The Death Penalty

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

Alternative names:

• ISBN The Death Penalty ( America's Experience with Capital Punishment ) book 362 pages