Book Review: Burnett, C. (2002). Justice Denied: Clemency Appeals in Death Penalty Cases. Boston: Northeastern University Press. 251 pp

• Published date: 01 September 2007
• Date: 01 September 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807304876
• Author: Christopher Kudlac
• Subject Matter: Articles

Commission brought with it cross-sex supervision and complaints of male corrections

officers performing strip searches and invasive pat downs on women prisoners.

Amid the complexities of our criminal justice system—sexual abuse, racial disparity,

perpetuation of the expanding cycle of incarceration, the self-interest of prison complex

profiteers—Dr. Pollock leaves us with clear and simple logic:

Prison is a place where few come out better people than when they went in. It should be used

sparingly, with gravity, and with full knowledge that we are altering that person’s life in

fundamental ways. Prison should be reserved for those few who are truly frightening. It

should not be an industry because people should be more important than profits. (p. 264)

William M. DiMascio

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Burnett, C. (2002). Justice Denied: Clemency Appeals in

Death Penalty Cases. Boston: Northeastern University Press. 251 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807304876

Clemency is the last chance for death row inmates looking for help. It has been portrayed

as a safety valve for wrongful convictions and errors in justice. According to Cathleen

Burnett in Justice Denied: Clemency Appeals in Death Penalty Cases, this image does not fit

with reality. Burnett analyzes clemency petitions, methodically breaking down the capital

system and examining each part for flaws and weaknesses. Looking at the roles of police,

lawyers, judges, and governors in the process, she uses case studies to illustrate the prob-

lems inherent in each. Each chapter has a similar structure, beginning with how the system

should run and the constitutional requirements and duties of each player. Burnett then gives

examples of how the system has failed Missouri death row inmates.

Burnett focuses her study on Missouri, which has had the fourth busiest death row since

the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. She was able to examine 50 clemency petitions

and includes extended excerpts from selected inmates. By using the case studies, Burnett

does not want to give the impression that the problems outlined are unique or rare, but

rather that they are part of larger systemic issues in the death penalty process. Admittedly,

much of what Burnett has to offer rests on whether clemency petitions are to be believed.

The chapters proceed through the capital system chronologically. Burnett starts by

discussing the role of police in investigating and collecting evidence in capital cases. Police

are charged with protecting the innocent from crime but also with protecting those accused

against the state, including the presumption of innocence and proper procedure in regards

to searches and seizure. In reality, Burnett argues, police are often too focused on the goal

of crime clearance and arrest statistics, and justice often suffers as a result.

When discussing defense attorneys, she starts by talking about the promises of assistance of

counsel in the Sixth Amendment and introduces the standard of effective counsel outlined in

Strickland v. Washington (1964). Then she talks about what she found in Missouri: If the

clemency petitions are a reliable source of information, the quality of defense in Missouri death

penalty cases has been grossly inadequate. She found that attorney errors were found in 74% of

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