Let the Lord Sort Them
Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty is a book written by Maurice Chammah.
Background
The 368-page book was written by Maurice Chammah and published by Penguin Random House subsidiary Crown Publishing Group on January 26, 2021.[1] Chammah is a staff writer for The Marshall Project.[2] Chammah's first job was at the Texas After Violence Project.[3] In the book, Chammah writes about the Texas Resource Center and Bryan Stevenson.[4]
The book focuses on the death penalty in Texas.[5] The book starts with Furman v. Georgia.[6] The book covers the story of Wilbert Rideau.[7] The book covers the death of Charles Brooks Jr..[8] The book covers the work of Craig Washington.[9] The book also covers the work of Elsa Alcala.[10]
Chammah, a staff writer for the Marshall Project, conceived the book as a history of the death penalty's rise and decline told through the lives of the people who carried it out and those condemned by it, rather than the abstract, culture-war fight he felt it had become. Much of the narrative is about Texas, whose continued use of the death penalty Chammah credits both to the way repeated executions make each one easier to carry out and to what he calls an "old frontier myth" that Texans invoked to defend it.[11]
Reception
Publishers Weekly called the book "thorough, finely written, and unflinching".[12] Thomas Karel wrote in LibraryJournal that the book was a "well-documented legal history that will appeal to a broad audience."[13] The book was an Earphones Award Winner.[14]
References
- ↑ "LET THE LORD SORT THEM". Kirkus Reviews. October 26, 2020. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Diaz, Joy; Covington, Caroline (February 23, 2021). "'Let The Lord Sort Them' Examines The History And Culture Around The Death Penalty, And Its Decline". Texas Standard. Archived from the original on October 9, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Jeltsen, Melissa (February 26, 2021). "How The U.S. Is Killing Off The Death Penalty". HuffPost. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Smith, Jordan (February 9, 2021). "Texas and the Racist Machinery of Death". The Intercept. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Frykholm, Amy (April 21, 2021). "Why the death penalty came back". The Christian Century. Archived from the original on May 24, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Ciaramella, C. J. (May 23, 2021). "Rethinking the Power To Take a Life". Reason. Archived from the original on April 20, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Livingstone, Jo (January 11, 2021). "Why America Loves the Death Penalty". The New Republic. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Cahalan, Rose (January 28, 2021). "Why Is the Death Penalty on the Decline in Texas?". Texas Monthly. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Giridharadas, Anand (January 26, 2021). "Why the Death Penalty Is Dying: A New Book Tells the Surprising Story". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Simon, Scott (January 23, 2021). "Maurice Chammah Charts The History Of The Death Penalty In 'Let The Lord Sort Them'". NPR. Archived from the original on July 25, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ "Maurice Chammah Charts The History Of The Death Penalty In 'Let The Lord Sort Them'". NPR. January 23, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty by Maurice Chammah". Publishers Weekly. September 17, 2020.
- ↑ Karel, Thomas (December 1, 2020). "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty". Library Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ↑ Broome, Anna (2021). "LET THE LORD SORT THEM by Maurice Chammah Read by Kevin R Free | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine. Archived from the original on October 12, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.