The Velvet Hammer

Winner of the Literary Titan Book Award Winner of the International Impact Book Award Reviewers'' Choice Award for Nonfiction After retiring from twenty-five years on the bench, former chief judge, Belvin Perry Jr., reveals a rare and disturbingly vivid first-hand perspective of the most gruesome death penalty cases in which he played a key role, including the infamous Casey Marie Anthony, who was dubbed “America’s Most Hated Mom” after her shocking acquittal.The Velvet Hammer is the gripping, true crime memoir of former Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who sentenced some of Florida’s most evil and notorious murderers to death, fulfilling his oath to uphold justice. Perry provides a clear, accurate description of America’s criminal justice system and explains why the death penalty can, and should, work and how it was applied to certain capital murder cases he either prosecuted or presided over. Perry discusses his journey as an African American growing up in the segregated South, his life