The Life Before Her Eyes by Uma Thurman

The Life Before Her Eyes by Uma Thurman

Those who support capital punishment often claim that they do so because it provides justice and closure for the victims' families. In Capital Consequences, attorney Rachel King reminds us that there are other families and other victims who must be considered in the debate over the death penalty.

Combining a narrative voice with vivid, passionate, and painful accounts of the families of death row inmates, the book demonstrates that crimes that lead to death sentences also devastate the families of those convicted. These families, King argues, are the unseen victims of capital punishment.

King challenges readers to question the morality of a punishment that victimizes families of the condemned and ripples out through future generations. Chapters tell the stories of families that have lost life savings supporting an accused loved one, endured intense public scrutiny, been subjected to harassment by the media, and are struggling to live with the inhumane treatment that their loved ones receive on death row. The author also explores the unique nature of the grief that these families suffer. Because their pain tends to elicit less attention and empathy than that of the crime victims' families, King shows how it becomes much more desperate and isolating.

On a human level, this book is a powerful reminder that tragic events have tragic consequences that far outreach their immediate victims. At the same time, the accounts illustrate many of the flaws inherent in the judicial system--racial and economic bias, incompetent counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, the execution of juveniles, and wrongful convictions, some of which are only now being overturned because of recent advances in DNA technology.

Regardless of which side of the death penalty issue you are on, this book will lead you to pause and consider that all acts--criminal and retributive--have broader human implications than we are sometimes willing to realize.

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

SKU	Unavailable
EAN	0876964001397
Title	The Life Before Her Eyes
Release date	2008-08-19
Format	Closed-captioned Dolby Subtitled Widescreen
Region Code	region_free
Running time	90 minutes
Studio	Magnolia
Audience Rating	Suitable for 15 years and over
Condition	Unavailable
Note	Unavailable

Actor	Brett Cullen
Primary Contributor	Uma Thurman
Actor	John Magaro
Producer	Ian McGloin
Actor	Oscar Isaac
Producer	Aimée Peyronnet
Producer	Couper Samuelson
Writer	Emil Stern
Writer	Laura Kasischke
Actor	Eva Amurri Martino
Actor	Lynn Cohen
Producer	Chase Bailey
Actor	Jack Gilpin
Producer	Anthony Katagas
Actor	Maggie Lacey
Actor	Evan Rachel Wood
Primary Contributor	Evan Rachel Wood
Actor	Gabrielle Brennan
Director	Vadim Perelman
Actor	Uma Thurman