Along the way, Blecker demonstrates why life in prison is not enough punishment for the worst of the worst." -Kent Scheidegger, Legal Director, The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation "A fascinating tour behind the walls of prisons and through the minds of murderers. Serious students of crime and punishment must face and respond to Blecker's provocative and engaging work." -Robert Johnson, Professor of Justice, Law and Society, American University, Author of Death Work No one can read this book and not be deeply affected by it. "A remarkable book-eloquent, passionately argued, and disturbing in its clarion call for more punishment in prison and more pain in the death house. Tribe, University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School, and author of "The Invisible Constitution" and "American Constitutional Law" If you care deeply about questions of right and wrong, read it twice." -Laurence H. If you think you already know what you believe about the death penalty, think again and read this book. "A philosophically and legally sophisticated page-turner is a rare thing to behold, but Robert Blecker has produced just that. David Dow, founder of Texas Innocence Network, author of Autobiography of an Execution His argument is one that any death penalty supporter will identify with, but more importantly, it's one any opponent must answer. "Robert Blecker is probably the most articulate death penalty supporter around, and easily the most honest. It closes with the final irony: If we make prison the punishment it should be, we may well abolish the very death penalty justice now requires. It argues that society must redesign life and death in prison to make the punishment more nearly fit the crime. The Death of Punishment challenges the reader to refine deeply held beliefs on life and death as punishment that flare up with every news story of a heinous crime. Thus the worst criminals often live the best lives. After thousands of hours over twenty-five years inside maximum security prisons and on death rows in seven states, the history and philosophy professor exposes the perversity of justice: Inside prison, ironically, it's nobody's job to punish. Some killers' poignant circumstances should lead us to mercy others show clearly why they should die. The Death of Punishment tests legal philosophy against the reality and wisdom of street criminals and their guards. For twelve years Robert Blecker, a criminal law professor, wandered freely inside Lorton Central Prison, armed only with cigarettes and a tape recorder.
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