Capital Punishment: Theory and Practice of the Ultimate Penalty is a fair, balanced, and accessible introduction to the greatest moral issue facing the American criminal justice system today. Opening with a unique chapter that outlines the philosophical and theoretical explanations for punishment and its relevance to the death-penalty debate, the authors then explore the wide array of topics in the field.
The text covers the history of the death penalty in the U.S. from colonial times to the present day; the relevant landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases from Furman v. Georgia (1972) onwards;...