Ultimate Punishment

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Ultimate Punishment
Author Scott Turow
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Autobiography
Publisher Farrar Straus & Giroux
Publication date 2003
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 164 (paperback)
ISBN ISBN 0374128731 (paperback)
Preceded by 'Reversible Errors'
Followed by 'Ordinary Heroes'

Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty or simply Ultimate Punishment is a series of autobiographical reflections regarding the death penalty. It is written by Scott Turow and marks his return to non-fiction for the first time since One L in 1977.

Turow basis his opinions on his experiences as a prosecutor and, in his post-prosecutorial years, working on behalf of death-row inmates, as well as his two years on Illinois's Commission on Capital Punishment, charged by the former Gov. George Ryan.

Turow presents both sides of the death penalty debate and seems himself to flip sides depending on the argument.

Turow's reflections include:

  • Thoughts on victims' rights vs. community rights
  • Whether execution is a deterrent
  • The possible execution of an innocent person
  • If not the death penalty, what to do with the worst offenders

He also visits a maximum security prison and meets multiple-murderer Henry Brison, who, Turow says, "most closely resembles... Hannibal Lecter".

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