Deadly justice : a statistical portrait of the death penalty / Frank R. Baumgartner, Marty Davidson, Kaneesha R. Johnson, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Colin P. Wilson.
Furman, Gregg, and the creation of the modern death penalty -- The capital punishment process -- Homicide in America -- Comparing homicides with execution cases -- Capital-eligible crimes: Is the death penalty reserved for the worst of the worst? -- Which jurisdictions execute and which ones don't -- How often are death sentences overturned? -- How long does it take? -- How often are people exonerated from death row? -- Methods of execution -- How often are executions delayed or canceled? -- Mental health -- How deep is public support for the death penalty? -- Why does the death penalty cost so much? -- Does the death penalty deter? -- Is the death penalty dying? -- Does the modern death penalty meet the goals of Furman?
Summary:
"In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gregg v. Georgia that the death penalty was constitutional if it complied with certain specific provisions designed to ensure that it was reserved for the 'worst of the worst'. The same court had rejected the death penalty just four years before in the Furman decision because it found that the penalty had been applied in a capricious and arbitrary manner. The 1976 decision ushered in the 'modern' period of the U.S. death penalty, setting the country on a course to execute over 1,400 inmates in the ensuing years, with over 8,000 individuals currently sentenced to die. Now, forty years after the decision, the eminent political scientist Frank Baumgartner along with a team of younger scholars (Marty Davidson, Kaneesha Johnson, Arvind Krishnamurthy, and Colin Wilson) have collaborated to assess the empirical record and provide a definitive account of how the death penalty has been implemented."--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.