This book addresses one of the most controversial issues in the criminal justice system today--the death penalty. Paternoster et al. present a balanced perspective that focuses on both the arguments for and against capital punishment. Coverage draws on legal, historical, philosophical, economic, sociological, and religious points of view. Topics include: * The history of the death penalty in the United States, from the 1600s to today * The changing nature of the death penalty--changes in the types of crimes that warranted the penalty, the procedures employed to put capital offenders on trial, and the methods used to impose death * Constitutional/legal issues surrounding the death penalty * The influence of race on the administration of the death penalty, both in the past and in the present * Justifications for and against the death penalty (retribution, cost, public safety, and religious arguments) * Questions about the execution of innocents, exonerated capital offenders, and flaws in the operation of the death penalty * Public opinion and the death penalty * The death penalty and international law and practice * The future of the death penalty in America

Each chapter begins with an Introduction and ends with a Chapter Summary, Discussion Questions, and Further Reading. Part I: The Enduring Legacy of Capital Punishment in the United States Chapter 1. Capital Punishment in the Early Period: 1608-1929 Capital Crimes and Capital Statutes in the Early Period Characteristics of Executions in the Early Period Changes in the Practice of the Death Penalty in the Early Period Methods of Execution in the Early Period Location of the Death Penalty in the Early Period Chapter 2. Capital Punishment in the Pre-Modern Period: 1930-1967 Capital Crimes and Capital Statutes During the Premodern Period Characteristics of Executions in the Premodern Period Methods of Execution During the Premodern Period Location of the Death Penalty in the Premodern Period Chapter 3. Capital Punishment in the Modern Period: 1977-Present Capital Crimes and Capital Statutes During the Modern Period Characteristics of Executions in the Modern Period Methods of Execution During the Modern Period Location of the Death Penalty in the Modern Period Changes in the Practice of the Death Penalty in the Modern Period The Federal and Military Death Penalty Part II: Legal History, Constitutional Requirements, and Common Justifications for Capital Punishment in the United States Chapter 4. A Brief Legal History of Capital Punishment in the United States Early Constitutional Challenges to the Method of Imposing Death Constitutional Theories About What the Eighth Amendment Prohibits The Death Penalty's Decline in Popularity and Challenges to Its Constitutionality The Death Penalty is not Procedurally Flawed--The Case of McGautha v. California The Death Penalty as Currently Administered is so Procedurally Flawed That It Constitutes Cruel and Unusual Punishment--The Case of Furman v. Georgia Chapter 5. Constitutional Requirements for Capital Punishment in the United States The Response to Furman: Mandatory and Guided Discretion Capital Statutes The Execution of Special Groups--The Young, The Retarded and the Mentally Ill Chapter 6. Common Justifications for the Death Penalty Retribution: The Moral Argument for the Death Penalty Cost: The Financial Argument for the Death Penalty Incapacitation: One of the Public Safety Arguments for the Death Penalty General Deterrence: The Other Public Safety Argument for the Death Penalty Religious Positions for and Against the Death Penalty Part III: The Administration of the Death Penalty: Issues of Race and Human Fallibility Chapter 7. Race, the Law, and Punishment The Peculiar Institution Race and Legal Institutions After the Civil War Chapter 8. Race and Capital Punishment Race and Capital Punishment: 1930-1967 Evidence of Racially Disparate Treatment in the Courts Race and Capital Punishment: 1997-Present Post-Furman Evidence of Racial Discrimination in Capital Sentencing Before the Courts--McCleskey v. Kemp Chapter 9. Problems in Administering the Death Penalty The Possibly Innocent The Exonerated A Broken System Part IV: What's to Come of the Death Penalty Chapter 10. Capital Punishment in America's Future Public Support for the Death Penalty in the United States The Death Penalty in Other Countries Predictions About the Future of the Death Penalty in America What About Life Without the Possibility of Parole?

"All salient issues and elements of the death penalty debate are thoroughly and carefully presented. The book is comprehensive, timely, engaging, accessible, accurate, and well written."--John Cochran, University of South Florida |k No