Not Commensurate

Five jurors looked at Marbel Mendoza and said: not death.

For more than three decades, Mendoza has waited on death row for a crime born in addiction, panic, and a confrontation that spiraled into tragedy. His co-defendants served their sentences and went home. He remains.

Not Commensurate examines whether the ultimate punishment fits the crime as the evidence actually establishes it. Through careful review of trial records and constitutional standards, the book reveals a case marked by contested testimony, missing investigation, and a sentencing process that would not meet today's legal thresholds.

This is not a claim of innocence. It is an argument about proportion.

At its heart, this book asks a question that reaches beyond any single case: When does punishment stop being justice?

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a theologian and spiritual advisor to death row inmates nationwide. He has accompanied eleven men to their executions and was the first spiritual advisor to be present for a nitrogen hypoxia execution. Rev. Hood has been profiled widely, including in the Rolling Stone documentary The Spiritual Advisor. He is the Founder of Execution Intervention Project.