Dismantling the Death Penalty

Auteur
Mark Costanzo, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychological Science at Claremont McKenna College, Co-Director of the Center for Applied Psychological Research, and a member of the Plenary Faculty at Claremont Graduate University. He has published research on a variety of law-related topics including police interrogations, false confessions, jury decision-making, sexual harassment, attorney argumentation, alternative dispute resolution, and the death penalty. Professor Costanzo is co-author of the leading textbook on Psychology and Law - Forensic and Legal Psychology (4th edition). He is also author of the books Psychology Applied to Law and Just Revenge. He is co-editor of several books, including Violence and the Law and Expert Psychological Testimony for the Courts. Professor Costanzo has also served as a consultant or expert witness for more than 400 criminal cases involving coerced and potentially false confessions. This consulting includes cases in state, federal, and military courts. Professor Costanzo has received Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Awards from the American Psychology-Law Society, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the Western Psychological Association, and the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He is currently serving as President of the Western Psychological Association.

Texte du rabat

Dismantling the Death Penalty is a succinct, accessible, and lively overview of research on the costs and consequences of capital punishment. Mark Costanzo uses diverse sources of information--including closing arguments from murder trials; interviews with jurors; statistical analyses of murder rates; survey data; and quotes from defendants, politicians, and the families of victims--to understand the effects and effectiveness of the death penalty. Each chapter answers an essential question: How do juries decide who is sentenced to death? Do executions deter potential murderers? Does the public support the death penalty? Is it "cruel and unusual"? Is it cheaper than life imprisonment? How serious are errors and biases in the system? Is the death penalty morally justified? Ultimately, the book evaluates the politics and future of capital punishment, as well as alternatives to execution.

Résumé
Dismantling the Death Penalty is a succinct, accessible, and lively overview of research on the costs and consequences of capital punishment. Professor Costanzo uses diverse sources of information--including closing arguments from murder trials; interviews with jurors; statistical analyses of murder rates; survey data; and quotes from defendants, politicians, and the families of victims--to understand the effects and effectiveness of the death penalty. Each chapter answers an essential question: How do juries decide who is sentenced to death? Do executions deter potential murderers? Does the public support the death penalty? Is it "cruel and unusual"? Is it cheaper than life imprisonment? How serious are errors and biases in the system? Is the death penalty morally justified? Although the emphasis is on social scientific research, this comprehensive analysis also places the practice of killing murderers in historical, political, and moral context. The opening chapter chronicles the long, bloody history of executions and changes in how, when, and why we kill criminals. The closing chapter evaluates the politics and future of capital punishment, as well as alternatives to execution.

Contenu

• Introduction

• Chapter 1: The Death Penalty from Ancient to Modern Times: A Brief History

• Executions in the United States

• The Abolition Movement

• Justifications for Killing Criminals

• Five Historical Trends

• Chapter 2: How do we Decide Who is Sentenced to Death?

• Two Supreme Court Decisions

• The Bifurcated Capital Murder Trial

• The impact of "Death Qualification" on Capital Juries

• Victim Impact Testimony in the Penalty Phase

• The Role of the Defense and the Prosecution in the Penalty Phase

• Jurors in Capital Murder Trials

• The Misconceptions of Supreme Court Justices and Capital Jurors

• The Appeals Process

• Chapter 3: Does the Death Penalty Deter Potential Murderers?

• The Research Evidence

• Brutalization: Does the Death Penalty Incite Murder?

• The Final Wave of Deterrence Research?

• The Flawed Theory Underlying a Belief in Deterrence

• Chapter 4: Does the American Public Support the Death Penalty?

• What the Surveys Tell Us

• The Dynamics of Public Opinion

• What Drives Public Support?

• The Shallowness of Support: Types of Murderers and Punishments

• LWOP+R

• Chapter 5: Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual?

• Ropes, Bullets, Electricity, Gas, and Poison

• Between Sentencing and Execution: Life on Death Row

• Waiting for the Executioner

• The Execution Ritual

• Cruelty from a Safe Distance

• Chapter 6: Is the Death Penalty Cheaper than Life Imprisonment?

• The Price Tag

• Why the Death Penalty Is So Costly

• Streamlining the System to Cut Costs

• Chapter 7: Are there Errors and Biases in the Application of the Death Penalty?

• The Geography of Death

• All the Justice Money Can Buy

• Justice in Black and White

• The Supreme Court's View of Race

• Why Death Is Different

• Chapter 8: Is Killing Murderers Morally Justified?

• The Bible Tells Me So

• Moral Philosophy and the Functions of Punishment

• Moral Responsibility and Free Will

• Just Revenge?

• What About the Victims?

• The Families of the Murderers

• The Famous Few

• Chapter 9: The Slow Death of Capital Punishment in the United States

• Other Western Democracies

• The Fading Political Power of the Death Penalty

• The Role of the Media

• The Alternative to Killing

• Toward Abolition

• The Message We Send

• In Conclusion

• References

• Index