A Life for a Life: The American Debate Over the Death Penalty

by Michael Dow Burkhead

Overview

Providing a new look at the intense public debate surrounding the death penalty in the United States, this book explores the various trends in public opinion that influence crime prevention efforts, create public policy, and reform criminal law. It examines eight core issues about the use of execution: cruel and unusual punishment, discrimination, deterrence, due process, culpability, scripture, innocence, and justice. It provides a brief history of capital punishment in the United States from the earliest known execution at the Jamestown Colony in 1608 to executions occurring as recently as 2008. Additional topics include the regionalization of capital punishment sentences, the spiritual and scriptural debate over the death penalty, the role of DNA evidence in modern execution sentences, and the ongoing effects of Furman v. Georgia, McClesky v. Kemp, Baze v. Rees, and other related court rulings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786433681
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	08/20/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	215
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Psychologist Michael Dow Burkhead has worked in varying capacities with criminal offenders for 25 years. He is the author of a number of articles regarding the treatment of mentally ill prisoners and the death penalty. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures     
Preface     

1. Framing the Debate
Introduction     
Historical Overview     
The Regionalization of Execution     
Opposition to the Death Penalty     
The Furman Decision     
The Post-Furman Debate     
A Picture of the Present     
The Major Questions     

2. The Question of Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Introduction: The Slave Darby     
What Is Cruel and Unusual?     
Public Execution     
The Method of Execution     
Why Must Execution Be Painless?     

3. The Question of Discrimination
Introduction     
McCleskey v. Kemp     
Further Research     
Gender and the Death Sentence     
Bias and Arbitrariness     

4. The Question of Due Process
Introduction: What Is Due Process?     
The Capital Trial     
Victim Impact Evidence     
Competent Counsel     

5. The Question of Deterrence
Introduction     
Two Waves of Research     
Is Deterrence Relevant?     

6. The Question of Culpability
Introduction     
The Intellectually Disabled     
Juvenile Offenders     
The Mentally Ill     
The Non-Triggerman     
Summary     

7. The Question of Scripture
Introduction     
The Scriptural Debate     
The Positions of the Churches     
The Early Church     
Summary     

8. The Question of Innocence
Introduction     
An Example Case     
DNA Evidence     

9. The Question of Justice
Doing Justice     
The Myth of Closure     

10. The Current Situation
Introduction     
The Question of Cost     
Modern Explanations for Our Death Penalty Attitudes     
The Current Situation     

Appendices     
A. The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment (2008)     
B. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (2008)     
C. The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission (2007)     
D. The Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment (2007)     

Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

recommended”—Choice; “I recommend [this book] to anyone who is interested in learning about the formation of death penalty governance in our country, the social-political forces that have shaped past and present debates, and the manner by which empirical evidence is used to sway one’s argument”—Metapsychology.

From the Publisher

"I recommend [this book] to anyone who is interested in learning about the formation of death penalty governance in our country, the social-political forces that have shaped past and present debates, and the manner by which empirical evidence is used to sway one's argument"

Metapsychology

recommended

Choice