Ponsor, who has served in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for nearly twenty years, presided over the first capital case in Massachusetts in half a century. Out of that experience, he has written The Hanging Judge, a novel about a capital trial. While many legal writers focus more on the crime or on suspense outside the courtroom, Ponsor's focus tends more toward procedure and argumentation leading up to the trial and in the courtroom itself. He may be a first-time novelist, but he skillfully translates the plodding of the justice system into unfolding drama.
When a drive-by shooting takes the life not only of a reputed gang member, but also of a respected member of the community, prosecutors see a chance to finally get a death penalty case in Massachusetts. With Judge David Norcross at the helm, the case unfolds with questions coming about the innocence of the accused, the veracity of the accusers, and the efficacy of the justice system.
Ponsor disclaims any agenda or identity with views of the death penalty in The Hanging Judge, but if he wanted to write a story demonstrating how easily someone might be convicted to death, based on circumstantial evidence or questionable witnesses, he has done it. Is the death penalty ever warranted? There are certainly crimes for which death is the only reasonable punishment. But can we ever have a system in which innocent people are never put to death? Is there ever a clear-cut case? Does the state ever have the authority to take a life?
Besides telling a good story, Ponsor gives plenty of fodder of thinking about these questions. I enjoyed The Hanging Judge and would welcome another novel from Judge Ponsor.
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