Local author’s legal book wins 2010 Scribes Book Award

West Virginia University Pearly Isaac Reed School of Journalism Associate Dean and Professor John Temple was awarded the 2010 Scribes Book Award for his book "The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates."

The Scribes Book Award is presented to the most outstanding works of legal scholarship by The American Society of Legal Writers.

"The Last Lawyer" chronicles the Center of Death Penalty Litigation's efforts to fight the death sentence of Bo Jones.

Jones, a North Carolina farmhand, was convicted of murder in 1987 despite questionable testimony and legal counsel and Jones' own mental capacity.

Temple said he was inspired to write "The Last Lawyer" after reading a news brief and chose the location of the book based on the immense death row issues in the state of North Carolina.

"I'd seen a brief in the newspaper about a group of lawyers trying to defend a guy in Texas. That little brief … I never realized there were lawyers who did this," Temple said. "It must be frustrating work and very hard work. I knew North Carolina a little bit because I'd worked as a newspaper reporter, and it has a very active death row, and there was this organization that defended death row inmates."

Additional inspiration for "The Last Lawyer" came to Temple from the lack of other publications detailing the defense of death row inmates.

"I couldn't find any books about lawyers and death row inmates, and I wanted to show people doing that work and what that world was like," Temple said.

Temple said he was surprised and honored about the award.

"One of my favorite books, ‘A Civil Action,' inspired me to write this book, and it won I think in 1996. It was a real honor to be given the same award," Temple said. "I felt very satisfied, and it was just nice to see it get that recognition. It's not so much about you; it's that you want the recognition for the book."

Temple is thankful to be given the opportunity through publishing his book to teach others and shed a light on a subject that is unknown to many.

"I learned a lot writing this book, and it sheds light on an area that a lot of people don't know about and opens peoples' minds to an area of the law that they maybe haven't thought that deeply about, just giving them more information to base their ideas on," Temple said.

"The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates" can be found in the WVU Bookstore and through online retailers.