{"product_id":"the-deserving-what-the-lives-of-the-condemned-reveal-about-american-justice-hardcover","title":"The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal about American Justice - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eElizabeth Vartkessian\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eSister Helen Prejean\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe need the work that is mitigation. It is mercy work. \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor readers of \u003ci\u003eJust Mercy\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe New Jim Crow\u003c\/i\u003e, a groundbreaking new take on the American justice system from one of its unknown \"mercy workers,\" offering a powerful new vision of responsibility, punishment, and repair. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The first book I'm aware of to pull back the curtain on a life-saving field most have never heard of: mitigation.\" --Sister Helen Prejean, author of \u003ci\u003eDead Man Walking\u003c\/i\u003e, from the foreword \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eElizabeth Vartkessian works with criminal defense teams as a mitigation specialist or \"mercy worker.\"\u003c\/b\u003e Her job is not to prove defendants' innocence, for they are often guilty, but rather to collect information that might make sense of their behavior. She spends hundreds of hours situating their crimes in context by investigating their histories and communities, talking to their parents, siblings, teachers, and neighbors. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis context changes everything; it rehumanizes.\u003c\/b\u003e Vartkessian has spent decades fighting for juries to see it. Here she offers both a window into the groundbreaking work that is mitigation and a moving account of the individuals whose lives she has defended. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eShe also lays out a possible future.\u003c\/b\u003e Vartkessian's experience shows clearly that violence is an expression of compounded trauma. In case after case, she turns up inflection points where support--adequate housing or childcare, the proper diagnosis or treatment--would have redirected a defendant's path\u003ci\u003e away\u003c\/i\u003e from that violence. What if the values of mitigation--curiosity, context, and mercy--became the values of our criminal justice system? We might stop crime before it happens. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn an era of dangerous rollbacks and record-high executions, \u003ci\u003eThe Deserving \u003c\/i\u003eis an inspiring argument for true rehabilitation replacing retribution. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMitigation specialist \u003cb\u003eElizabeth Vartkessian\u003c\/b\u003e has been investigating the life histories of those facing the most severe penalties possible in the United States since 2004. She holds a PhD in law and an MS in comparative social policy from Oxford, and BAs in philosophy and political science from George Washington University. She is the founder and director of Advancing Real Change Inc., a national nonprofit dedicated to conducting life history investigations in criminal cases. She lives in Baltimore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 288\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.07 x 9.47 x 6.42 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 20, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45338465697836,"sku":"9781639731398","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/6260\/8940\/files\/LWAMsGG9Z39781639731398.webp?v=1781786658","url":"https:\/\/littleredgeneralstore.com\/products\/the-deserving-what-the-lives-of-the-condemned-reveal-about-american-justice-hardcover","provider":"Little Red General Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}