The Land of the Free and the Home of the Death Penalty

The death penalty is out-lawed in more than 70% of the world’s countries, yet the United States still wears this global badge of shame. In 2020 we ranked 6th in state-sanctioned killings, behind only China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Why is this primitive practice so intractable in the U.S.? And what does the future hold? Marc Bookman, one of America’s leading death penalty abolitionists, describes a dozen harrowing cases in his book "A Descending Spiral: Exposing the Death Penalty in 12 Essays." He’s joined in conversation by two others who have first-hand knowledge of America’s ‘injustice system’ -- Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who in 2019 asked the PA Supreme Court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional and whose new book is "For the People: A Story of Justice and Power," and Christina Swarns, executive director of The Innocence Project. Moderated by Josie Duffy Rice, president of "The Appeal."

This program is presented in partnership with Brooklyn Public Library's Justice Initiatives.

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