A Life and Death Decision A Jury Weighs the Death Penalty

With a life in the balance, a jury convicts a man of murder and now has to decide whether he should be put to death. Twelve people now face a momentous choice. Bringing drama to life, A Life and Death Decision gives unique insight into how a jury deliberates. We feel the passions, anger, and despair as the jurors grapple with legal, moral, and personal dilemmas. The jurors' voices are compelling. From the idealist to the "holdout," the individual stories-of how and why they voted for life or death-drive the narrative. The reader is right there siding with one or another juror in this riveting read. From movies to novels to television, juries fascinate. Focusing on a single case, Sundby sheds light on broader issues, including the roles of race, class, and gender in the justice system. With death penalty cases consistently in the news, this is an important window on how real jurors deliberate about a pressing national issue.

Scott E. Sundby is the Sydney and Frances Lewis professor of law, Washington and Lee University, and has worked on both the prosecution and defense sides in a variety of criminal cases and has testified as an expert witness on the death penalty and other legal issues.