I watched Just Mercy. In the ending credits, you learn that 10% of death row inmates have turned out to be wrongly accused. A “staggering error rate”. I remember writing a paper in college and my review of the literature at least at that time led me to conclude that capital punishment did not deter homicide. I’m not studied up on the topic today and I don’t trust the scholarly work I did when I was 20 (I can’t trust the judgment of anyone who would go to a rave and not do drugs), but I’d suspect the marginal murder doesn’t hinge on whether the perp will be taking prison showers for the rest of their life vs the abrupt fate of an electric chair.
I won’t spoil the movie.
So I only have 2 things to add.
1. My last meal, should I be forced to choose, would be a photo finish between 5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or 5 bowls of Lucky Charms. You can keep your surf n’ turf.
2. Jamie Foxx is really good. I’ve been a fan of his since In Living Color. I went back to watch some clips of his Wanda character. In one of the skits, I saw David Alan Grier and it reminded me of a story. I saw him in the bar of a Lower East Side hotel back in 2007. He was sitting by himself in a baby blue jumpsuit. So I sent him a drink. When the bartender handed him the drink he motioned in my direction. Grier looked over at me. I just went over and said, “Thank you for your work in Amazon Women On The Moon.” Appreciative nods ensued and that was that.
For the record, it’s one of my favorite movies. It’s all skits. Look up the cast.
Grier as Don “No Soul” Simmons is burned into my brain.