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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 364
EAN num: 9781555531973
ISBN number: 1555531970
Label: Northeastern
Manufacturer: Northeastern
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: May 26, 1994
Publishing house: Northeastern
Sale Popularity Level: 921389
Studio: Northeastern
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The stories of some 400 innocent Americans who were falsely convicted of capital crimes.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Just some definitional clarification in response to comments made about the "intellectual dishonesty" of the authors:
CAPITAL OFFENSE - a crime for which the death penalty may be imposed. Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Ed. 1999.
Black's is the legal system's most trusted authority on legal terminology, and while it is perhaps unfair and potentially misleading for the authors to have exploited a reader's possible misunderstanding of the nature of capital sentencing and prosecutorial dealmaking, the authors are correct in their usage of the term.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a wonderful book documenting some of the most significant failures of Justice in the 20th century. The stories presented within are both enthralling and heartbreaking. I highly recommend this book.
Another reviewer accused this book's authors of "intellectual dishonesty" for including crimes that did not result in a death sentence. However, this reviewer erroneously stated that only crimes that eventually result in the death penalty are capital crimes. This is not true. A capital crime is an crime that carries with it the _potential_ for recieving a death sentence - not just the crimes that actually do recieve such a sentence.
The authors also stated in the introduction that they would be including crimes which, at the time they were committed, constituted a capital offense, but no longer are considered death penalty-eligible (like rape).
The only "intellectual dishonesty" present is that of certain reviewers who make false statements and tarnish the reputations of well-respected researchers.
Rated by buyers 
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I agree with the very first reviewer. A blatant case of intellectual dishonesty. Michael Radelet is one of the worst researchers on capital punishment. I don't know how the guy got his tenure. Don't buy it!!
Rated by buyers 
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I would have ranked this book higher if it wasn't intellectually dishonest. Personally, I oppose the death penalty, but I don't appreciate deceptive reasoning in defense of my beliefs.
The book's subtitle, its authors, many reviewers, as well as countless people who rely upon the authors' research to attack the death penalty, all state that the 400+ supposedly innocent people were all convicted of capital crimes. That implies that they were all sentenced to death, as that is what a "capital crime" is. That claim, which the authors themselves fully admit in their Introduction, is flat out false. As the authors themselves acknowledge, MOST of the 400+ cases referred to were cases where the defendant was not in fact sentenced to death. That, ipso facto, means that they were not found guilty of capital crimes. Many were found guilty of non-capital homicides, such as manslaughter and 2nd degree homicide, and were sentenced to terms significantly less than even life (sometimes as little as a few years). The authors also admit to include convictions for non-capital rapes, on the grounds that they COULD have been tried as such, but in fact weren't. They also admit to including convictions in jurisdictions were there wasn't any death penalty available at all!
Their justification for all this? Their argument is that it is legitimate for them to treat all these cases as "capital" because (they claim) most people believe that all criminal homicides are capital cases, even though that in fact is false. In other words, they are claiming that they are justified in relying on a false premise in their argument against the death penalty (these guys are anti-DP activists, and thus are not unbiased researchers) on the grounds that most people don't know it's false, even though they do. Such conscious exploitation of public ignorance on a legal issue is bald-faced intellectual dishonesty.
Otherwise, the book includes compelling stories of injustice in the criminal justice system. Their case would have been more compelling if, in their zeal to attack the death penalty, they were more honest about the matter.
Rated by buyers -
In our system of justice the worst case scenario is to be convicted of capitol crime and sentenced to death. Even worse than that is that fact you are innocent of the crime. This book exposes some serious miscarriages of the system.
The authors, in great detail explain how over 400 Americans were wrongly incarcerated for crimes of which they did not commit. The book is a true insight into the world of our legal system.
With great attention to the facts, you have a very first hand look at people on death row. I was impressed and captured by how well the book tells the stories. I was able to finish the reading in just over 6 hours.
If your fascinated by law, have a hobby with law or just want to spend some time with a real good book, here's your chance. An excellent read from start to finish. You won't be able to put it down.
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