NCJ Number
105067
Date Published
1987
Length
210 pages
Annotation
This book examines the social, political, and moral conditions in the United States in the 1980's that make it the only Western industrialized nation that maintains capital punishment; possible futures for capital punishment in America and their consequences are considered.
Abstract
The book reviews the status of capital punishment in Western Europe and the former Commonwealth countries, so as to reveal much about how the death penalty fits into larger social and political contexts. It traces the movement toward the abolition of capital punishment in the United States, rooted in the 18th and 19th centuries. The book argues that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia (1972) was a step toward abolition of capital punishment consistent with earlier developments, issued from the appropriate government branch (judiciary) and the appropriate governmental level (Federal) for the late stages of abolition. The public and State legislative responses to 'Furman' were typical of responses to steps away from capital punishment in other countries and to civil rights decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The abolition of capital punishment has typically been initiated by policymakers without supportive public opinion. The book considers why the evolutionary trend toward the abolition of capital punishment was reversed in Gregg v. Georgia (1976). Subsequent chapters review the short-term and long-term probabilities and possibilities for capital punishment in the United States, with advocacy for its abolition. The appendix provides a guide to the issue of death penalty and deterrence. Chapter footnotes and subject index.