Condemned to Die: Life Under Sentence of Death

New
Hardcover
2018
$174.99

Condemned to Die is a book about life under sentence of death in American prisons. The great majority of condemned prisoners are warehoused on death rows before they are put to death. Death rows typically feature solitary confinement, a harsh regimen that is closely examined in this book. These regimes are most common in states that execute prisoners with regularity, which is to say, where there is a realistic threat that condemned prisoners will be put to death. Most Americans support the death penalty, but no justification for capital punishment, other than raw vengeance, demands or even permits warehousing of prisoners under sentence of death. The punishment is death. There is neither a mandate nor a justification for harsh and dehumanizing confinement before the prisoner is put to death. Yet warehousing for death, of an empty and sometimes brutal nature, is the universal fate of condemned prisoners. The enormous suffering caused by this human warehousing, rendered in the words of the prisoners themselves, is the subject of this book.

Synopsis

Condemned to Die is a book about life under sentence of death in American prisons. The great majority of condemned prisoners are warehoused on death rows before they are put to death. Death rows typically feature solitary confinement, a harsh regimen that is closely examined in this book. These regimes are most common in states that execute prisoners with regularity, which is to say, where there is a realistic threat that condemned prisoners will be put to death. Most Americans support the death penalty, but no justification for capital punishment, other than raw vengeance, demands or even permits warehousing of prisoners under sentence of death. The punishment is death. There is neither a mandate nor a justification for harsh and dehumanizing confinement before the prisoner is put to death. Yet warehousing for death, of an empty and sometimes brutal nature, is the universal fate of condemned prisoners. The enormous suffering caused by this human warehousing, rendered in the words of the prisoners themselves, is the subject of this book.

$174.99

Quantity

5 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 164
Edition: 2
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 20 Dec 2018
ISBN 10: 0815362331
ISBN 13: 9780815362333

Media Reviews

Johnson's study is widely acknowledged to be the closest anyone can come to an inside view of capital punishment, and the report of his study exemplifies the best any of us could hope to achieve in trying to convey the depth and import of significant human experiences, and in both capacities this book has been, and remains, a classic.
Hans Toch, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University at Albany

Perhaps the most cruel and unusual aspect about capital punishment in the United States is what Robert Johnson, in this second edition of his classic, Condemned to Die, characterizes as a living death. ... [This book] is an essential resource for anyone seeking a full understanding of the death penalty in America today.
Robert Bohm, Professor Emeritus, University of Central Florida

Prisoners, especially those on Death Row, are subject to a huge amount of abuse. Their abusers require two things be in place to get away with torture: The prisoners they abuse must be viewed by the larger society as less than human, as animals even; and the abuse must be secret, invisible to the general public. Robert Johnson exposes and undermines both prerequisites for abuse by letting prisoners on Death Row tell their stories, very human stories filled with multiple traumas; and by unblinkingly presenting the harsh reality of life on The Row. Condemned to Die is a very well-researched and poignant book, and absolutely a must-read for all citizens who oppose torture and value freedom.
Terry A. Kupers, M.D., M.S.P., Author of Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation and How We Can Abolish It

In this classic, ground-breaking work, Johnson exposes the agony and cruelty of what passes for life on death row - as Johnson calls it, a grave for the living. As demonstrated in this revised edition, this psychological nightmare has only gotten worse in recent decades as the agonizing wait for death has grown even longer for most prisoners. As difficult as it is to contemplate these horrors, Condemned to Die should be read by all those who oppose the death penalty or students who want to understand it better. Yet, more importantly, it should be required reading for death penalty supporters. Few could maintain such views in light of this powerful research.
Shadd Maruna, author of Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives

The view from Death Row narrated by Robert Johnson in Condemned to Die, largely through the voices of those who experience it, is a compelling but difficult read. Puncturing some of the myths about the individuals consigned to a living death, Johnson shines a light into the very deepest corners of the American penal system, exposing both its horrors and the resourcefulness and dignity of the human beings who endure extreme confinement. The exquisitely cruel journey from conviction to execution - or in some cases, simply interminable years of languishing in conditions of social and material deprivation - that Johnson subtly guides us through, rightly interrogates a punishment that serves no proportionate penological purpose. Powerful and affecting, this book will leave a lasting impression.
Yvonne Jewkes, Professor of Criminology, University of Bath

Author Bio

Robert Johnson is a professor of justice, law and criminology at American University, editor and publisher of BleakHouse Publishing, and an award-winning author of books and articles on crime and punishment, including works of social science, law, poetry, and fiction. He has written four social science books, including Death Work: A Study of the Modern Execution Process (2005), which received the Outstanding Book Award of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Johnson has also edited six social science books, including Life without Parole: Living and Dying in Prison Today and A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women. He has published extensively in professional journals, including law reviews, and has testified or provided expert affidavits on capital and other cases before U.S. state and federal courts, the U.S. Congress, and the European Commission of Human Rights. Johnson's scholarship also features creative writing on crime and punishment, including a novel, four collections of original poems, and one anthology of fiction. His fiction has appeared in literary and fine arts publications. One short story, The Practice of Killing, won a national fiction contest sponsored by Wild Violet magazine, while another, Cell Buddy, was adapted for the stage and read at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Johnson's independent literary press, BleakHouse Publishing, features creative writing, art, and photography on matters relating to social justice, showcasing the work of a wide range of writers and artists, among which are included current and former American University students as well as current and former state and federal prisoners. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York.