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In a New Memoir, Attorney Offers a Glimpse Inside Texas’ Death Penalty Machine

Photo: Michael Stravato

By Dave Mann

The Texas Observer | April 21, 2010

A law professor at the University of Houston and a death penalty lawyer with the nonprofit Texas Defender Service, David Dow has for two decades represented inmates facing execution. His memoir, The Autobiography of an Execution, is a revelation, even for people who follow criminal justice issues.

View Full Story at The Texas Observer

Tags: Autobiography of an Execution, David Dow, The Autobiography of an Execution

The Texas Observer

The Texas Observer has been Texas' "Journal of Free Voices" since 1954. Focusing on Texas news, politics and culture, the Observer is the state's only source of independent, progressive journalism. The Observer consistently publishes the stories that other outlets ignore...

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Did Texas Execute An Innocent Man?new

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The Case of Otty Sanchez Exposes Holes in Texas' Mental Health Care Systemnew

Andrea Sanchez was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe form of postpartum depression. Sanchez had been enduring a mental-health crisis for at least a week, but when she reached out for help—like so many Texans with severe mental illness—she was left to fend for herself.

The Texas Observer | Dave Mann | 01-21-2010 | Crime & Justice

Tags: Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, Otty Sanchez, Postpartum psychosis, schizophrenia

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Johnny Rico's Second Book Uses the Border Reality as its Shticknew

Border Crosser is the account of Rico's attempt to illegally cross from Mexico into the United States in the summer of 2007. Physically and mentally, Rico is woefully unprepared for the task he has assigned himself. Nevertheless, he sets out with testosterone-fueled arrogance and a naive, fetishized view of the border-crossing experience.

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Tags: Border Crosser: One Gringo's Illicit Passage from Mexico into America, Johnny Rico, Immigration, border crossing, Mexican border, nonfiction

'Cheap' Tackles the Fraught Practice of Buying and Selling Cheap Goodsnew

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The Texas Observer | C.B. Evans | 09-23-2009 | Nonfiction

Tags: cheap products, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, discount goods, Ellen Ruppel Shell, China, nonfiction, manufacturing, IKEA

The Unexpected Angles and Concluding Twists in 'Mirrors' Keep Readers Hookednew

Galeano regales us with tales from our shared history in an inclusive manner, from cultural creation myths to major historical figures and inventions to significant current events. It is a truism that history is written by the victors; what if, Galeano seems to ask, history were told instead by the vanquished, the oppressed and the downtrodden of all cultures and times?

The Texas Observer | Liliana Valenzuela | 08-26-2009 | Nonfiction

Tags: Eduardo Galeano, Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone, history, nonfiction

'All My Bones Shake' Explains Robert Jensen's Personal, Alternative Theologynew

Jensen would redefine Christian religion to help himself lead a good life as a socially and politically aware human who believes and practices Jensenist Christianity. But it is difficult to call what he is doing "religion."

The Texas Observer | Tom Palaima | 08-26-2009 | Nonfiction

Tags: All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice, religion, Robert Jensen, nonfiction

'A Saint on Death Row' is an Intervention in Public Memorynew

Thomas Cahill catalogs every disgraceful aspect of Dominique Green's experience with the justice system. His larger mission, though, is to examine the changes Green underwent after receiving his death sentence -- his transformation from a troubled teenager into what Cahill calls "a fully achieved human being."

The Texas Observer | Todd Moye | 08-12-2009 | Nonfiction

Tags: A Saint on Death Row, Dominique Green, Thomas Cahill, Texas, death penalty, nonfiction, criminal justice

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