The sun Does Shine : : how I Found Life and Freedom on Death row

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Capital offense -- All American -- A two-year test drive -- The cooler killer -- Premeditated guilt -- The whole truth -- Conviction, conviction, conviction -- Keep your mouth shut -- On appeal -- The death squad -- Waiting to die -- The Queen of England -- No monsters -- Love is a foreign language -- Go tell it on the mountain -- Shakedown -- God's best lawyer -- Testing the bullets -- Empty chairs -- Dissent -- They kill you on Thursdays -- Justice for all -- The sun does shine -- Bang on the bars -- Afterword : pray for them by name.
"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"-- From the publisher.
In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty-nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silence - full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twenty-seven years he was a beacon - transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fifty-four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015. With a foreword by Stevenson, The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times. Destined to be a classic memoir of wrongful imprisonment and freedom won, Hinton’s memoir tells his dramatic thirty-year journey and shows how you can take away a man’s freedom, but you can’t take away his imagination, humor, or joy.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

incredible story submitted by johnbiancke on July 9, 2018, 6:54am This is an incredible story and well written. Never give up your fight.

Very powerful submitted by katieepage on June 18, 2020, 8:54pm This is a powerful commentary on the ethics of the death penalty and the justice system in general. Highly recommended.

Painful Memories from Death Row—Hope for a Brighter Future submitted by on June 11, 2021, 8:15pm The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton is a poignant memoir of one man's unlawful imprisonment spent on Death Row. From the start of his memoir, Mr. Hinton's voice was friendly and affectionate. While I found the author's rants (like most books) on wanting women repetitive, in this case, it was necessary to show Mr. Hinton's identity as an innocent man.

The way Ray formed deep connections with others—whether it be his loved ones, fellow inmates, or his guards—drove the memoir forward at gorgeous heights. Ray talks about the book club he formed. And he recalls banging on the cell bars during his fellow inmates' executions to remind them that they are not alone. It was harrowing to read about how the guards had the time to change the execution method (from the electric chair to lethal injection) but never spared time to treat the inmates—human beings—with dignity.

The Sun Does Shine shows how the judicial system is racist; it fails to entitle all human beings to equal human rights. For example, Mr. Hinton recalls how the guards had him remove his clothes and protrude private parts of his body under the guise of a 'strip search' while his white inmate only had his mattress checked. Or in another example, how Ray's attorneys after attorneys demanded money even though they knew that he could not afford it. Or the fact that Ray's description (other than his skin tone) did not match the description of the murder's suspect. It was agonizing to read that Ray came home to a different world without his mother that still permits the death penalty. Enough said The Sun Does Shine by Anthoney Ray Hinton is a must-read of tremendous weight.

-Le Book Rat