The Longform.org Guide to the Death Penalty

The jury box, the prison cell, and the chair—six gripping and disturbing stories about capital punishment.

Old Sparky, the electric chair used at Sing Sing prison

While most of Europe and much of the rest of the world have abandoned the death penalty, support for capital punishment in the United States has endured with remarkable consistency, even in the face of wrongful convictions. Here's a look at the death penalty in America through the eyes of those closest to it: the legislators, the judges, the juries, the lawyers, and, of course, the condemned.

The Texas Clemency Memos
Alan Berlow • The Atlantic Monthly • July 2003

As Texas governor and attorney general, respectively, George W. Bush and Alberto Gonzales should have given each capital case careful consideration. The evidence suggests they did not:

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