The Lifer and the Lawyer
A Story of Punishment, Penitence, and Privilege
by George Critchlow with Michael Anderson
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Pub Date Dec 15 2020 | Archive Date Apr 28 2021
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Description
The Lifer and the Lawyer: A Story of Punishment, Penitence, and Privilege is about Michael Anderson, an aging African American man who grew up poor and abused on Chicago’s south side, then came to Eastern Washington, and has now spent the last forty-three years in Washington prisons. The book describes Michael’s early life of trauma and crime, his trial in a conservative white community before a bigoted judge, his moral and spiritual transformation in prison, and a curious friendship that started in 1979 when the author was a young lawyer appointed to represent Anderson on twenty-two violent felony charges. Partly about race and white privilege and partly about a criminal justice system that keeps harmless old men in prison until they die, the book also raises larger questions about faith and what it is that determines our individual destinies.
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781725278370 |
| PRICE | |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Abhilasha R, Reviewer
Another fabulous find through netgalley!! The lifer and the lawyer is a serious work of non-fiction. It is a biography about two friends and the friendship developed in the most unusual of circumstances. The thing about biographies is that it gives you a chance to look at someone's life and get a different perspective of the world through their eyes.
This book describes Michael Anderson,his early life of trauma and crime, his trial in a conservative white community before a racist judge, his spiritual transformation in prison, and a curious friendship that started in 1979 when the author, George Critchlow, who was a young lawyer appointed to represent Anderson.
Written superbly, easily paced, with a crisp narrative, the author meanders easily through discussions, opinions and experiences about race, white privilege, and the US criminal justice system while also raising larger questions about faith and what it is that determines our individual destinies.
Definitely recommend this book for its ease while also being stimulating at the same time. I would like to leave this review with a few quotes from the book which stood out for me.
“The more you learn about someone, how could you not want to protect them and their rights? The more you learn about a culture or a certain identity, it’s hard to not feel empathy."
"Better lawyers are those whose capacity for empathy enables them to understand clients, opposing parties, and divisive viewpoints."
"There is a chance for justice when lawyers and judges and jurors see themselves as players whose roles require integrity and good faith even when their private lives are infested with bias and suspicion."
