DeathQuest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States

This fifth edition of the first true textbook on the death penalty engages the reader with a full account of the arguments and issues surrounding capital punishment. The book begins with the history of the death penalty from colonial to modern times, and then examines the moral and legal arguments for and against capital punishment. It also provides an overview of major Supreme Court decisions and describes the legal process behind the death penalty. In addressing these issues, the author reviews recent developments in death penalty law and procedure, including ramifications of newer case law, such as that regarding using lethal injection as a method of execution. The author's motivation has been to understand what motivates the "deathquest" of the American people, leading a large percentage of the public to support the death penalty. The book educates readers so that whatever their death penalty positions are, they are informed opinions.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Preface

Chapter 1 History of the Death Penalty in the United States: The Pre-Modern Period

Chapter 2 Capital Punishment and the Supreme Court: The Pre-Modern Period

Chapter 3 The Challenge to Capital Punishment's Legality

Chapter 4 Capital Punishment and the Supreme Court: The Modern Period

Chapter 5 The Death Penalty at the Federal Level, in the Military, and Globally

Chapter 6 Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Death Row, and Methods of Execution

Chapter 7 General Deterrence and the Death Penalty

Chapter 8 Future Dangerousness, Incapacitation, and Economic Costs of Capital Punishment

Chapter 9 Miscarriages of Justice and the Death Penalty

Chapter 10 Arbitrariness and Discrimination in the Administration of the Death Penalty

Chapter 11 Retribution, Religion, and Capital Punishment

Chapter 12 American Death Penalty Opinion

Appendix A

References

Subject Index