Description: For readers of Just Mercy and The New Jim Crow, a groundbreaking new take on the American justice system from one of its unknown "mercy workers," offering a powerful new vision of responsibility, punishment, and repair.
Brief description: Mitigation specialist Elizabeth Vartkessian has been investigating the life histories of those facing the most severe penalties possible in the United States since 2004. She holds a PhD in law and an MS in comparative social policy from Oxford, and BAs in philosophy and political science from George Washington University. She is the founder and director of Advancing Real Change Inc., a national nonprofit dedicated to conducting life history investigations in criminal cases. She lives in Baltimore.
Review Quotes:
"Through powerful case stud-ies, Vartkessian illustrates that violence is not an inherent trait. Rather, it is seeded in early development by trauma, abuse or neglect . . . Connection is harder to conjure than vengeance or detachment, but The Deserving makes it clear that a safe and functional society relies on people's ability to do that hard work." --BookPage, starred review
"Real justice begins with listening. This book shows us what that looks like." --Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull, co-authors of THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER "A new, courageous vision for a society with less violence and more mercy, through an honest reckoning with how we fail the least among us." --Maurice Chammah, author of LET THE LORD SORT THEM "Vartkessian pulls back the curtain on capital punishment and cruelty, American execution chambers, and the country's criminal and juvenile justice systems." --Professor John Bessler, author of THE DEATH PENALTY'S DENIAL OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS