NCJ Number
127534
Editor(s)
R M Bohm
Date Published
1991
Length
148 pages
Annotation
This monograph is comprised of a series of articles examining the use of capital punishment in the United States with particular focus on research studies conducted after 1976 when certain judicial decisions provided the constitutional basis for resuming executions after a 10-year hiatus.
Abstract
It describes newer methods and statistical analytic techniques used to test various hypotheses, specifically issues focusing on death penalty under the post-Furman guided discretion statutes. Topics covered include the Espy file of American executions between 1608-1987, deterrence of capital punishment for non-capital felonies, factors influencing prosecutorial decision-making about the death penalty, and effects of psychiatric testimony on sentencing decisions of jurors in capital cases. A study of Furman-commuted death row inmates regarding prison behavior and recidivism and Gallup public opinion polls on the death penalty from 1936 to 1986 are also included. (For individual papers, see NCJ 127535-127542)