The Final Defenders
Those facing the death penalty have a last line of protection: the specialists who find explanations for unthinkable crimes and attempt to convince juries that sometimes guilty people deserve mercy.
Elizabeth Bruenig
Elizabeth Bruenig is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She was previously an opinion writer for The New York Times and The Washington Post, where she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. She has also been a staff writer at The New Republic and a contributor to the Left, Right & Center radio show. Elizabeth holds a master of philosophy in Christian theology from the University of Cambridge. At The Atlantic, she writes about theology and politics.
Latest
Sky Maggiore for The Atlantic Public Execution Won’t Have the Effect Trump Intends
Livestreaming Nidal Hasan’s death would only credit the Fort Hood shooter’s argument that this country is barbarous.
Illustration by Adam Maida / The Atlantic A Terrible Way to Die, a Terrifying Way to Survive
America’s experiment with lethal injection has failed.
Illustration by Tina Zhou / The Atlantic* Why Empathy Is Now ‘Toxic,’ ‘Suicidal,’ and a ‘Sin’
According to Gad Saad and his powerful acolytes, compassion is a recipe for “the collective suicide of the West.”
Dan Zhou for The Atlantic When Mothers Get Arrested for Mothering
Raising independent kids shouldn’t be this hard.
SSPL / UIG / Bridgeman Images The Meaning of the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial
Everyone has a theory. But what if this case means nothing at all?
Josh Reynolds / AP Why Lindsay Clancy’s Insanity Defense Might Fail
A jury will soon decide whether the evident suffering that moved her to violence also mitigates it.
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: USA Today Network / Reuters. If Only This Could Last Forever
Summer is the worst season of all, and also the most beautiful.
Illustration by Lucy Murray Willis / The Atlantic Sadism and a Blue Bunny
Not everyone who has a child is fit to love them.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty. The Dishonesty of True Crime
The hit Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct tidies a far more complicated story.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Netflix.
