Doug Jones (8) (1954–)

Doug Jones career as prosecuting attorney and US senator was profoundly involved the torturous path towards some modicum of justice involving the deaths of the four young girls resulting from the Birmingham church bombing. The process of justice took decades, persistence and hard work, and an insistence not to forget (when many wanted to forget) what happened to those children. There is a tinge of self-promotion by Jones but we do get a detailed picture of the Klan, obstacles, history, legal show more practice, and politics Alabama style. One is left reminded and enlightened if not completely satisfied with our human hates and legacy.

Quotes: (page78) “A tense, somewhat hostile atmosphere prevailed, with Reverend Abraham Woods, never a shrinking violet and an unwavering Arrington supporter, alerting the newcomer to the depth of the problem. 'They felt black leaders had been targeted by the FBI office, including the Mayor Arrington situation, which had been resolved before I got to Birmingham. I really wasn't aware of the details since it had been settled,; Langford recalled.
There was one other elephant in the room at the meeting, and when it was acknowledged, the FBI agent knew the issue was the core of Birmingham's problems.
'Reverend Woods finally asked, 'Why hasn't the FBI done anything about the church bombing in 1963? I admittedly knew very little about the situation, which obviously stirred his emotions.'”


(pages 154-155) “We were too busy ensuring the case got to trial.
Some of us in the prosecution had been lugging around a heavy burden or much of our lives about this case---an invisible anvil on our shoulders. This was an ongoing Alabama story mine by inheritance. And my relationship with the families of the girls, especially Denise McNair's father, Chris, for over twenty-five years, and Charlie Robertson's mother, Alpha, a generous and modest soul--- elevated the professional imperative to an irresistible personal mission.”

(page 349) “Our focus, as much as I want Democratic Party success, must be on rediscovering and facilitating a system where both political parties are competitive.
Donald Trump's rise to the presidency was a symptom rather than the cause of the imbalances and sometimes manufactured weaknesses in the two-party system. Those issues remain whether he or his ilk are in the White House or not.” show less

This is neither the book I expected nor the book the title claims it to be. It is much more of a self-serving political autobiography and memoir which features the prosecution of 2 of the Birmingham church bombers late in their lives.

This is a honestly the best True Crime book I have read in a long time it actually tells the crime it then tells how they found the suspects it then tells how does the suspect fared in court this is a true crime not most of this garbage we get today as a true-crime novel kudos the Doug Jones