Final Words

The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of capital punishment in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976, leading to 1,551 executions. The US is the only Western nation and one of four advanced democracies that regularly applies the death penalty. Texas has executed the most prisoners, with 578 condemned since 1982, and retains the third-largest death row population. Seventeen of the 45 current federal death row inmates are incarcerated in Texas. Final Words is a project that highlights the human rights violation of the death penalty in the US, revealing the portraits of executed Texas inmates and challenging readers to consider humanity within the American justice complex.

Format: Hardback
Length: 1184 pages
Publication date: 14 November 2023
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky

The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of capital punishment in their ruling on Gregg v. Georgia in 1976. Since then, 1,551 convicted prisoners have been executed, making the United States the only Western nation and one of four advanced democracies that regularly applies the death penalty. While the death penalty is legal in 27 states, only 21 have the means to carry out death sentences. Texas has executed the most prisoners in recent history, condemning 578 people to death since the 1976 ruling, beginning with the death of Charlie Brooks in 1982. Texas retains the third-largest death row population behind California and Florida.

In the summer of 2020, the Trump administration broke a nearly 17-year stay during which the federal government did not sanction any executions when it put 13 inmates to death over six months. Seventeen of the 45 current federal death row inmates, the highest proportion of any state, are currently incarcerated in Texas.

Final Words is a project that addresses the death penalty in the United States as a violation of human rights. Consisting of a collection of government documents relating to the 578 executed Texas inmates, each set of pages reveals a portrait of a life bookended by violence in which final moments are often spent expressing words of love for family and friends, sorrow for victims, and gratitude for life lived. The compilation stands as a stark indictment of a system built by institutions rampant with racism, classism, and sexism. Each entry, each story, each utterance will challenge readers to answer the question: is there room for humanity in the American justice complex?

Weight: 1964g
Dimension: 237 x 162 x 54 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813197838