The Autobiography of an Execution

The Autobiography of an Execution is a must for any high school to college-level library strong in social issues in general and capital punishment and legal issues in particular. It tells of a Texas execution and comes from a lawyer who specializes in representing death-row cases. His witness of executions and the legal process offers an insider's view of the minds of judges, experiences of prison, and the death row chambers themselves. A gripping, personal survey.

The author has a wife, a son, a dog. He is lawyer to people who die. He is also connected to a university. One client's drug addiction had consequences. Representing people subject to execution seems like important work. The work is done through a nonprofit legal-aid corporation. Dow doesn't want his death-row inmates to be hopeful that his legal maneuvers will work. Murder is an ugly crime, but most murderers are ordinary. The author used to support the death penalty, but doesn't anymore because the system is lawless. Dow doesn't see homeless people on the streets of Houston, but he sees them in the courthouse. Dow explains how appeals fail, basically on procedural grounds, (issues not raised in state courts, and/or inferior courts), and people are executed. Sometimes innocence cannot be proved, (most of us could not provide an alibi for two days ago). Most of the time it is beside the point. The adversary system, arguably, is used as an excuse for people to do nothing. A client represented at the trial level inadequately, sleeping, and at the appellate level, is simply deemed to be out of luck by the judiciary. Capital punishment is the ultimate societal act of throwing away the key. For instance, clearly insane people are executed. The stories told in the book are true, but names have been changed to protect the attorney-client relationship. Dow's Texas Little League parents have to sign a form promising not to abuse the umpires. The Little League hires professional coaches. Even five-year-olds receive such services. Theoretically there is a presumption of innocence, but factually it is just the opposite. Execution is a case of evasion. The book is important and heart-felt.

Lawyers, by their nature, use logic to convince people of things. This lawyer knows that logic doesn't work against the throwback to tribalism that some aspects of our justice system still have. "Deuteronomy trumps the Sixth Amendment every time...and the lonely lawyer declaiming about proper procedures is a shouting lunatic in the asylum whom people look at curiously and then pass by." Probably the only thing that saves this poor lawyer from going mad are the instances where perfect strangers thank him for what he is doing. Such as the Texas State Trooper who had stopped him while he was speeding to try to save his client from execution. (In this case the man was innocent, but the author's point is that we shouldn't be killing people.) The trooper said, "After you kill the bad guys, you are just as angry as you were before, but there ain't no one left to hate." (I might add that it doesn't bring back the loved one either.) The book flashes back and forth between the author's normal family life and the race to save the lives of his clients. (By the way, I wonder if he realizes his son is stunningly brilliant.) I have to warn you that I was in tears at the end of the book. How awful it was to be one of the people who executes a man they all know is innocent. I heartily recommend this beautifully written book.

In Autobiography of an Execution, author David Dow uses several devices to present a compelling argument for the elimination of the death penalty. This is not, however, a dry casuistry, but a personal account that makes a powerful argument at the gut level. This book is memorable and has impact because it is so personal. Dow claims that he was a supporter of the death penalty, but that his experience has changed his viewpoint. Dow readily acknowledges that many of his clients have done heinous things. He also admits that he does not like many of his clients. In relating the stories of cases he has worked on, however, he shows that the administration of justice is riddled with injustice, and that the community of people claiming to uphold the law is lawless in its disregard for its administration of that very law. Before I purchased this book I read a number of reviews that point to Dow's account as be "Unfocused". I think the juxtaposition of a normal family life and the life of his clients is disturbing. Dow's simple pleasures, such as a drink, or a cigar, or the embrace of his son are seen against the unrelenting forces working against his clients. Dow's life as a family man stands in contrast with Quaker, also a family man, sentenced to die for murder. The juxtaposition of the two made this book real and vivid: both men profess love for their wife and family, but circumstances make the inmate, Quaker, powerless to change his fate, though his love for his family appears to be no less than Dow's. Dow does an excellent job of portraying the chaos associated with an execution through a seemingly disjointed chronology: neither he, nor the condemned, nor, seemingly, the system itself has any real idea of when boards of pardon, courts of appeal, the Supreme Court, or any other party will rule. Not only is the timing of the ruling questionable, but the steps leading to it and the logic of the ruling are equally dubious. By showing the inconsistencies in the appellate process Dow shows the randomness of the death process. In effect Dow is saying that there is a disconnect between the way we talk about the sanctity of life and the gravity of taking of life and the procedures which lead to the taking of that life. Based on Dow's descriptions, can we truly say the scales of justice are balanced? I was somewhat put off by what I considered Dow's egocentrism, particularly in passages describing Judge Truesdale's attempted (?) seduction. A story of a woman who aided him in getting home seemed completely gratuitous. On reflection, I can understand that I would need something to shore up my ego if I practiced Dow's trade. Although these, and a bargain to trade infidelities, seemed less than credible, they are not sufficient to mar the otherwise convincing narrative. This excellent book is a fast read that will challenge the reader to reflect on the justice of and administration of the "ultimate penalty".

To those who have read this book and still stand by your position on the death penalty in America, I say your hearts are very hard indeed. David R. Dow presents an unflinchingly honest personal account of his life, both private and public. His tone is even considering the work he does; last-minute attempts at trying to save those facing the death penalty in Texas. The most sentimental moments in this book are when he writes of his love for his young son and wife. His clients? Most are guilty, most he neither likes nor cares about, and some are innocent, and he tries not to care. Dow does cares about the law, which, in Texas, is shockingly disregarded. Dow lays out his day-to-day encounters with those who are executed, in spite of their being mentally retarded, in spite of their innocence, in spite of having lawyers who are literally asleep on the job, and because of the state of Texas, which seems not to care about the Constitution of the United States of America. What I have just written above is far more preachy than what Dow has written. His is a heartfelt, often wrenching book, even with its almost almost noir tone. Others have said the book is rambling, not focused enough. Dow lets us see him as a whole; he has nightmares, doesn't care for famous artists, is worried about being a bad father. Yes, these and other things may seem irrelevant, but how human they are! Dow tells us again and again that he doesn't want to care, but he does. How can he and keep his sanity in the face of such poor odds, and exposed daily to death, bad law, and bad or hardened people on all sides? In Yiddish, one calls a person who can a mensch, and that is what Dow shows he is, a "real man" in the fullest sense of the word, a man with flaws and fears, and who does truly good work without much reward. At the heart of this book is a story about one client who was probably innocent. This story unfolds amongst many, and it drew me in as well as the most suspenseful thriller. There was no happy ending, and I tried to steal myself against this possibility. This is something that Dow does on a daily basis. How he does this day after day without being an embittered, strident, or miserable human being, I can not fathom. I had never heard of Dow before I read this book. I admit I am was not in favor of the death penalty before I picked up this somewhat ineptly named book (my only complaint). It sounded interesting, but I did not expect to like it, or be all that moved by it. I generally do not like memoirs or autobiographies. But, this book moved me deeply, and in unexpected ways. I will need time to digest it, and some of it is truly indigestible. David R. Dow is a person that enhances my faith that people are essentially good. This is not only a book I would recommend; it is a book I'd give to people. Please read it.