 | |
| Author | Adam Pitluk |
|---|---|
| Subjects | James Scott |
| Genres | Non-fiction, crime |
| Publisher | Da Capo Press |
| ISBN | 978-0-306-81527-0 |
Damned to Eternity is a 2007 book about the criminal conviction of James Scott, who was found guilty of damaging a levee in 1993, causing flooding.
It was written by journalist and academic Adam Pitluk.
Damned to Eternity was written by Adam Pitluk who was previously a Time magazine reporter and who also wrote Standing Eight: The Inspiring Story of Jesus “El Matador” Chavez, Who Became Lightweight Champion of the World, (2006). [1]
The book was published by Da Capo Press [2] in 2007. [3]
The book is about James Scott, who was convicted of damaging a levee on the Mississippi River at West Quincy, Missouri exacerbating the Great Flood of 1993. [1] Scott is described as a man with an alcohol problem who worked at Burger King. The book documents his mental illness and childhood school arson. As an adult, Scott volunteered to respond to the flooding but often neglected his duties. After he reported some damage to a levee, Scott was accused of causing the damage, before being found guilty. [1]
The book hints at a possible miscarriage of justice [2] but does not strongly advocate for Scott's guilt or innocence. [1]
Noting that the book neither attempts to convince readers of Scott's guilt or innocence, Kirkus Reviews described it as "comprehensive but halfhearted." [1] Publishers Weekly commended the author for doing a "superb job." [2] The Star Tribune described the book as compelling. [4]
In 2022, Pitluk contributed to [5] the Vice News documentary Overlooked, which followed up on the issues featured in the book. [6] [3]
In United States law, an Alford plea, also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea, and the Alford doctrine, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence, even if the evidence presented by the prosecution would be likely to persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This can be caused by circumstantial evidence and testimony favoring the prosecution and difficulty finding evidence and witnesses that would aid the defense.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrology and are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health. Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding, for example land use changes such as deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course or flood controls such as with levees, and larger environmental issues such as climate change and sea level rise. In particular climate change's increased rainfall and extreme weather events increases the severity of other causes for flooding, resulting in more intense floods and increased flood risk.
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) inundated in depths of up to 30 feet (9 m) over the course of several months in early 1927. The period cost of the damage has been estimated to be between $246 million and $1 billion, which ranges from $4.2–$17.3 billion in 2023 dollars.
The Great Flood of 1993 was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood was among the most costly and devastating to ever occur in the United States, with $15 billion in damages. The hydrographic basin affected an area approximately 745 miles (1,199 km) in length and 435 miles (700 km) in width, totaling about 320,000 square miles (830,000 km2). Within this zone, the flooded area totaled around 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) and was the worst such U.S. disaster since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, as measured by duration, area inundated, persons displaced, crop and property damage, and number of record river levels. In some categories, the 1993 flood even surpassed the 1927 flood, at the time the largest flood ever recorded on the Mississippi River.
West Quincy is a small commercial area in northeastern Marion County, Missouri, United States, on U.S. Route 24. It has no permanent residents.
On Monday, August 29, 2005, there were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and its suburbs following passage of Hurricane Katrina. The failures caused flooding in 80% of New Orleans and all of St. Bernard Parish. In New Orleans alone, 134,000 housing units — 70% of all occupied units — suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding.
Floods in the United States are generally caused by excessive rainfall, excessive snowmelt, and dam failure. Below is a list of flood events that were of significant impact to the country during the 20th century, from 1900 through 1999, inclusive.
All types of floods can occur in California, though 90 percent of them are caused by river flooding in lowland areas. Such flooding generally occurs as a result of excessive rainfall, excessive snowmelt, excessive runoff, levee failure, poor planning or built infrastructure, or a combination of these factors. Below is a list of flood events that were of significant impact to California.
The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwestern United States. After months of heavy precipitation, a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The American Red Cross assisted the victims of flooding and tornadoes across seven states and the National Guard was mobilized to assist in disaster relief and evacuation.
The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrological event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa which began June 8 and continued until July 1. Flooding continued on the Upper Mississippi River in the southeastern area of the state for many more days. The phrase "Iowa's Katrina" was often heard.
James Robert Scott is an American who was convicted of causing a massive flood of the Mississippi River at West Quincy, Missouri as part of the Great Flood of 1993. Scott is currently serving a sentence of 20 years to life in a Missouri prison. The 2007 book Damned to Eternity and a 2022 Vice News documentary have been critical of Scott's conviction.
WGEM was a radio station in Quincy, Illinois broadcasting a sports radio format. The station was owned by Gray Television and was an affiliate of ESPN Radio. The station also broadcast via FM translator W255CY, 98.9 FM, licensed to Quincy.
The 2011 flooding event on the Missouri River in the United States was triggered by record snowfall in Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming along with near-record spring rainfall in central and eastern Montana. All six major dams along the Missouri River released record amounts of water to prevent overflow which led to flooding threatening several towns and cities along the river from Montana to Missouri; in particular Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; Dakota Dunes, South Dakota; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Saint Joseph, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Jefferson City, Missouri, and St. Louis, Missouri. Many smaller towns were also at risk, suffering the same fate as the larger cities if not worse. According to the National Weather Service, in the second half of the month of May 2011, almost a year's worth of rain fell over the upper Missouri River basin. Extremely heavy rainfall in conjunction with an estimated 212 percent of normal snowpack in the Rocky Mountains contributed to this flooding event.
The 1948 Columbia River flood was a regional flood that occurred in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada. Large portions of the Columbia River watershed were impacted, including the Portland area, Eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, Idaho Panhandle, northwestern Montana, and southeastern British Columbia. A publication of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1949 stated property damage reached $102.7 million, 250,000 acres of farmland were flooded, 20,000 acres of land were damaged or destroyed, and at least 16 died in the flood ; estimates for total deaths from the flood go as high as 102. Among the damage was the complete destruction of Vanport, in the Portland metropolitan area, which was the second largest city in Oregon at the time. The flood was largely caused by rapid melting of above-average snowpack by heavy precipitation and warm temperatures. It remains the second largest flood recorded on the river.
The 2022 eastern Australia floods were one of the nation's worst recorded flood disasters with a series of floods that occurred from February to April in South East Queensland, the Wide Bay–Burnett and parts of coastal New South Wales. Brisbane suffered major flooding, along with the cities of Maryborough, Gympie, the Sunshine Coast, Caboolture, Toowoomba, Gatton, Ipswich, Logan City, the Gold Coast, Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby, Grafton, Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore, the Central Coast and parts of Sydney.
Periods of heavy rainfall caused by multiple atmospheric rivers in California between December 31, 2022 and March 25, 2023 resulted in floods that affected parts of Southern California, the California Central Coast, Northern California and Nevada. The flooding resulted in property damage and at least 22 fatalities. At least 200,000 homes and business lost power during the December-January storms and 6,000 individuals were ordered to evacuate.
Adam Pitluk is an American journalist, author and academic. He is the founder of Midwest Luxury Publishing and Groom Lake Media.
Standing Eight is a 2006 non-fiction book by Adam Pitluk about Mexican boxer Jesús Chávez.
