The Death Penalty America's Experience with Capital Punishment

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

Raymond Paternoster is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Director of the Office of Academic Computing Services at the University of Maryland.
Robert Brame is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina.
Sarah Bacon is Visiting Assistant Professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University.