine the very serious debate over the death penalty in "Ultimate Punishment." Turow's examination of capital punishment is not merely theoretical. He has been directly involved in death penalty cases, including successfully representing two different individuals convicted in death-penalty prosecutions. In other words, he can speak from practical experience and not just from the ivory tower of academic debate. Along the way, the reader will get a brief overview of the history of the capital punishment debate in America as well as insights into the pros and cons that have divided those in favor of the death penalty and those opposed to it. To his credit, I found Turow to be profoundly fair in his analysis of both sides of the argument. One senses in this book that for the author this has been a very personal quest for wisdom regarding the matter of capital punishment. One can sense a continuing wrestling with the issue over a lengthy period of time. This book seems to be no "rush to judgment" on the part of Scott Turow. His writing at times is very introspective and at points, one might say, it is a clinical study in self-analysis involving very private ethical conflicts over a matter of supreme importance. He discusses the ordinary elements in the debate -- conviction of the innocent, deterrence, recidivism, and redemption -- but he also pays attention to the victims and their concerns, and how these concerns should be addressed in the calculus of the debate. The death penalty as a form of punishment is not a subject one should take lightly. For decades, I have publicly debated the issue, written about it, and agonized over my position regarding it. Ultimately, I decided that capital punishment as a punitive practice should be discarded by society, not because it was cruel and unusual, and not because it didn't really deter, but simply because, since the right to life as a natural right is not derived from the State, the State had no right to take a human life. While Turow does not address the natural right argument in his book, he does discuss one aspect of the controversy to which I had not in the past given serious thought, namely the matter of "moral proportion" or "moral order." If nothing else, I thank him for bringing this matter to my attention for further thought. After the Commission finished its task of investigation and discussion, Turow says in the final pages of the text, "when...called upon...to offer a definitive judgment on the death penalty, a number of my fellow commissioners revised their positions. But I appear to have finally come to rest on the issue. Today, I would still do as I did when...asked whether Illinois should retain capital punishment." How did novelist-lawyer Scott Turow vote on the issue? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out. I'm not going to tell you. At the end of the book, Turow includes a copy of the Preamble to the Report of the Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment, issued in April of 2002, with the suggested recommendations of the Commission. If capital punishment is to remain the policy of the day, then the recommendations made by the Commission demand everyone's attention, no matter what state they reside in, simply because the ultimate punishment, if it is to be fairly and rationally applied, needs to meet the highest standards of justice possible. Also, for those who want to go beyond Turow's brief discussion of the subject, the book includes thirty-eight pages of notes with citations to legal cases and text references, many of them available on the Internet. In summary, this is a book to be recommended to all Americans because the issue is timely and very important. Turow has made a significant contribution to the subject of criminal justice and he is to be commended on his sober and impartial presentation.
Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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