Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook

Michael Kronenwetter

ABC-CLIO, 2001 - Law - 369 pages

This revised edition of a perennial bestseller, with more than 50 percent new material, is a much-needed overview of a hotly debated topic.

Capital Punishment focuses on the use of the death penalty in the United States, its international status, and how foreign developments affect the country. It includes a history, a discussion of the controversies surrounding the death penalty, updated biographical sketches, and statistics. Key documents include the U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming capital punishment, a key dissent, Charles Dickens' 19th century view of the guillotine, and various papal and European Union decrees. It also includes a chronology, organizations, websites with further information, and an annotated bibliography.

In this updated survey, a thorough overview of capital punishment, author Michael Kronenwetter reveals interesting facts, for example, under Roman law, death was the penalty for publishing insulting songs and disturbing the city's peace.

• Primary documents including the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the death penalty; Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul's encyclical letter opposing the death penalty; and the South African court opinion abolishing the death penalty
• Lists of organizations in the United States and abroad, mostly devoted to the abolition of the death penalty

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Capital punishment: a reference handbook

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In keeping with the publisher's "Contemporary World Issues'' format, this handbook opens with an overview--practical, moral, and political--of capital punishment in the 1990s. This is followed by a ...

Contents

• Capital Punishment in Context: 1
• Why Death?: 2
• Controlling the Uncontrollable Brutes: 3
• Deterrence: 5
• A Sense of Justice: 6
• Keeping Order: 9
• The Origins of Capital Punishment: 11
• Class Distinctions: 13
• The American Colonies: 15
• The Early United States: 16
• Elsewhere: 19
• Conclusion: 21
• Problems and Controversies: 25
• The Question of Deterrence: 26
• Does the Death Penalty Encourage Crime?: 30
• Is the Death Penalty Needed to Protect Society from Those Who Would Kill Again?: 33
• Is LifewithoutthePossibilityofParole an Effective Alternative to the Death Penalty?: 35
• Does the Death Penalty Mean Fewer Convictions?: 36
• The Question of Cost: 37
• Does the Death Penalty Violate or Uphold the Sanctity of Human Life?: 40
• Is Death the Ultimate Punishment?: 42
• Hope: 43
• Private VengeancePublic Retribution: 44
• Questions of Fairness: 47
• Race: 48
• Underrepresented Groups: 52
• Shame and Excitementthe Publics Response: 55
• The Risk of Mistake: 58
• The Potential for Mercy: 62
• Cruel and Unusual Punishment: 64
• Brutalization: 66
• Executing the Incompetent: 68
• The Young: 69
• The Retarded: 71
• JudeoChristian Beliefs: 72
• The Political Question: 75
• Rehabilitation: 76
• Improved Law Enforcement: 77
• Summary: 78
• The International Perspective: 87
• Religious Influence on National and International Attitudes toward the Death Penalty: 90
• Legitimacy of the Death Penalty in the Modern World: 95
• Binding Treaties: 97
• Near Unanimity on the Execution of Juveniles: 99
• International Pressures: 100
• Chronology: 107
• People and Events: 157
• People: 158
• Cesare Beccaria 17381794: 159
• Hugo Adam Bedau 1926: 161
• Walter Berns 1919: 162
• Marvin H Bovee 18271888: 163
• Rev George Cheever 18071890: 165
• Newton M Curtis 18351910: 167
• George Mifflin Dallas 17921864: 168
• Clarence Darrow 18571938: 169
• JosephIgnace Guillotin 17381814: 170
• Rev Joe Ingle 1948: 171
• Jack Ketch ?1686: 172
• Lewis E Lawes 18831947: 173
• Edward Livingston 17641836: 174
• Albert Pierrepoint 19051992: 176
• William Hubbs Rehnquist 1924: 177
• Sir Samuel Romilly 17571818: 178
• Dr Benjamin Rush 17451813: 179
• Harvey Schwartzchild 1926: 180
• Potter Stewart 19151985: 181
• Events: 182
• The Futile Struggle of Caryl Chessman 19201960: 186
• The Trial and Execution of Sacco and Vanzetti: 188
• Gary Mark Gilmore Gets His Wish 19401977: 190
• Facts and Statistics: 193
• Common Contemporary Methods of Execution: 199
• Hanging: 200
• Lethal Injection: 201
• Beheading or Decapitation: 202
• Burning: 203
• Peine forte et dure: 204
• Other Historical Methods: 205
• Tables and Figures: 206
• Documents: 229
• Excerpt from Pope John Paul IIs Encyclical Letter On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life: 233
• The US Supreme Court Allows the Resumption of Executions: 237
• A Justice Dissents: 259
• European Parliament Resolution on the Death Penalty: 264
• South Africa Abolishes the Death Penalty: 267
• The European Union Explains Its Views to a Friend: 286
• Organizations: 295
• Selected Oranizations Based Abroad: 303
• Print and Nonprint Resources: 307
• Pamphlets and Monographs: 324
• Print Articles and Reports: 325
• Videos: 330
• Selected General Information Web Sites: 337
• Abolitionist Web Sites: 338
• Selected Abolitionist Web Sites State Specific: 340
• Retentionist Web Sites: 341
• Selected Web Sites Devoted to Specific Cases or to Material by Inmates: 342
• Selected WebSite Articles and Essays: 343
• Glossary: 347
• Index: 355
• About the Author: 369

About the author

Michael Kronenwetter is a professional writer and the author of the first edition of ABC-CLIO's Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century American Social Issues.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook; Contemporary world issues
• Author: Michael Kronenwetter
• Editor: Mildred Vasan
• Edition: illustrated, annotated
• Publisher: ABC-CLIO, 2001
• ISBN: 1576074323, 9781576074329
• Length: 369 pages
• Subjects: Law / Reference