Everyone enjoyed The Autobiography of an Execution. Megan came up with incredible discussion questions, which the author himself called “great” – twice!!
Some highlights:
- Generally speaking, this is a tough issue any way you look at it
- Mental illness and crappy lawyers make the death penalty an even tougher pill to swallow
- BUT – do the criminals deserve it?
- Does the execution of just one innocent person make the entire system completely wrong?
- Dow has the hardest job in the world (lots of drinking & bad dreams) – how can he ever walk away from it without feeling guilty?
- We’d really like to know WHY he changed his mind and now opposes the death penalty
- For some of us, the book gave us a different perspective, but didn’t necessarily change our minds about how we feel
- James Holmes, the guy in Aurora – mentally ill or super smart? Or both? He should be sentenced to die, he seemed to know what he was doing
- Is all murder a result of chemical imbalance?
- Andrea Yates – no question about mental illness
- Which is worse – life in prison, or death penalty? Could be hard to accept death when it’s not on your own terms
- We all felt better to know that the death row inmates don’t have TV, exercise, college, etc.
- Can people really be rehabilitated? Continue reading
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