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Crime and Punishment in America

The Execution of Roxalana Druse

Season 1 Episode 2 | 2m 34s

Only 12 women had been executed in the United States before Roxalana Druse, who is set to be hanged in 1887. Her execution raises questions of the fairness of her trial and pleas for mercy, which is denied by the state. Druse suffers for 15 minutes before she dies, and the botched execution causes Americans to rethink the humanity of the death penalty.

Major funding for CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN AMERICA was provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies, Emerson Collective, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Park Foundation. Major funding was also provided by the following members of The Better Angels Society: The Fullerton Family Charitable Fund; The Just Trust for Education; Allan and Shelley Holt; The Tow Foundation; and the Sozosei Foundation. Additional support was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation | JustFilms, and by The Better Angels Society members: John and Catherine Debs; Timothy Fazio; Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly; the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund (Laurie M. Tisch Foundation Inc); Gilchrist and Amy Berg; the Carson Family Charitable Trust; Mauree Jane and Mark W. Perry; the Segal Family Foundation; and Mark A. Tracy.
Extras
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