Joseph Melusky, Keith Pesto

The Death Penalty

Documents Decoded

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

When is the death penalty considered "cruel and unusual punishment" or "constitutionally permissible"? This book exposes readers directly to landmark opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court that strive to answer difficult questions regarding capital punishment. This book provides far more than an effective overview of the history, current status, and future of capital punishment in America; it supplies excerpts of the words of the justices themselves to make these judicial opinions readily accessible and understandable to general audiences. As a result, readers can see what the justices had to say for themselves regarding more than 30 important cases involving the death penalty-without relying on any intermediary interpretations of their statements. After a brief historical summary of the debate over capital punishment and the arguments favoring and opposing capital punishment, the book "decodes" how the justices have interpreted and applied constitutional provisions to historical and contemporary controversies. Each case includes brief narrative commentaries inserted by the authors to provide context for the justices' words. Additionally, the excerpted judicial opinions are presented as primary source documents for the reader's inspection and reflection.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: ABC-CLIO
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. Januar 2014
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 286mm x 221mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 992g
• ISBN-13: 9781610691949
• ISBN-10: 1610691946
• Artikelnr.: 38144729

Autorenporträt

Joseph A. Melusky, Keith A. Pesto

Inhaltsangabe

Preface
Background
Chapter 1 Introduction
Cases: Evolving Standards of Decency and the U.S. Supreme Court's Responses to the Death Penalty
Chapter 2 The Road from Wilkerson to Furman: 1878-1971
Death by Firing Squad
Wilkerson v. Utah March 17
1879 Death by Electrocution
In re Kemmler May 23
1890 Second Attempts at Execution
Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber January 13
1947 Other Types of Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Trop v. Dulles March 31
1958 Changing Court Opinion
Justice Arthur Goldberg
Memorandum to the Conference October term
1963 Selection of Jurors
Witherspoon v. Illinois June 3
1968 Standardizing the Death Penalty
McGautha v. California May 3
1971 Chapter 3 From Furman to Gregg: 1972-1976
Suspending the Death Penalty
Furman v. Georgia June 29
1972 Reinstating the Death Penalty
Gregg v. Georgia July 2
1976 Chapter 4 After Gregg: 1976-1982
Mandatory Death Penalties
Woodson v. North Carolina July 2
1976 Death Penalty for Rape
Coker v. Georgia June 29
1977 Mitigating Factors
Lockett v. Ohio July 3
1978 Aggravating Factors
Godfrey v. Georgia May 19
1980 Additional Mitigating Factors
Eddings v. Oklahoma January 19
1982 Chapter 5 Proportionality
Culpability
and Fitting the Punishment to the Crime: 1982-1989
Limits on the Death Penalty for Accomplices
Enmund v. Florida July 2
1982 Repeat Offender Statutes
Solem v. Helm June 28
1983 Execution of the Insane
Ford v. Wainwright June 26
1986 Allowing the Death Penalty for Accomplices
Tison v. Arizona April 21
1987 Use of Statistics Showing Racial Bias
McCleskey v. Kemp April 22
1987 Death Penalty for Those under Age 16
Thompson v. Oklahoma June 29
1988 Death Penalty for Those under Age 18
Stanford v. Kentucky June 26
1989 Execution of the Mentally Retarded
Penry v. Lynaugh June 26
1989 Chapter 6 From Harmelin to Ring: 1991-2002
Life Sentences for Drug Possession
Harmelin v. Michigan June 27
1991 Justice Blackmun Reconsiders the Death Penalty
Callins v. Collins February 22
1994 Continuing Incarceration of Sex Offenders
Kansas v. Hendricks June 23
1997 Prohibiting the Execution of the Mentally Retarded
Atkins v. Virginia June 20
2002 Who Can Levy a Death Sentence?
Ring v. Arizona June 24
2002 Chapter 7 Issues and Prospects for the 21st Century: Are Death Rows Facing Death Throes?
Execution of Minors
Roper v. Simmons March 1
2005 Death by Lethal Injection
Baze and Bowling v. Rees April 14
2008 Death Penalty for Rape of a Child
Kennedy v. Louisiana June 25
2008 Chapter 8 Locked Up for Life?: Juvenile Offenders and Ever-Evolving Standards of Decency
Juvenile Life without Parole for Nonhomicide Crimes
Graham v. Florida May 17
2010 Mandatory Life without Parole for Homicide by Juveniles
Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs June 25
2012 Conclusions
Chapter 9 Concluding Observations
Chapter 10 Chronology
Chapter 11 Links and Resources
Index
About the Authors