Deterrence and the Death Penalty

Deterrence and the Death Penalty PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-05-26

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0309254167

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Many studies during the past few decades have sought to determine whether the death penalty has any deterrent effect on homicide rates. Researchers have reached widely varying, even contradictory, conclusions. Some studies have concluded that the threat of capital punishment deters murders, saving large numbers of lives; other studies have concluded that executions actually increase homicides; still others, that executions have no effect on murder rates. Commentary among researchers, advocates, and policymakers on the scientific validity of the findings has sometimes been acrimonious. Against this backdrop, the National Research Council report Deterrence and the Death Penalty assesses whether the available evidence provides a scientific basis for answering questions of if and how the death penalty affects homicide rates. This new report from the Committee on Law and Justice concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide rates is not useful in determining whether the death penalty increases, decreases, or has no effect on these rates. The key question is whether capital punishment is less or more effective as a deterrent than alternative punishments, such as a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Yet none of the research that has been done accounted for the possible effect of noncapital punishments on homicide rates. The report recommends new avenues of research that may provide broader insight into any deterrent effects from both capital and noncapital punishments.

The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty PDF

Author: Ernest Van den Haag

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1489927875

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From 1965 until 1980, there was a virtual moratorium on executions for capital offenses in the United States. This was due primarily to protracted legal proceedings challenging the death penalty on constitutional grounds. After much Sturm und Drang, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a divided vote, finally decided that "the death penalty does not invariably violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment." The Court's decisions, however, do not moot the controversy about the death penalty or render this excellent book irrelevant. The ball is now in the court of the Legislature and the Executive. Leg islatures, federal and state, can impose or abolish the death penalty, within the guidelines prescribed by the Supreme Court. A Chief Executive can commute a death sentence. And even the Supreme Court can change its mind, as it has done on many occasions and did, with respect to various aspects of the death penalty itself, durlog the moratorium period. Also, the people can change their minds. Some time ago, a majority, according to reliable polls, favored abolition. Today, a substantial majority favors imposition of the death penalty. The pendulum can swing again, as it has done in the past.

The Killing State

The Killing State PDF

Author: Austin Sarat

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0195146026

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The Killing State offers an explanation of why the USA clings to capital punishment long after other democratic nations have abandoned the procedure.

End of Its Rope

End of Its Rope PDF

Author: Brandon Garrett

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2017-09-25

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 0674970993

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Today, death sentences in the U.S. are as rare as lightning strikes. Brandon Garrett shows us the reasons why, and explains what the failed death penalty experiment teaches about the effect of inept lawyering, overzealous prosecution, race discrimination, wrongful convictions, and excessive punishments throughout the criminal justice system.

For Capital Punishment

For Capital Punishment PDF

Author: Walter Berns

Publisher: Upa

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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This distinguished constitutional theorist takes a hard look at current criminal law and the Supreme Court's most recent decisions regarding the legality of capital punishment. Examining the penal system, capital punishment, and punishment in general, he reviews the continuing debate about the purpose of punishment for deterrence, rehabilitation, or retribution. He points out that the steady moderation of criminal law has not effected a corresponding moderation in criminal ways or improved the conditions under which men must live. He decries the "pious sentiment" of those who maintain that criminals need to be rehabilitated. He concludes that the real issue is not whether the death penalty deters crime, but that in an imperfect universe, justice demands the death penalty. Originally published by Basic Books in 1979.

Dead Wrong

Dead Wrong PDF

Author: Michael Mello

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780299153441

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Winner of the 1998 Award for Excellence in Indexing, American Society of Indexers and H. W. Wilson Company

Death Penalty Cases

Death Penalty Cases PDF

Author: Barry Latzer

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2010-10-27

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 0123820251

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Death Penalty Cases presents significant verbatim excerpts of death-penalty decisions from the United States Supreme Court. The first chapter introduces the topics discussed throughout the book. It also includes a detailed history of the death penalty in the United States. After this introduction, the remaining eighteen chapters are divided into five parts: Foundational Cases, Death-Eligible Crimes and Persons, The Death Penalty Trial, Post-Conviction Review, and Execution Issues. The first part, consisting of five chapters, talks about the mandatory death penalty, mitigating evidence and racial bias. The next part covers death-eligible crimes, such as rape and other crimes that do not involve homicide and murder. The middle part presents the trial process, from choosing the appropriate decision-makers through the sentencing decision. Followed by this is a chapter focusing on the aftermath of conviction, such as claims of innocence. The book concludes by exploring issues related to execution, such as not executing insane convicts. Finally, execution methods are presented. Provides the most recent case material--no need to supplement Topical organization of cases provides a more logical organization for structuring a course Co-authors with different perspectives on the death penalty assures complete impartiality of the material Provides the necessary historical background, a clear explanation of the current capital case process, and an impartial description of the controversies surrounding the death penalty Provides the latest statistics relevant to discussions on the death penalty Clearly explains the different ways in which the states process death penalty cases, with excerpts of the most relevant statutes