Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation

Download Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781625860262
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation by : Joan Becker

Download or read book Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation written by Joan Becker and published by . This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Travel with one heartbroken family as they struggle to find help for their son, face unspeakable tragedy, receive unexpected forgiveness, and deal with the aftermath of a child whose mental health issues ended in calamity . . . and transformation. Discover the confidence that buoys author Joan Becker and her family as they push for reform in the broken mental health system before more lives are ruined. Their story offers hope, help, and heart-felt compassion. "Joan Becker has a generous spirit and kind heart that come forward in this book. By sharing her family's experience she'll help other families struggling with mental illness feel less alone. That's a tremendous accomplishment when the illness causes feelings of isolation and hopelessness for parents who are desperate to help their suffering child. The mental health system can and should be better, and this book inspires all of us to do everything we can to make it so." U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

The Meaning of Life

Download The Meaning of Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : The New Press
ISBN 13 : 162097410X
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (29 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Meaning of Life by : Marc Mauer

Download or read book The Meaning of Life written by Marc Mauer and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I can think of no authors more qualified to research the complex impact of life sentences than Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis. They have the expertise to track down the information that all citizens need to know and the skills to translate that research into accessible and powerful prose." —Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Blood in the Water From the author of the classic Race to Incarcerate, a forceful and necessary argument for eliminating life sentences, including profiles of six people directly impacted by life sentences by formerly incarcerated author Kerry Myers Most Western democracies have few or no people serving life sentences, yet here in the United States more than 200,000 people are sentenced to such prison terms. Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than twenty years. Harsher sentences have been shown to have little effect on crime rates, since people "age out" of crime—meaning that we're spending a fortune on geriatric care for older prisoners who pose little threat to public safety. Extreme punishment for serious crime also has an inflationary effect on sentences across the spectrum, helping to account for severe mandatory minimums and other harsh punishments. A thoughtful and stirring call to action, The Meaning of Life also features moving profiles of a half dozen people affected by life sentences, written by former "lifer" and award-winning writer Kerry Myers. The book will tie in to a campaign spearheaded by The Sentencing Project and offers a much-needed road map to a more humane criminal justice system.

Real Justice: Sentenced to Life at Seventeen

Download Real Justice: Sentenced to Life at Seventeen PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Lorimer
ISBN 13 : 1552774333
Total Pages : 118 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (527 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Real Justice: Sentenced to Life at Seventeen by : Cynthia J. Faryon

Download or read book Real Justice: Sentenced to Life at Seventeen written by Cynthia J. Faryon and published by Lorimer. This book was released on 2012-09-12 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Milgaard was a troubled kid, and he got into lots of trouble. Unfortunately, that made it easy for the Saskatoon police to brand him as a murderer. At seventeen, David Milgaard was arrested, jailed, and convicted for the rape and murder of a young nursing assistant, Gail Miller. He was sent to adult prison for life. Throughout his twenty-three years in prison, David maintained that he was innocent and refused to admit to the crime, even though it meant he was never granted parole. Finally, through the incredible determination of his mother and new lawyers who believed in him, David was released and proven not guilty. Astonishingly, in hindsight the real murderer was obvious from the start. This is the true story of how bad decisions, tunnel vision, poor representation, and outright lying and coercion by those within the justice system caused a tragic miscarriage of justice. It also shows that wrongs can be righted and amends made. [Fry Reading Level - 4.3

Life Without Parole

Download Life Without Parole PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 0814762484
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (147 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Life Without Parole by : Charles J. Ogletree

Download or read book Life Without Parole written by Charles J. Ogletree and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2012-06-04 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is life without parole the perfect compromise to the death penalty? Or is it as ethically fraught as capital punishment? This comprehensive, interdisciplinary anthology treats life without parole as “the new death penalty.” Editors Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. and Austin Sarat bring together original work by prominent scholars in an effort to better understand the growth of life without parole and its social, cultural, political, and legal meanings. What justifies the turn to life imprisonment? How should we understand the fact that this penalty is used disproportionately against racial minorities? What are the most promising avenues for limiting, reforming, or eliminating life without parole sentences in the United States? Contributors explore the structure of life without parole sentences and the impact they have on prisoners, where the penalty fits in modern theories of punishment, and prospects for (as well as challenges to) reform.

Sentenced to Life

Download Sentenced to Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Picador
ISBN 13 : 9781447284055
Total Pages : 80 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (84 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sentenced to Life by : Clive James

Download or read book Sentenced to Life written by Clive James and published by Picador. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his insightful collection of poems Clive James looks back over an extraordinarily rich life with a clear-eyed and unflinching honesty. There are regrets, but no trace of self-pity in these verses, which - for all their open dealings with death and illness - are primarily a celebration of what is treasurable and memorable in our time here. Again and again, James reminds us that he is not only a poet of effortless wit and lyric accomplishment: he is also an immensely wise one, who delights in using poetic form to bring a razor-sharp focus to his thought. Miraculously, these poems see James writing with his insight and energy not only undiminished but positively charged by his situation: Sentenced to Life represents a career high point from one of the greatest literary intelligences of the age.

When I Die, They'll Send Me Home

Download When I Die, They'll Send Me Home PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Human Rights Watch
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 104 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis When I Die, They'll Send Me Home by : Human Rights Watch (Organization)

Download or read book When I Die, They'll Send Me Home written by Human Rights Watch (Organization) and published by Human Rights Watch. This book was released on 2008 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Methodology -- Recommendations -- To the Governor of California -- To the California State Legislature -- To state and county officials -- To state judges -- To California District Attorneys -- To defense attorneys -- Teenagers sentenced to die in California prisons -- Why youth are serving life without parole in California -- Crimes that result in a life without parole sentence -- Unjust results -- Many youth sentenced to life without parole did not actually kill -- The worst racial disparity in the nation -- County sentencing practices differ -- Influence of peers -- Adult codefendants -- Legal representation that compromises justice -- The late teens and early twenties : a dramatic period for personal growth -- Teens' unique potential for change -- Personal experience of change -- Life inside prison -- Fear and violence -- Barriers to rehabilitative opportunities -- The financial cost of sentencing youth to life without parole in California -- The perspectives of victims -- What those serving life without parole want to say to the families of their victims.

Women Doing Life

Download Women Doing Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 1479827053
Total Pages : 319 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (798 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Women Doing Life by : Lora Bex Lempert

Download or read book Women Doing Life written by Lora Bex Lempert and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2016-02-19 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Women Doing Life, Lora Bex Lempert examines the carceral experiences of women serving life sentences, presenting a typology of the ways that life-sentenced women grow and self-actualize, resist prison definitions, reflect on and own their criminal acts, and ultimately create meaningful lives behind prison walls. Looking beyond the explosive headlines that often characterize these women as monsters, Lempert offers rare insight into this vulnerable, little studied population. Her gendered analysis considers the ways that women do crime differently than men and how they have qualitatively different experiences of imprisonment than their male counterparts."--Provided by publisher.

Life Imprisonment

Download Life Imprisonment PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674989112
Total Pages : 428 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (749 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Life Imprisonment by : Dirk van Zyl Smit

Download or read book Life Imprisonment written by Dirk van Zyl Smit and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life imprisonment has replaced the death penalty as the most common sentence imposed for heinous crimes worldwide. Consequently, it has become the leading issue of international criminal justice reform. In the first survey of its kind, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton argue for a human rights–based reappraisal of this harsh punishment.

Life Imprisonment and Human Rights

Download Life Imprisonment and Human Rights PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1509902228
Total Pages : 544 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (99 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Life Imprisonment and Human Rights by : Dirk van Zyl Smit

Download or read book Life Imprisonment and Human Rights written by Dirk van Zyl Smit and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many jurisdictions today, life imprisonment is the most severe penalty that can be imposed. Despite this, it is a relatively under-researched form of punishment and no meaningful attempt has been made to understand its full human rights implications. This important collection fills that gap by addressing these two key questions: what is life imprisonment and what human rights are relevant to it? These questions are explored from the perspective of a range of jurisdictions, in essays that draw on both empirical and doctrinal research. Under the editorship of two leading scholars in the field, this innovative and important work will be a landmark publication in the field of penal studies and human rights.

Beyond Innocence

Download Beyond Innocence PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Atlantic Monthly Press
ISBN 13 : 0802159397
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (21 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Beyond Innocence by : Phoebe Zerwick

Download or read book Beyond Innocence written by Phoebe Zerwick and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2022-03-08 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deeply reported, gripping narrative of injustice, exoneration, and the lifelong impact of incarceration, Beyond Innocence is the poignant saga of one remarkable life that sheds vitally important light on the failures of the American justice system at every level In June 1985, a young Black man in Winston-Salem, N.C. named Darryl Hunt was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a white copyeditor at the local paper. Many in the community believed him innocent and crusaded for his release even as subsequent trials and appeals reinforced his sentence. Finally, in 2003, the tireless efforts of his attorney combined with an award-winning series of articles by Phoebe Zerwick in the Winston-Salem Journal led to the DNA evidence that exonerated Hunt. Three years later, the acclaimed documentary, The Trials of Darryl Hunt, made him known across the country and brought his story to audiences around the world. But Hunt’s story was far from over. As Zerwick poignantly reveals, it is singularly significant in the annals of the miscarriage of justice and for the legacy Hunt ultimately bequeathed. Part true crime drama, part chronicle of a life cut short by systemic racism, Beyond Innocence powerfully illuminates the sustained catastrophe faced by an innocent person in prison and the civil death nearly everyone who has been incarcerated experiences attempting to restart their lives. Freed after nineteen years behind bars, Darryl Hunt became a national advocate for social justice, and his case inspired lasting reforms, among them a law that allows those on death row to appeal their sentence with evidence of racial bias. He was a beacon of hope for so many—until he could no longer bear the burden of what he had endured and took his own life. Fluidly crafted by a master journalist, Beyond Innocence makes an urgent moral call for an American reckoning with the legacies of racism in the criminal justice system and the human toll of the carceral state.

When I Die-- They'll Send Me Home

Download When I Die-- They'll Send Me Home PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781564328519
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (285 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis When I Die-- They'll Send Me Home by : Elizabeth Calvin

Download or read book When I Die-- They'll Send Me Home written by Elizabeth Calvin and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In California over 300 youth have been sentenced to life without parole. This update presents current data on the number of youth sentenced to life without parole in California, and details significant legal changes in recent years. It also describes the cases of several young people convicted of murder: two sentenced to parole-eligible sentences who served many years in prison and are now out and contributing to their communities, and two sentenced to life without parole who will die in prison. Law and public opinion about life sentences for youth have evolved in recent years. Experience and a growing body of scientific evidence confirm there is tremendous emotional and mental growth during the late teens, and that young people differ from adults. As US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has stated: "Society changes. Knowledge accumulates. We learn, sometimes, from our mistakes..." California's law permitting juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole for murder was enacted before major advances in understanding adolescent brain development, and fails to recognize that teenagers are particularly amenable to change and rehabilitation. All youth should have the chance to prove they have changed, and to earn parole.

Death Sentence

Download Death Sentence PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Diversion Books
ISBN 13 : 1626812888
Total Pages : 546 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (268 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Death Sentence by : Jerry Bledsoe

Download or read book Death Sentence written by Jerry Bledsoe and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2014-05-18 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this “true story that reads like a novel,” the #1 New York Times–bestselling author reveals the facts behind a notorious Southern murder case (Library Journal). When North Carolina farmer Stuart Taylor died after a sudden illness, his forty-six-year-old fiancée, Velma Barfield, was overcome with grief. Taylor’s family grieved with her—until the autopsy revealed traces of arsenic poisoning. Turned over to the authorities by her own son, Velma stunned her family with more revelations. This wasn’t the first time she had committed cold-blooded murder, and she would eventually be tried by the “world’s deadliest prosecutor” and sentenced to death. This book probes Velma’s stark descent into madness, her prescription drug addiction, and her effort to turn her life around through Christianity. From her harrowing childhood to the crimes that incited a national debate over the death penalty, to the final moments of her execution, Velma Barfield’s life of crime and punishment, revenge and redemption, this is crime reporting at its most gripping and profound. “A painfully intimate, moving story about the life and death of the only woman executed in the U.S. between 1962–1998 . . . With graceful writing and thorough reporting, it makes the reader look hard at something dark and sad in the human soul . . . Breathes new life into the true crime genre.” —The News & Observer “Undertakes to answer the questions about the justice system and the motives that drive women to kill.” —The Washington Post Book World “An extraordinary piece of writing . . . The most chilling description of a legal execution that we are ever likely to get.” —Citizen-Times “Taut and engrossing on the nature of justice and the death penalty as well as on guilt and responsibility.” —Booklist

The Forgotten Men

Download The Forgotten Men PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
ISBN 13 : 0813569494
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (135 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Forgotten Men by : Margaret E. Leigey

Download or read book The Forgotten Men written by Margaret E. Leigey and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-08 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today there are approximately fifty thousand prisoners in American prisons serving life without parole, having been found guilty of crimes ranging from murder and rape to burglary, carjacking, and drug offences. In The Forgotten Men, criminologist Margaret E. Leigey provides an insightful account of a group of aging inmates imprisoned for at least twenty years, with virtually no chance of release. These men make up one of the most marginalized segments of the contemporary U.S. prison population. Considered too dangerous for rehabilitation, ignored by prison administrators, and overlooked by courts disinclined to review such sentences, these prisoners grow increasingly cut off from family and the outside world. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-five such prisoners, Leigey gives voice to these extremely marginalized inmates and offers a look at how they struggle to cope. She reveals, for instance, that the men believe that permanent incarceration is as inhumane as capital punishment, calling life without parole “the hard death penalty.” Indeed, after serving two decades in prison, some wished that they had received the death penalty instead. Leigey also recounts the ways in which the prisoners attempt to construct meaningful lives inside the bleak environment where they will almost certainly live out their lives. Every state in the union (except Alaska) has the life-without-parole sentencing option, despite its controversial nature and its staggering cost to the taxpayer. The Forgotten Men provides a much-needed analysis of the policies behind life-without-parole sentencing, arguing that such sentences are overused and lead to serious financial and ethical dilemmas.

Just Mercy

Download Just Mercy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : One World
ISBN 13 : 0812994531
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Just Mercy by : Bryan Stevenson

Download or read book Just Mercy written by Bryan Stevenson and published by One World. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. “[Bryan Stevenson’s] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country.”—John Legend NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • Esquire • Time Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction • Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize • An American Library Association Notable Book “Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.”—David Cole, The New York Review of Books “Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America’s Mandela.”—Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times “You don’t have to read too long to start cheering for this man. . . . The message of this book . . . is that evil can be overcome, a difference can be made. Just Mercy will make you upset and it will make you hopeful.”—Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review “Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.”—The Washington Post “As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.”—The Financial Times “Brilliant.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Death by Prison

Download Death by Prison PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520379977
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (23 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Death by Prison by : Christopher Seeds

Download or read book Death by Prison written by Christopher Seeds and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In recent decades, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP) has developed into a distinctive penal form in the United States, one firmly entrenched in US policy-making, judicial and prosecutorial decision-making, correctional practice, and public discourse. LWOP is now a routine part of contemporary US criminal justice, even engrained in the nation's cultural imaginary, but how it came to be so remains in question. Fifty years ago, imprisoning a person until death was an extraordinary sentence; today, it accounts for an increasing percentage of all US prisoners. What explains the shifts in penal practice and the social imagination by which we have become accustomed to imprisoning individuals until death without any reevaluation or reasonable expectation of release? Combining a wide historical lens with detailed state- and institutional-level research, Death by Prison offers a provocative new foundation for questioning this deeply problematic practice that has escaped close scrutiny for too long. The rise of life without parole, this book demonstrates, is not simply a matter of growth: it is a phenomenon of change, inclusive of changes in definitions, practices, and meanings. Death by Prison shows that the complex processes by which life without parole became imprisonment until death and perpetual confinement became a routine part of American punishment must be understood not only in terms of punitive attitudes and political efforts but as a matter of background conditions and transformations in penal institutions. The book also reveals how the social and sociological relevance of life without parole extends beyond its punitive element: imbued in the history of life without parole are a variety of forms of disregard--for human dignity, for social consequences, and for the myriad responsibilities that go along with state punishment"--

Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death

Download Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Lorimer
ISBN 13 : 1459400747
Total Pages : 156 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (594 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death by : Bill Swan

Download or read book Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death written by Bill Swan and published by Lorimer. This book was released on 2012-03-14 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At fourteen, Steve Truscott was a typical teenager in rural Ontario in the fifties, mainly concerned about going fishing, playing football, and racing bikes with his friends. One summer evening, his twelve-year-old classmate, Lynne Harper, asked for a lift to the nearby highway on his bicycle and Steve agreed. Unfortunately, that made Steve the last person known to see Lynne alive. His world collapsed around him when he was arrested and then convicted of killing Lynne Harper. The penalty at the time was death by hanging. Although the sentence was changed to life in prison, Steve suffered for years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. When his case gained national attention, the Supreme Court of Canada reviewed the evidence -- and confirmed his conviction. It took over forty years and a determination to prove his innocence for him to finally clear his name. He has since received an apology and compensation for his ordeal. In this book, young readers will discover how an innocent boy was presumed guilty by the justice system, and how in the end, that same justice system, prodded by Truscott and his lawyers, was able to acknowledge the terrible wrong done to him. [Fry reading level - 4.8

Getting Life

Download Getting Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476756848
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (767 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Getting Life by : Michael Morton

Download or read book Getting Life written by Michael Morton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A devastating and infuriating book, more astonishing than any legal thriller by John Grisham” (The New York Times) about a young father who spent twenty-five years in prison for a crime he did not commit…and his eventual exoneration and return to life as a free man. On August 13, 1986, just one day after his thirty-second birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple’s bed—and the Williamson County Sherriff’s office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed. He mourned his wife from a prison cell. He lost all contact with their son. Life, as he knew it, was over. Drawing on his recollections, court transcripts, and more than 1,000 pages of personal journals he wrote in prison, Michael recounts the hidden police reports about an unidentified van parked near his house that were never pursued; the bandana with the killer’s DNA on it, that was never introduced in court; the call from a neighboring county reporting the attempted use of his wife’s credit card, which was never followed up on; and ultimately, how he battled his way through the darkness to become a free man once again. “Even for readers who may feel practically jaded about stories of injustice in Texas—even those who followed this case closely in the press—could do themselves a favor by picking up Michael Morton’s new memoir…It is extremely well-written [and] insightful” (The Austin Chronicle). Getting Life is an extraordinary story of unfathomable tragedy, grave injustice, and the strength and courage it takes to find forgiveness.