Cary Nelson, emeritus professor at the University of Illinois and former president of the AAUP, has reviewed The Trials of Rasmea Odeh in the UK journal Fathom. The review is quite favorable:
Lubet’s meticulously researched and documented book gives us the first full account of Odeh’s life we have had. It required a great deal of original research. The results make for compelling reading and constitute an important addition to the historical record and to our understanding of contemporary politics.
Lubet wants to settle the debate about Rasmea Odeh’s guilt once and for all, and he succeeds, but most likely only for those for whom facts matter. These are debates in which hardened views prevail. For those of her supporters only interested a portrait of a heroic victim, a more complex life story may only be an inconvenience.
Nelson does think, however, that I was too sympathetic toward Odeh:
The book does, on the other hand, give an unexpectedly sympathetic portrait of Odeh herself, despite the fact that a major impulse behind writing it was to gather for the first time all the evidence proving beyond any doubt that she is guilty of murder. . . .
Unlike Lubet, I do not find her ‘beyond question a sympathetic figure’ (115). Her story is complex, and her journey is in many ways extraordinary. But her work in Chicago does not turn it into a story about redemption.
That is fair observation. As a recovering criminal defense lawyer, however, I still try to see the humanity in everyone.
Fathom is not paywalled. You can read the entire review here.
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