The 34 chapters in this book are largely composed of interviews—with the men on death row, with individuals fighting the death penalty, and with the families of the condemned. Several chapters also cover such topics as the execution of juveniles, mentally retarded individuals and Vietnam veterans, ineffective legal counsel and racist criminal justice systems, botched executions, and executions carried out despite the contrary wishes of prosecutors and victims’ families.

Shirley Dicks is the author of 12 books, which are listed on her website at www.shirleydicks.org. She lives in Beechgrove, Tennessee.

Shirley Dicks
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 158
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013 [1990]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6943-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1222-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Preface      xi

Part I. Fighting the Death Penalty

1. Joe Ingle      1

2. Mary Kaki Friskics-Warren      12

3. Harmon Wray      15

4. Jeff Blum      19

5. Watt Espy      23

6. Patricia Smith      29

7. Richard Moran      31

8. The Execution of Juvenile Offenders      36

9. The Execution of Vietnam Veterans      37

10. Marie Deans      38

11. Racism and the Death Penalty      42

12. Ineffective Trial Representation      43

13. Execution by Default      45

14. Executions Despite the Wishes of Prosecutors and Victims’ Families      46

15. Botched Executions      47

16. Hugo Bedau      49

17. Victor Streib      58

Part II. The Men on Death Row

18. Richard Simon      65

19. Don Johnson      69

20. Cecil Johnson      72

21. Billy Groseclose      75

22. Gary Cone      79

23. Mr. D.      82

24. Ron Harries      85

25. Kenneth O’Guinn      90

26. Byron Parker      94

27. Fred Coffee, Jr.      99

28. Jeff Dicks      102

Part III. The Families of the Condemned

29. Rose Williams—Mother      109

30. Dovie Page—Mother      112

31. Georgia Barber—Mother      115

32. Tina Mathews—Grandmother      118

33. Dawn & Tanya Perry—Daughters      122

34. Shirley Dicks—Mother      126

Bibliography      141

Index      143

• “Powerful and meaningful…a valuable addition”—Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

• “Poignant and thought-provoking, the book exposes the contradiction between the struggle for human rights and the use of capital punishment”—CrimeFacts