Corrections_Today_March_April_2019

Communications & Publications

victim and was charged for the other two based on how similar the crimes were. Hinton believes there were a few matters in his sentencing that didn’t make sense. He was sentenced to death based on ballistics that appeared to have been made up. He was sentenced to death as one of the investigators pointed him out because he was black, while the jury the judge, the prosecution and his defense This is not a book that will speak to the theories of crime and incarceration but will speak to the humanness of individuals. attorney were white. Hinton also believes that one of the people who identified him as the killer was someone he had previous conflict with and may have been identified based on the grudge this individual carried. Hinton would spend the first several years focusing on his hate and feeling abandoned by God. Then one night, as he listened to a fellow inmate sob, something came over him and he realized that he had choices – even on death row. Hinton reached out to the other

inmate and it changed his whole perception and way of dealing with the situation. Hinton believed that, since he was innocent and could prove it, he would be set free. Eventually, he was set free, but it would take about 14 years and numerous trials and denials before the United States Supreme Court would vote unanimously to overturn his conviction. This book is one that would appeal to a wide audience of correctional professionals and those in the general public. It is a book that requires no special knowledge or vocabulary to understand what Hinton went through. It provides a perspective that most do not get to see or understand: that of the inmate. It gives a glimpse into the mind of a person incarcerated and the struggles they are going through. It also shows how a change in attitude can have a big influence on how one carries out their sentence. This is not a book that will speak to the theories of crime and incarceration but will speak to the humanness of individuals. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a good read and one that draws you in. The story of Hinton is one that will put us in his shoes. How would you react if falsely convicted? Would you be able to see that you have choices even in a cell that is right at six steps long? u

“The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row” Written by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin, St. Martin’s Press (March 27, 2018), 272 pp.

Reviewed by William Adkins, Retired Corrections Counselor, Kansas Dept. of Corrections

If convicted of a capital crime that you did not commit, one would expect the hate in your heart to run oh so deep. One would expect that your belief in God would be tested and you would feel forsaken. This is the way Anthony Ray Hinton felt. In “The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row,” Hinton describes how he was sentenced to death based on his identification as the killer of three people, a situation where he was identified as the killer of one

54 — March/April 2019 Corrections Today