A juror's reflections on the death penalty | Lindy Lou Isonhood

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2019

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lindy Lou Isonhood grew up in a town where the death penalty was a fact of life, part of the unspoken culture. But after she served as a juror in a capital murder trial -- and voted "yes" to sentencing a guilty man to death -- something inside her changed. In this engaging and personal talk, Isonhood reflects on the question she's been asking herself in the 25 years since the trial: Am I a murderer?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features former juror Lindy Lou Eisenhood recorded live at TED Women 2018.
0:09.7	It was a Thursday, June the 23rd, 1994.
0:20.8	Collect your belongings.
0:23.1	You are free to go.
0:25.7	When escorted outside, go directly to your car.
0:30.3	Do not talk to reporters.
0:33.8	My head is spinning.
0:35.9	My heart is racing.
0:37.4	I can't get a breath.
0:40.1	I just want out of there.
0:44.5	When I get to my car, I throw everything on the back,
0:49.1	and I just collapse into the driver's seat.
0:52.6	I can't do this.
0:54.6	I can't go home to my family
0:58.0	that I haven't seen in a week
1:02.1	and pretend to be happy.
1:07.7	Not even their love and support could help me at this particular time.
1:13.6	We had just sentenced a man to death.
1:19.6	Now what?
1:24.6	Just go home and wash dishes?
1:29.8	You see, in Mississippi,
1:34.3	the death penalty is like a part of our unspoken culture.
	...

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