The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice by Elizabeth VartkessianMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Elizabeth Vartkessian is the founder and director of nonprofit mitigation team called Advancing Real Change Inc. Simply put, their mission is to humanize a very inhumane institution, the American prison and legal system. Mitigation is not about proving an incarcerated person's innocence, rather it is about seeing beyond the terrible facts of their crimes, to their whole life and what led them to where they are today. This work is primarily done with men on death row, whose lives often include childhood abuse, both sexual and physical. They are people who may never have known a safe childhood, adequate food, parental love or a decent education. There may be drug addiction and/or mental illness.
The book is about seeing people as persons with a whole life story. By humanizing them, it also humanizes us. It made me think every time I sat down with it, and challenged my unexamined beliefs. I could see myself coming back to this book again in the future. It's a lot to take in at one time.
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