Machinery of Death

Thurgood Marshall said that the more people learned about the death penalty the more they'd be against it. It's racist unfair to poor people and the mentally retarded and far too often ends horribly in the state sanctioned murder of innocents. And no one no matter how much they're paid likes to be involved with death itself. In Machinery of Death death penalty lawyer David R. Dow and writer 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.