548574 research-article2014

CJPXXX10.1177/0887403414548574Criminal Justice Policy ReviewBook Review

Book Review

Book Review

Criminal Justice Policy Review 2015, Vol. 26(5) 523­–528 © 2014 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav cjp.sagepub.com

Saundra D. Westervelt and Kimberly J. Cook Life After Death Row: Exonerees’ Search for Community and Identity. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2012. 280 pp. $25.95 (paperback; Amazon). Reviewed by: James Graham Bell DOI: 10.1177/0887403414548574

Gary Beeman, Kirk Bloodsworth, Shabaka Brown, Sabrina Butler, Perry Cobb, Charles Fain, Gary Gauger, Allan Gell, Timothy Howard, Gary Jones, Dave Keaton, Ray Krone, Walter McMillan, Juan Melendez, Alfred Rivera, Scott Taylor, Delbert Tibbs, and Greg Wilhoit. These are the names of the death row exonerees whose stories form the basis of Saundra Westervelt and Kimberly Cook’s Life After Death Row: Exonerees Search for Community and Identity, and to whom the book is dedicated. Unfortunately, they represent only a fraction of the number of people who have been erroneously sentenced to death in the United States, and are but a few of the hundreds more known to have been wrongly convicted and incarcerated. Indeed, in the last several decades—fuelled primarily by advances in DNA technology—the myth of the innocent man in prison has metamorphosed into a lucid and public reality that innocent men and women are routinely convicted and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Legal scholars and social scientists have amassed and systematically assessed compilations of known wrongful convictions, and a relatively full body of literature now exists on systemic factors that put people at risk of wrongful conviction and the post-conviction legal procedures through which mistaken convictions are identified and addressed. A number of scholars and activists have turned their attention toward issues related to “life after exoneration”; yet, as professors Westervelt and Cook note, much of this work has focused on what exonerees should get in terms of compensation rather than the numerous challenges they face as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Few studies have investigated the post-release/ exoneration experiences of the wrongly convicted, and only a bare handful have done so in collaboration with exonerees themselves. Westervelt and Cook’s Life After Death Row addresses this paucity of research and, with its exclusive focus on death row exonerees, is the first empirical study of its kind. The book has 12 chapters, divided into four parts. In Part I, “Setting the Stage,” the authors situate their study within the wider body of research on wrongful conviction and highlight the various fields of study they later draw on to ground the exonerees’ experiences. At the outset, the authors make it clear that their goal is to provide a forum through which the exonerees can speak for themselves—share their own stories

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using their own words. Additional goals are to document and describe the most common challenges exonerees experience, and to develop an analytical framework to help explain how they manage and cope with these challenges. The authors used a feminist perspective to guide their choice of research methods, and, in Chapter 2, outline the principles of feminist methodology, as well as the specific methods used to recruit and interview exonerees. Aware that many exonerees have had their words twisted and used against them, that they are routinely misquoted by prosecutors, journalists, and even their own lawyers, of particular importance to Westervelt and Cook was their desire to ensure the research process was collaborative and that sensitivity, trust, and the ethics of care were at the forefront. The authors report that this allowed for the generation of compassion and trust in their interactions with exonerees, and that their “we are not studying them so much as we’re learning from them” approach engendered a confidence among exonerees that their voices would indeed be heard and respected. In addition to collecting and analyzing legal material and media reports about their cases, the authors used life history interviews to investigate the exonerees’ experiences. The interviews and field notes were transcribed and coded, and—as a sociological study—their findings focus on patterns and themes that link the exonerees’ experiences together rather than on each of the 18 exoneree’s experiences individually. These themes make up the bulk of the book’s remaining three parts. In Part II, “Struggling With Life After Exoneration,” the authors address the various challenges that exonerees face post release. Chapter 4 focuses on the immediate and long-term practical needs that exonerees have, such as housing, employment, and health care. Unlike parolees, exonerees get little or no time to prepare for release and are ineligible for post-release re-entry assistance because of their status as innocent. As a result, many exonerees have difficulty finding housing and overcoming obstacles to employment, and, thus, find the reintegration process overwhelming. Interestingly, the authors found significant differences in the exonerees’ immediate reintegrative needs depending on when they were released, with the exonerees released more recently reporting more positive community acceptance and encouragement. The authors attribute this to increased positive media attention and public awareness of wrongful conviction arising primarily as a result of DNA exonerations beginning in the early 1990s. Exonerees released more recently experience a “honeymoon period” or “celebrity phase”—the duration of time following release when exonerees are treated like celebrities or heroes—that temporarily shields them from the everyday needs of life after prison. Chapter 5 focuses on the grief and myriad losses exonerees experienced as a result of their wrongful convictions—loss of time with spouses, family and friends; loss of opportunities and time to start families, build careers, and achieve financial stability. Some of the exonerees had to cope with the loss of loved ones while simultaneouslystanding accused of murdering them. Others reported that they had lost loved ones while on death row and were unable to grieve until after their release. Westervelt and Cook tap into the literature on grief, mourning, and loss and use Boss’ (1999) concepts of “ambiguous loss” and “frozen grief” to explain these experiences.

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In Chapter 6, the authors discuss the impact of wrongful conviction on the exonerees’ families and the difficulties many exonerees have rebuilding old and forming new relationships. Chapter 7 builds on existing research on the psychological impact of wrongful imprisonment by documenting the numerous emotions with which death row exonerees regularly struggle. In particular, the authors report that their participants described experiencing numerous painful and persistent emotions symptomatic of post-traumatic stress disorder. Many of the exonerees reported that their wrongful conviction resulted in a profound mistrust of people, the government, and the criminal justice system in particular; feelings of anger that are often overwhelming and uncontrollable; feelings of guilt over behavior they believe may have contributed to their wrongful conviction; and feelings of depression, disorientation, and detachment, which, the authors discovered, often arise simultaneously. Importantly, Westervelt and Cook remind us that the exonerees’ “emotional responses to their wrongful convictions reveal very human reactions to being rejected by society, disconnected from community, and alienated from their families and support networks” (p. 103). One of the book’s more unique contributions to the literature is its focus on exoneree coping strategies. Part III, “Coping With Innocence,” begins with Chapter 8 wherein the authors merge the voices of their exonerees with existing research on condemned prisoners. Specifically, the exonerees’ perspectives are juxtaposed with Johnson’s (1981) research on prisoners living with death sentences. Like Johnson’s participants, the exonerees describe the initial impact of being sentenced to death as traumatic, disorienting, and dehumanizing. Their daily experiences on death row are characterized as stressful, isolating, lonely, and routine. In addition to witnessing daily acts of violence and brutality, the exonerees routinely experienced the executions of fellow inmates who they had befriended. The authors report that, while incarcerated, the exonerees used coping strategies consistent with those documented in the literature on prisoners in general (Zamble & Porporino, 1988) and death row exonerees more specifically (Johnson, 1981). For example, to combat boredom and pass time, many exonerees developed routines they followed on a daily basis. Some coped using various methods of escape, like sleeping and dreaming or using drugs. Some coped by turning to religion and prayer. Consistent with research on Canadian exonerees (Campbell & Denov, 2004), several exonerees coped by continuously seeking out help with their cases and maintaining hope they would one day be exonerated. Hope, however, was often elusive and faint, difficult to sustain. Death row exoneree Juan Melendez explained, Hope is like a little kid learning to walk. He falls. He falls. He don’t stay on the ground. He cries; he finds ways to get up and walk again. But you just find ways to get up and walk again, just like a little kid. (pp. 120-121)

How exonerees cope with life after exoneration is the focus of Chapter 9. Here, the authors tap into the literature on victims of disaster (e.g., Erikson, 1976) and trauma management and recovery (Herman, 1997) to highlight the similarities in experiences between exonerees and survivors of disaster, ultimately concluding that—having

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experienced traumatic events that exceed typical coping strategies on a prolonged basis—exonerees can best be understood as survivors of “sustained catastrophes” (p. 131). Although Westervelt and Cook are not the first researchers to draw similarities between exonerees and victims of prolonged trauma (see, for example, Grounds, 2004), the extent to which they do so in relation to aftermath experiences is groundbreaking. Of particular interest to the authors are aftermath coping strategies used by trauma survivors. These coping strategies are grouped into two broader styles or approaches to coping: the incorporation approach and the avoidance approach. The coping approach used at any particular time is determined by the extent to which it incorporates the traumatic experience into the survivor’s life. For example, in so far as exonerees are concerned, those who regularly speak to university students about their experiences on death row and attend exoneree social events at conferences on wrongful conviction can be said to be using “strategies of incorporation.” Conversely, exonerees who avoid speaking about their wrongful conviction and regularly turn to alcohol and drugs to numb feelings about their experience can be said to be using “strategies of avoidance.” Although this classification system may seem overly simplistic, it provides a useful framework for understanding how exonerees manage life in the aftermath of their wrongful capital convictions. The focus of Chapter 10 is on how exonerees go about reconstructing their identities and reclaiming their innocence. Having had their identities attacked and destroyed as a result of their wrongful capital convictions, the authors describe how exonerees are “no longer who they are but not yet sure who they are going to be” (p. 172). They are caught in a state of “liminality” (Turner, 1969, p. 95) wherein their identity remains unresolved and they search for a new sense of self. Although they have been exonerated, many exonerees are subject to stigma and lingering doubts about their innocence and thus seek to establish public identities “firmly grounded in innocence.” Stigma, however, amplifies public liminality by influencing public perceptions, and the identity construction process is made more complex because the stigma they carry is false. Exonerees are not ex-cons, assert the authors, and thus want to distance themselves from this identity that has been imposed on them. The authors observe variation in stigma experienced by the exonerees and explore the factors influencing this variation. Specifically, the authors report that half of the exonerees felt accepted by their communities and that one third experienced stigma. Seven of the nine exonerees who felt accepted by their communities were released some time after the year 2000—the period of time in which “an innocence framework was being developed and popularized”—when public awareness of wrongful conviction was growing rapidly. Additional factors identified as affecting stigma include, “the public behaviors and pronouncements about the case by system officials, the discovery of the identity of the actual perpetrator, and the role of the media” (p. 181). Part IV, “Doing Justice,” begins with Chapter 11 wherein Westervelt and Cook outline the various mechanisms through which financial compensation may be provided to exonerees (i.e., litigation, private bills, and compensation statutes). Although they express concern about the restrictive and limited nature of most existing state compensation statutes, they conclude that “compensation via statutory provisions

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holds the most promise for providing consistent, substantive, and timely compensation to the wrongly convicted” (p. 197). The authors also present the exonerees’ perspectives on what they received from the state and what they actually needed and still want to help rebuild their lives. Most of the exonerees reported receiving absolutely nothing from the state. And although eight exonerees did receive financial compensation, the overall consensus among all exonerees was that—beyond compensation and reintegration services—what they needed most was accountability (i.e., for the state to acknowledge the harms it had caused by voluntarily providing reparation) and restoration (i.e., “a personal, meaningful and heart-felt apology offered by someone directly involved in the production of their wrongful conviction,” p. 217). The book concludes with Chapter 12, “Moving Forward,” where Westervelt and Cook present their perspectives on policy and reform. In addition to supporting their exonerees’ proposals for reform with regard to preventing future wrongful convictions, improving state compensation statutes, and holding state actors accountable for their role in wrongful convictions, they also support their desire to abolish the death penalty. The authors make several proposals of their own with regard to the postexoneration needs of death row exonerees: They endorse the Innocence Project’s model compensation statute and recommendations for post-release social services, promote the development of individualized release plans for exonerees, and lobby for the establishment of restorative justice-based “reintegration support networks” to provide post-release support to the exonerees. Westervelt and Cook also argue that exonerees should be able to sue for “declarations of innocence.” They assert that declarations of innocence would assist exonerees in the reintegration process and reduce the isolation they experience as a result of stigma. However, a number of scholars have made convincing arguments against the use of declarations of innocence as a form of redress for the wrongly convicted, the most crucial being that they undermine the integrity of not guilty verdicts and other forms of acquittal. Roach (2007), for example, cautions that, with the use of declarations of innocence, verdicts of “not guilty” may come to be understood as “not proven” and thus, in the public eye, “probably guilty.” In addition, exonerees found not guilty may, despite their actual innocence, have difficulty meeting eligibility requirements for declarations of innocence and therefore—unlike exonerees who do qualify—be subject to increased stigma and isolation. Suing for declarations of innocence would also require exonerees to undergo additional costly legal proceedings that have the same restrictions and limitations identified by the authors as other civil proceedings. Given the authors’ finding that exonerees released more recently are less likely to experience stigma because of increased public awareness of wrongful conviction, reform efforts seem better directed at educating the public about the presumption of innocence and meaning of not guilty verdicts. My primary criticism of the book is the absence of discussion on the exonerees’ experiences and coping styles in the general prison population and whether or not they appeared to affect their post-prison challenges and coping strategies. This seemed especially relevant given that all of the exonerees spent more time in the general prison population than they did on death row. Indeed, it appears that most of the exonerees

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were transferred from death row to the general prison population many years before they were finally released. Existing research on long-term imprisonment has found that prison experiences and coping styles can have a profound impact on the ability of ex-prisoners to adjust and reintegrate into the community (e.g., Johnson & Toch, 1982). Accordingly, inquiry into the similarities and differences in exoneree aftermath experiences and coping strategies based on how long they were incarcerated on death row, how long they were incarcerated in the general prison population, and prison coping styles utilized seemed warranted. Overall, the book is well written and easy to read and would make a great supplemental text for an undergraduate- or graduate-level social science course. The book will also be of interest to academics, lawyers, law students, and anyone else concerned about the problem of wrongful conviction and what happens to death row exonerees after they are released. Indeed, although the book is presented as a social scientific study, it is largely free of academic jargon and prose and, as such, will attract lay people and professionals from a variety of backgrounds and vocations. References Boss, P. (1999). Ambiguous loss. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Campbell, K., & Denov, M. (2004). The burden of innocence: Coping with a wrongful imprisonment. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 46(2), 139-163. Erikson, K. (1976). Everything in its path. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Grounds, A. (2004). Psychological consequences of wrongful conviction and imprisonment. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 46(2), 165-182. Herman, J. L. (1997). Trauma and recovery. New York, NY: Basic Books. Johnson, R. (1981). Condemned to die. New York, NY: Elsevier. Johnson, R., & Toch, H. (1982). The pains of imprisonment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Roach, K. (2007). Report relating to paragraph 1(f) of the order in council for the commission of inquiry into certain aspects of the trial and conviction of James Driskell. Retrieved from http://www.driskellinquiry.ca/pdf/roachreport.pdf Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process. Chicago, IL: Aldine. Zamble, E., & Porporino, F. (1988). Coping, behaviour, and adaptation in prison inmates. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.