Nonfiction
No Winners Here Tonight: Race, Politics, and Geography in One of the Country’s Busiest Death Penalty States
Andrew’s nonfiction book remains the only comprehensive study of the history of the death penalty in Ohio. His analysis concludes that the current law, crafted by lawmakers to punish the worst of the state’s killers, doesn’t come close to its intended purpose and instead varies widely in its implementation. Andrew takes on this controversial topic evenhandedly and with respect for the humanity of the accused and the victim alike. This exploration of the law of capital punishment and its application will appeal to students of criminal justice as well as those with an interest in law and public policy.
“Welsh-Huggins…crafts his thesis by combining history and law. While incorporating some “classic” sources on the death penalty—Hugu Adam Bedau, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, Austin Sarat—Welsh-Huggins maintains a reporter’s objectivity and pens a clear explanation as to why the current death penalty system in Ohio is unfair. This is a book about how Ohio, in many ways, is no different than the rest of the United States in regards to capital punishment: arbitrary.”— LAW & POLITICS BOOK REVIEW
Hatred at Home: al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest
One day in 2002, three friends—a Somali immigrant, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, and a native Ohioan—met in a suburban Columbus, Ohio coffee shop and vented over civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan. Their conversation triggered an investigation that would become one of the most unusual and far–reaching government probes into terrorism since the 9/11 attacks.
Over several years, prosecutors charged each man with unrelated terrorist activities in cases that embodied the Bush administration’s approach to fighting terrorism at home.
Government lawyers spoke of catastrophes averted; defense attorneys countered that none of the three had done anything but talk. The stories of these homegrown terrorists illustrate the paradox the government faces after September 11: how to fairly wage a war against alleged enemies living in our midst.
Hatred at Home is a true crime drama that will spark debate from all political corners about safety, civil liberties, free speech, and the government’s war at home.
“In Hatred at Home, Andrew Welsh-Huggins captures the unease in our backyards.… He objectively explores the nature of the nation’s new and incredibly difficult balancing act—providing federal agents with the investigative and legal tools needed to prevent another 9/11, while still trying to safeguard long-cherished civil rights.”— THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH