Book Club Discussion Questions: Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey
- Elise
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we're publishing this months' discussion questions here. All previous book club selections have been posted, complete with summary, discussion questions and, when necessary or appropriate, additional resources to better understand the topic or context. Here are the questions from our current title, Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey
Summary:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The master of the legal thriller” (Associated Press) teams up with “the godfather of the innocence movement” (Texas Monthly) to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.
“Each of these stories is told with astonishing power.”—David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon
“Gripping . . . compelling . . . What makes [Framed] important reading isn’t the shock value advertised in the title. It’s the exposure of the infuriating, recurrent factors involved in so many unrighteous convictions.”—The Washington Post
John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it’s his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system.
A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.
Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you. -- Publisher Description
Discussion Questions
Did the narrative structure Grisham and McCloskey use help you to connect with the wrongfully convicted? Did it affect your perception of the criminal justice system?
How does the cultural and historical context of the cases in Framed influence the public’s and legal system’s responses to wrongful convictions?
In what ways does the context of the cases nuance the text’s thematic exploration of The Need for Advocacy and Reform?
How does systemic bias, both implicit and explicit affect convictions? How do these biases perpetuate injustice?
Which case in “Framed” strike you most? Why?
What are some of the flaws you see in the criminal justice system since reading this book? Systemic bias, forensic evidence, witness reliability?
What do you think motivated the authors to write this book? Was there a case that you think struck a chord with them more than others? Why do you think so?
Do you believe witnesses are reliable? What about confessions?
How has this book changed or enhanced your view of the criminal justice system?
What steps can individuals and society take to prevent wrongful convictions?
Discuss the prevalence and role of pseudoscience in court cases. In the case of Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, dental prints were used. Discuss.
Some of these cases were fully built around the idea of a specific person or scenario. Why do you think once pieces started to not fit the cops and prosecution continued to find more and more elaborate ways in which to fit the evidence to the theory instead of the other way around?
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