Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a special master, who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die?

Along the narrow creekstone roads, the winter landscape is etched in myriad shades of brown — sedge grass and bullweed stalks, barren trees on a carpet of fallen leaves, decaying shells of unpainted houses staring blankly through vacant windows.

No engine can a tyrant find, to storm the truth-supported mind.

When reciting the Gomayl blessing, one should stand because this benediction is offered instead of the Korban Todah (thank-offering), which was performed while standing.