Anthony Ray HintonRezensionen

Gr 5 Up—Hinton's story of incarceration for 30 years on Death Row as a wrongfully convicted Black man in 1985
highlights this miscarriage of justice. The powerful words of a man who came to be respected for his decency and
resolve are a force for change and hope

I recently read Lara Love Hardin’s book The Many Lives of Mama Love, in which she wrote about co-writing The Sun Does Shine with Anthony Ray Hinton, who was falsely convicted of murder and spent 27 years on Death Row before he was exonerated.

When Hinton was 29 years old, he was arrested for murdering two people. Even though he had a rock-solid alibi, he was found guilty and sentenced to Death Row. This was due to an incompetent court-appointed attorney and corrupt law enforcement officers and Attorneys General, who cared more about a conviction than making sure they had the right person. Through it all, Hinton maintained a positive attitude and even helped keep his fellow inmates’ spirits up. Eventually, he was put in touch with Bryan Stevenson, the attorney who founded the Equal Justice Initiative and wrote the book Just Mercy. It was Stevenson who eventually won Hinton’s release.

I learned a lot about the legal system reading this book and what I came away with is most of it is complete BS. The simplest things take years to get done and half of it doesn’t even make sense. The disregard for human life – Black life to be specific – was horrifying. Sentencing a human being you know is innocent to death just to get the case closed? Disgusting. And if you don’t have money, you can forget about getting a fair trial. I know there are some good public defenders out there but I think most of them are just phoning it in to get the case over with. I know Hinton’s sure was. I think I could have done a more thorough job. Now that I’ve read this book, I want to read Just Mercy, which I actually have on my bookshelves. I wonder if Stevenson writes about Hinton’s case – it would be interesting to hear his perspective.

Hinton is an amazing man who deserves the very best in life. Highly recommended.

A book EVERY human being should read.
I was deeply inspired and touched by Ray's ability to keep fighting despite everything being against him.
I couldn't hold my tears when he lost his mother, can't begin to imagine what it felt like. A mother's love is truly something unique and irreplaceable

I read Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy a year ago. Impressive and disturbing. This account of Ray Hinton’s incarceration for more than half his life was even more thought provoking and disturbing. Made me cry, made me angry. Thanks to Ray for writing and to Mr Stevenson who obtained Ray’s release.

Mr. Hinton is a better man than I, and I can honestly say that I feel all the anger he no longer feels at the blatant racism that defines his entire case.

For more crime, pulp and horror reviews visit:
Wordpress: https://criminolly.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3516zdH-XqACeusCHCVk8w

It might sound cheesy to say it, but ‘The Sun Does Shine’ really does feel like a life changing book. Written but Anthony Ray Hinton, a black American from Alabama who was falsely convicted of murder and spent over a quarter of a century on death row, it’s an incredibly moving, wise and insightful work.
Ray, as he is known, was arrested for the robbery of a restaurant and the attempted murder of its manager. This crime took place when he was working as a cleaner in a locked warehouse miles from the restaurant. Prosecutors then also tied him to two similar robbery homicides and he was convicted on flimsy forensic evidence. Ray protested his innocence throughout, and was fortunate enough to eventually meet a crusading lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, who took up his case.
It’s clear from the start that race played a huge part in Ray’s conviction, as did economics. It seems unlikely that a wealthier white man, with access to a decent legal defence, would ever have been sent to prison. The amazing thing is the forgiveness that Ray shows to those responsible for robbing him of so many years of his life. His compassion really is inspirational.
This is a wonderful and very moving book. Heartbreakingly honest in its reporting of the conditions death row inmates face and the psychological toll the constant threat of state sanctioned murder takes on innocent and guilty convicts alike. Ray is under no illusion that many of the men he was incarcerated with were responsible for monstrous crimes, but writes passionately about the fact that their crimes don’t mean they aren’t human beings.
Some of the legal detail of his appeal can be difficult to follow at times, but the underlying message is clear. This is a book about the importance of compassionate justice and the need to address the appalling racial and economic inequalities that persist in the US. Ray’s hope and love for his fellow man shine through like a beacon. It’s also, at times, beautifully written, with clear, thoughtful prose that is packed with emotion.
Crime fiction so often focuses on the pursuit of the guilty and tends to ignore the impact of miscarriages of justice on the innocent. Reading an alternative view such as this was fascinating. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

What a painful heartbreaking book to read. Anthony Ray Hinton wrote The Sun Does Shine to chronicle his three decades on Alabama's death row. Ray was convicted of a murder that took place while he was at work 15 miles away. In spite of the fact that he did not commit any crimes he was sentenced to death. Most people find it hard to believe that prisons and even death rows are full of innocent men and women. Ray Hinton, innocent himself, suggests that 10% of the people in prison are not guilty. Poor people and people of color who can't afford good lawyers are often convicted of things they did not do. This is a terrible injustice. It is especially bad when the sentence is death. The author pointed out that more people on Alabama's death row have been found innocent than have been executed. Over 50 men and one woman were executed while Anthony Ray Hinton was imprisoned. The miraculous things about his experience is that in 30 years on death row Ray's humanity was not destroyed. An eye opening book, not pleasant but a truth we need to acknowledge.

One of my favorite books of 2018.

LOVED it! So impactful and powerful

A companion to Bryan Stevenson's book, Just Mercy. Anthony Ray Hinton spent nearly 30 years on death row for murder. His crime was black and poor, with a public defender without the resources to defend Ray against the police, prosecutor and legal system: as stated by one cop, even if he was innocent, it did not matter because "some other nigger did [it.]" Miraculously, Ray managed to maintain hope and his belief in God, supported by a best friend and mother, and eventually, Bryan Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative. The highlight of the book for me was Ray's ability to befriend a fellow inmate, whose color was initially unknown to Ray, who committed a horrific race-motivated crime, but was able to overcome his upbringing and reciprocate. I also liked Ray's organizing a book club with the permission of the warden so inmates could escape the drudgery of their every day lives, and Ray's imagined marriages.

I don't always feel the need to give a memoir 5 stars. But this one didn't deserve any less. My heart ached for this man through the whole thing.

I listened to the audiobook for this and I'm so glad I did. Listening to the voice narration and hearing all the emotion through the book made it much more real. Everyone has a general and kind of in-the-back-of-my-mind concept of the humiliation and cruelty that is our prison/justice system thanks to t.v. and movies but I don't think many people actually understand what we're doing to human beings in the system. This book was eye opening and not only depicts the depression, rage and oppression that runs rampant in prison, but also the hope, love and kindness that is possible in people we believe to be irredeemable. I had actual tears in my eyes during passages that talked about how many men on death row found more love and compassion with their fellow inmates than with the free society outside. This is definitely a MUST READ for young adults who have troubled lives and even those who don't because many of the people who end up in jail and death row are young and don't know any better.

Just tragic how Anthony Hinton's case was handled and he ended up 30 years on death row as an innocent man. His story, beliefs, and mind are truly inspiring.

Although the overall feel in this book was slightly different, the themes were very reminiscent of "A Man's Search For Meaning", which makes sense because both deal with the meaning of life and a sense of purpose in an completely terrible and unfair situation.

This book needs to be read. It's not an easy read, but this is a voice that needs to be heard. We cannot allow this kind of thing to continue to happen.

Reads like fiction (I wish it was!). Incredible story, incredibly told, by and incredible man. An important read for all Americans until we do away with the death penalty.

An astonishing read, incredibly powerful. I was on the verge of tears many times. Hinton's perseverance and spirit are incredible. The injustice and racial bias of the legal system is disgusting and I was furious, often, reading it. That, to me, is the sign of a great non-fiction book - if I'm mad, it's good. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching a few Youtube clips of Anthony Ray Hinton discussing his book and life outside of prison and I hope he has a peaceful life for the rest of his years. He's earned it!½

Spending 30 years of one's life in 5 by 7-foot cell, Banging on the bars 54 times as people were executed all the while wondering whether the next one would be you? Anthony Ray Hinton spent his whole adult life incarcerated choosing compassion, faith and hope over anger, despair and hatred. He chose faith to forgive the people responsible for putting him there and taking away his dignity and freedom. He chose to help the people around him, guards or inmates, by being there for them, by teaching them and by simply listening to everyone. Despite being released in 2015 he realised that he would never be truly free of the routines and the familiarity of death. Yet Anthony Ray Hinton continues to advocate for the abolishment of capital punishment because humans do not have the right to take a life.
"There is a time to live and a time to die"
- Buhlar Hinton

MEMOIRS OF A FALSLY ACCUSED & INCARCERATED BLACK MAN. His continued fight for freedom while on death row.

NINFICTION. MAN SENT TO DEATH ROW FOR 38 YEARS WHILE trying to prove his innocence. Facts are there but Bigotry of the judge, and the South. Imagine this is in the 21st Century!!!

This is Anthony Ray Hinton's account of a horrifying failure of the Alabama justice system, in which Hinton was convicted of a crime he obviously didn't commit (evidence proving his innocence was not allowed, while the evidence against him was false or incomplete), and sentenced to death by the judge, even though the jury had decided on a life sentence. Hinton's series of appeals took nearly THIRTY YEARS, but with the help of Bryan Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative, ultimately he proved his innocence and regained his freedom. In addition to relating the twists and turns of his own case, Hinton makes a strong argument against the death penalty for anyone.

See also: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Quotes

Foreword: "We need to think about the fact that we are all more than the worst thing we have done." (xi)

"It's strange what you can get used to." ...This was something that I didn't want to get used to. This was something that should never be normal. (24-25)

There was no logic to the story they were creating. It was like they had picked me as the killer and then went about twisting reality to make me fit into the plot they were creating. (70)

Anything true that didn't make me a killer was left out or just plain lied about. (72)

I shouldn't have had to prove I was innocent - they were supposed to prove I was guilty - but not in this courtroom. (73)

When no one believes a word you say, the best thing to do is stop talking. (81)

No one can understand what freedom means until they don't have it. (114)

Despair was a choice. Hatred was a choice. Anger was a choice. I still had choices, and that knowledge rocked me. (115)

I was born with the same gift from God we are all born with - the impulse to reach out and lessen the suffering of another human being. It was a gift, and we each had a choice whether the use this gift or not. (117)

You couldn't grow up black in the South and not know how to work within the system. (142)

A little bit of kindness was amplified on death row, because it was so unexpected. (142)

"What does capital punishment mean?"
"It means a guy without capital gets punished." (166)

It shouldn't have been so hard for an innocent man to get out of prison, but it was. (173)

The State was unwilling to admit it had made a mistake. Alabama would rather stay wrong than admit that it had been wrong; rather accept injustice than admit it had been unjust. (185)

"I don't think people should get used to injustice." (202)

"...a system of justice that is shockingly tolerant of error, a system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent...
...With 34 executions and seven exonerations since 1975, one innocent person has been identified on Alabama's death row for ever five executions. It's an astonishing rate of error." (Bryan Stevenson, The Birmingham News, 11/7/05; p. 210)

How many sunrises and sunsets could one man miss in his life and still have a life? (225)½

I thought this book was incredible. Considering it was about a man wrongfully imprisoned and on death row for 30 years, it was actually quite light and very insightful.

Breathtaking, painful, hopeful, traumatic, shameful, inspiring - I just finished reading this book of an innocent man's 30 years on death row in one of the worst prisons in the US, and his eventual freedom thanks to the Equal Justice Initiative and his exceptional attorney, Bryan Stevenson. Anthony Ray Hinton is remarkable in so many ways - he lost his freedom yet never lost his mind, he was subjected to constant humiliation and the legal murder of people who became his family - he seldom lost hope. The book concludes with a huge listing of all those on death row state by state. According to statistics, 1 of every 10 of them is innocent.

I feel blessed to have read this book. I plan to see the film Just Mercy about Bryan Stevenson, the crusader for justice as that book was also exceptional. Anthony Ray Hinton's story is life changing. I will appreciate my days in the sun a bit more now remembering his life in hell - his only crime being that he was poor and black and living in the deep south.

The strength of Anthony Hinton to endure 30 years of his life being taken from him, never knowing when he might be put to death, simply incredible. And Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who believed in Ray and fought for him and never gave up.

The Supreme Court said the case should be re-tried, so the state of Alabama just drop the charges after 30 years, but also immediately refuse compensation - well that says everything you need to know about how the legal system in Alabama will treat a black man, especially one who couldn't afford a decent defense lawyer from the start.

The injustice Anthony suffered was disgusting. If I was a black man in Alabama, I'm not sure I could stay there, even if it is home.½

The Sun Does Shine stands as an inspirational story of one man’s perseverance against the odds of reversing a conviction of murder. Ray Hinton Spent 29 years in prison on death row in Alabama even though he was innocent. What kept him sane throughout this travesty? His love of his mother and of God. How can he not harbor and hatred for those who punished him? The story conveys the trials of African Americans in Alabama. I knew that the Southern states were harsh to African American, but I did not realize the full extent of injustice. I love Ray’s comment that money is power and without money one is powerless. Ray’s language seems too refined for his background, but I feel that the time in prison was spent educating himself. I fail to see how the facts were overlooked at the original trial and that so much time was wasted attempting to present the facts. Is injustice the way of life in America? Does equality really exist? This story points to prejudice and inequality which sends shivers up my spine

Anthony Hinton served 30 years on Alabama’s death row for a crime he didn’t commit. His faith in God got him through the rough spots. His conviction was overturned by the United States Supreme Court and those were the first words- the Sun Does Shine- he spoke as a freeman. The amazing thing about Anthony is that he never lost his humanity, his decency his capacity to love Nd his capacity to forgive. This is an amazing story of a truly amazing man.