Book Review: White, R. A. (2004). Breaking Silence: The Case That Changed the Face of Human Rights. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, pp. 300

• Author: Thomas Reed
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310610
• Published date: 01 December 2007
• Date: 01 December 2007
• Subject Matter: Articles

Book Review(s)
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Finally, the authors address several other issues related to fairness. Sorensen and Pilgrim
ask whether the death penalty can be imposed in a manner that is impartial, reliable, and
efficient. To answer this question they examine several issues, including racial bias, innocence
of those exonerated with the help of DNA evidence, and the comparative costs of capital
punishment versus life imprisonment.
Sorensen and Pilgrim take stock of the current knowledge and present their audience with a
thorough and well-structured analysis. Despite a focus on Texas, this book should be considered
an important resource for capital punishment scholars regardless of the geographic focus of
their questions. Ultimately, Sorensen and Pilgrim’s book adds to our understanding of the
administration of the death penalty. Unlike many other studies of capital punishment, this
book offers an objective and balanced account of this conflict-ridden topic.
Rachel B. Philofsky
University of Maryland
White, R. A. (2004). Breaking Silence: The Case That Changed the
Face of Human Rights. Washington, DC: Georgetown University
Press, pp. 300
DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310610
As a participant observer, Richard White describes a dangerous but successful struggle
to break the silence instilled by state-sponsored terror. In 1976 he received a letter from a
friend in Paraguay, Dr. Joel Filártiga, asking for help when his 16-year-old son, Joelito,
died while being tortured by police. The courage and emotion-driven persistence of the
father led to a precedent-setting victory in Filártiga v Pin′a (1980) in the U.S. Second
Circuit. Each part of this story sheds light on the first sentence in Robert Drinan’s Foreword:
“THIS REMARKABLE BOOK gives readers a unique look into the most celebrated legal case
in the international human rights field” (p. xi).
White’s account is also an important preface to the “Filártiga progeny cases” (pp. xi-xii)
that have “reshuffled the [international legal] deck”...