The death penalty is used as a punishment for only the most
serious crimes, like murder. Grishams character Sam Cayhall
grew up in Mississippi at a time when groups of white men
murdered blacks by lynching. These were proud racists, whose
trail of death and violence against black people and Jewish people
is a shameful chapter in U.S. history. But Grisham suggests that
readers consider the childhoods of these racists, who are the sons
of racists. If a person grows up in a family and a society that is
proud of racist activities, should they be sentenced to death for
their crimes?