Executing Grace

Starred review from May 23, 2016
George Junius-Stinney Jr. was so small "that his head didn't reach into the metal helmet of the electric chair." At age 14, Junius-Stinney was the youngest person ever executed in the United States. The guards brought the biggest book they could find for him to sit on: the Bible. With a characteristically engaging voice, Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution) delves into how, as a white Southern evangelical Christian, he changed his mind about capital punishment. Through stories, interviews, history, and cogent scriptural reflection, Claiborne takes the reader on a moral journey that's often hard to undertake on one's own. He tests common beliefs, including the ideas that all murder victims favor the death penalty, prison officers feel justified in carrying out executions, and prisoners on death row have been fairly judged and are guilty of their crimes. He also looks at how the courts operate against victims who request that the death penalty not be applied in the prosecution of their loved one's killer, even denying them access to victim assistance funds. Claiborne's latest is a timely release as an increasing number of U.S. states move to more effective forms of justice and Pope Francis calls for a global moratorium on capital punishment.