The Complete History of the Death Penalty

by Mitchell, Hayley R.

• ISBN13: 9780737704266
• ISBN10: 0737704268
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Greenhaven Pr

Summary

The authors in this anthology provide a comprehensive look at a controversial issue. Beginning with the background and history of the death penalty, essays discuss the arguments for and against capital punishment, the religious beliefs regarding the practice, its administration, and the possibility of discrimination. Chapters also examine the juvenile death penalty and the role of the media in public opinion. Also includes a geographical gazeteer of important places and events, a glossary, chronology, appendix of prominent people, bibliographies, and an extensive index.

Table of Contents

Introduction	21	(23)
Overview	23	(12)
The Death Penalty in the United States
Introduction	35	(1)
The History of the Death Penalty and the Capital Trial	36	(8)
Mark Costanzo
Lawrence T. White
Recent trends in death penalty cases and the American judicial system suggest that though abolition is unlikely, the death penalty is more carefully scrutinized and more humane
What Everyone Should Know About the Death Penalty	44	(3)
John Paul Ryan
John Michael Eden
Discussing the death penalty can enhance awareness of current legal, political, and philosophical issues. Before choosing sides in the death penalty debate, however, one should become familiar with why and how the death penalty is administered today
The Undying Problem of the Death Penalty	47	(4)
Hiller B. Zobel
Despite support for the death penalty, many Americans experience conflicting feelings about its application. Assuring a fair trial and appropriate punishment gives rise to questions that trouble both the public and the courts as much today as they have in the past
Anger and Ambivalence	51	(4)
David A. Kaplan
Most Americans claim to support the death penalty, yet few criminals sentenced to die are actually executed. If the death penalty is to work as a constructive form of punishment, America's attitudes and justice system must be reformed
The Effects of Increased Executions in America	55	(6)
Paul Duggan
Death penalty supporters maintain that the current increase in executions will enhance the death penalty's deterrent effect on crime. Opponents, however, continue to argue that, among other faults, in practice the death penalty is racially discriminatory
The Death Penalty Worldwide
Introduction	60	(1)
The Earliest Practices of the Death Penalty	61	(7)
John Laurence
Rather than reserved as a punishment for murder only, in its earliest practice the death penalty was administered for a wide variety offenses. The first abolitionists fought against such broad use of the death penalty and decried the torture that often accompanied early methods of execution
Most Democracies Have Abandoned the Death Penalty
by the Economist	68	(4)
The United States is one of few democracies that retain the death penalty. Despite a lack of evidence proving that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to violence in America, the majority of the public supports the death penalty as a weapon against crime
World Governments React Differently to Public Opinion of the Death Penalty	72	(5)
Roger Hood
One reason the death penalty is retained in the United States is that the courts are swayed by public opinion on the issue. Many other world governments, however, contend that penal policy should be the responsibility of elected representatives who exercise their own judgment in death penalty decisions
The Return of the American Death Penalty	77	(5)
Tom Phillips
With the execution of Gary Gilmore in 1976, the United States reinstated the death penalty after a four-year hiatus. As executions have grown more common in American prisons, the execution process has become more ``civilized,'' but human rights groups have nonetheless attacked the practice with renewed fervor
Executions in England Go Private in 1868	82	(4)
Randall McGowen
Although executions in England were once public affairs, many Victorian lawmakers felt that the lessons of the sentence were lost on the rowdy crowds that gathered at outdoor executions. A private punishment---execution behind prison walls---they decided, was more just
The History of the Death Penalty in Germany	86	(7)
Joachim Whaley
The death penalty in Germany had a long and fluctuating history until its eventual abolishment in 1987
The Death Penalty in the Former U.S.S.R.	93	(8)
Albert Motivans
Elizabeth Teague
Crime rates in countries of the former Soviet Union have risen significantly since 1988; murders and assaults have increased while the percentages of solved crimes and convictions have dropped. As a result, rising concerns about public safety have led to widespread support for the death penalty in these countries
Arguments in Support of the Death Penalty
Introduction	100	(1)
America's Support for the Death Penalty	101	(5)
Phoebe C. Ellsworth
Samuel R. Gross
Americans who support the death penalty often cite the value of retribution. Many also harbor fears that alternatives to the death penalty, like life sentences, are not reliable, as many criminals serving life sentences are eventually released on parole
American Support for Retribution	106	(4)
Richard L. Worsnop
In America, supporters of the death penalty freely admit their desire for retribution against the most heinous criminals. The death penalty and Americans' instinct for retribution, today's proponents claim, promotes the stability of a society governed by law
Supporting the Death Penalty on Moral Grounds	110	(5)
Robert James Bidinotto
Some supporters of the death penalty take their position on moral grounds. Maintaining that the harm and injury imposed on a victim should be reflected proportionately back onto the criminal, death penalty proponents see death as the only fitting punishment for murderers
Murder Is Evil and Intolerable	115	(5)
David Gelernter
By maintaining the death penalty, America has sent a message to its citizenry that murder will not be tolerated by the justice system. That message is not always a clear one, however, as criminals who commit similar crimes are not always consistently punished
Murderers Should Be Put to Death	120	(2)
Jeffy Jacoby
While the victims of homicide have justice and the law on their side, violent criminals have legal procedure and many anti-death penalty special interest groups working for their rights as well. Murderers should be put to death and not saved by these groups
Opponents of the Death Penalty Use Faulty Arguments	122	(3)
Steven Goldberg
The claim that the death penalty does not deter crime is untrue. Not only does the punishment deter crime, our society becomes more civilized as murder rates drop
One Governor's Quest for Justice	125	(5)
George E. Pataki
Governor George E. Pataki of New York is tough on crime. In his state, those who murder officers of law, witnesses or their family members, other criminals while serving prison time, or innocent persons while escaping jail or committing other serious felonies are all eligible for the death penalty
Arguments Against the Death Penalty
Introduction	129	(1)
There Is No Rationale for the Death Penalty	130	(4)
Marvin E. Wolfgang
There is no rationale that requires the death penalty in American society. The premeditated, highly organized, calculated death of a human being by the state should not be condoned, however heinous the crime
Deterrence, Cost, Discrimination, and Innocence: Arguments Against the Death Penalty	134	(5)
Eric M. Freedman
The death penalty is a useless tool in reducing crimes that threaten most people each day. It wastes enormous time and resources on a handful of cases to the detriment of other measures that can significantly improve public safety
The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished Because of Flawed Executions	139	(6)
Herb Haines
Death penalty abolitionists often cite flawed executions and mistaken convictions in support of their position. These flaws are too often unacknowledged by the media
Criminal Violence Should Not Beget Violence by the State	145	(2)
Sister Helen Prejean
Pro-death penalty rhetoric maintains that the punishment is reserved for the most heinous, cold-blooded, premeditated crimes, but realistically the sentence is administered only when the status of the victim makes it acceptable. The state should not be allowed to enact violence in such a climate of bias
The Death Penalty: America's Most Costly Justice	147	(4)
Don Babwin
The death penalty is too costly a form of justice in America. In light of extensive mandated appeals processes, millions of dollars are spent on death penalty cases each year that could better benefit state and local economies if the death penalty were abolished
Witness to the Execution: Judges and Juries Should Take Responsibility for Their Decisions	151	(2)
Jeremy Epstein
Requiring juries and judges to witness the executions of those they sentence can ensure that they understand the gravity of their decisions. Despite the frequency of their occurrence, state-sanctioned executions should not be viewed as routine events
The Death Penalty Dehumanizes Our Society	153	(2)
Steven Hawkins
The death penalty is unnecessary to ensure justice for victims of violent crime. There are too many problems inherent in the administration of the death penalty to warrant its retention, and communities can benefit if money earmarked for capital cases is diverted to other social programs
The Death Penalty Brings Little Justice	155	(4)
John J. Dilulio Jr.
Murderers are rarely executed, and killers are released from prison only to commit further crimes. Those condemned to die are more likely to receive the death penalty because of their race than their crime
Religious Beliefs Affect Views on the Death Penalty
Introduction	158	(1)
Religion, Race, and the Death Penalty	159	(5)
Robert L. Young
The nature of the role of the state in state-sanctioned executions is at the center of the death penalty debate and is often examined in religious circles. With a rise in political activism among religious groups, the link between the moral-philosophical and political dimensions of the death penalty debate has grown stronger
Rejecting the Death Penalty on Religious Grounds	164	(7)
Reverend Jesse Jackson
While many religious figures have opposed the death penalty, organized religion has been slow to condemn it as official policy. Both sides in the death penalty debate quote from the Bible to bolster their positions, but most of the Judeo-Christian world has rejected the death penalty as a form of punishment
American Jewry Opposes the Death Penalty	171	(3)
Leo Pfeffer
In 1991 only thirteen states had abolished the death penalty. Elsewhere in the United States, the death penalty has become a more common form of punishment. Despite the Talmudic law that allows the death penalty, American Jewry stands firmly against this increase in executions today
Unofficial Opposition of the Death Penalty by the Catholic Church	174	(2)
Richard John Neuhaus
The Catholic Church is leaning toward condemning the death penalty as official dogma. The church's teachings suggest its moral stance on the issue, but it has yet to codify that opinion
State Idolatry Has Replaced Religious Faith	176	(2)
Jean Bethke Elshtain
The state should not have the ultimate power to take and give life under its penal system. Executions are wrong in that they are as much a matter of cold premeditation as criminal homicide
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Approves the Death Penalty	178	(6)
J. Gordon Melton
The government has the right to exercise the death penalty, but it is not required to do so. Christians should exert restraining influence on the government's exercise of power in capital cases
Catholic Governors Defy the Church	184	(5)
Robert R. Drinan
Catholic governors often disagree with the church's unofficial stance against the death penalty and defy the church in their roles as public policy makers. Catholics should work to elevate public morality by insisting that those who kill should receive life sentences instead of the death penalty
The Administration of the Death Penalty
Introduction	188	(1)
The Death Penalty Can Be Administered Fairly	189	(3)
John McAdams
Although death penalty administration is not without flaws, statistical evidence fails to prove that the death penalty is discriminatory. In fact, the death penalty is administered as fairly as other criminal sanctions in American society, and it should not be abolished at this time
The Death Penalty Cannot Be Administered Fairly	192	(3)
Leigh B. Bienen
The death penalty is unfair in its geographic variance, its statutory ambiguity, and the legal variables that affect the outcomes of capital cases. The death penalty should therefore be abolished because it is not just
Opposing Views: Death Penalty and the Constitution	195	(6)
Walter Berns
Walter Dellinger
The death penalty teaches heinous criminals that there are acts that the justice system considers outside the bounds of human fellowship that will be judged accordingly. The death penalty, on the other hand, is not a morally appropriate punishment
The Death Penalty Is Administered Unevenly	201	(3)
Ted Gest
There is little consistency in the ways that capital cases snake their way through the state and federal court system. It is impossible to predict which criminals will actually be executed after receiving death sentences
States Pick Up the Pace on Executions	204	(3)
Kelly McMurry
As states compete to appear tough on crime, more executions are taking place. With many death-sentenced criminals reaching the end of their appeals process, 1995 showed the most significant increase in American executions since 1957
Some Death Row Inmates Lack Adequate Legal Representation	207	(6)
Mark Hansen
Competent, experienced lawyers have been in short supply for inmates on death row since federal funding for death penalty resource centers was cut in 1995. Proponents of the centers claim that the condemned no longer have access to adequate legal representation, while opponents argue that the centers encouraged abuse of the appeals process
Penry v. Lynaugh: The Death Penalty and the Mentally Retarded	213	(10)
Peter K.M. Chan
The culpability of mentally retarded criminals is difficult to discern with certainty. The Court should reject the death penalty for mentally retarded defendants rather than risk sentencing such criminals to cruel and unusual punishment
Women and Minorities: The Death Penalty and Discrimination Issues
Introduction	222	(1)
Women, Domestic Violence, and the Death Penalty	223	(7)
Elizabeth Rapaport
Despite popular belief, women are not spared death sentences in circumstances that would draw such a penalty for male defendants. Women are disserved by the notion that they are spared the death penalty because of their sex
Often Forgotten: Women on Death Row	230	(3)
Whitney George
Women on death row are often overlooked in the death penalty debate, but since 1973 114 women have been sentenced to die in America. Women do commit violent crime, yet women account for only 13 percent of all arrests in the United States
Racial Prejudice Raises Support for the Death Penalty	233	(4)
Steven E. Barkan
Steven F. Cohn
Whites in America are far more likely to support the death penalty than African Americans, who are represented in greater numbers on death row. If support for the death penalty is racially motivated, public sentiment may not be a good measure of determining whether the death penalty is an appropriate form of punishment
More Blacks Are Sentenced to Death than Whites	237	(3)
Crisis
In some states the disparity between the number of blacks and the number of whites on death row suggests discrimination within the justice system. In Pennsylvania, for example, African Americans represent only 9 percent of the state's population, yet they comprise 61 percent of that state's death-row inmates
The Death Penalty Ultimately Saves Blacks' Lives	240	(2)
Jeff Jacoby
Many death penalty opponents claim that the death penalty is racially discriminatory and unjust. The death penalty can protect African Americans, however, by acting as a deterrent to black-on-black violence
Claims of Racial Discrimination in Death Penalty Administration Are Unsubstantiated	242	(9)
Stanley Rothman
Stephen Powers
Racial prejudice is not a significant determinant of execution rates in America; therefore, the death penalty need not be abolished or reformed on grounds of racial discrimination. Rather, opponents should examine other elements of its arbitrary nature, ask if it is barbaric, and study whether it serves as an effective deterrent
Debating Juvenile Death Penalty
Introduction	250	(1)
A History of Juvenile Executions, 1642-1986	251	(6)
Victor L. Streib
Executions of condemned criminals for crimes committed under the age of eighteen have accounted for 2 percent of executions in the United States since colonial times. As Americans become more willing to execute adult murderers for their crimes, they also seem more willing to execute juveniles who commit murder
The Court Rules the Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional for Defendants Under Age Sixteen	257	(3)
Dominic J. Ricotta
After examining the treatment of chronological age in state and federal death penalty statutes, the behavior of juries, and the disproportionality between the death penalty and a juvenile's culpability, the Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that it is unconstitutional to execute persons for capital crimes committed when under the age of sixteen
The Court Rules in Favor of Juvenile Death Penalty	260	(3)
Lyle Denniston
The Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles who commit capital crimes under age sixteen cannot be executed. In 1989, the Court found that juveniles who are age sixteen at the time of their crime are eligible for the death penalty
The Juvenile Death Penalty	263	(5)
Kim A. Lechner
In 1997, twenty states allowed the death penalty for juvenile offenders, and nine of these states had no minimum age at which a juvenile could be sentenced to death. Despite the rising homicide rates among juveniles and an increase in the number of other violent crimes committed by juveniles, executing juveniles does not solve the problems associated with increasing juvenile crime
The Debate over Juvenile Death Penalty: Is It Cruel and Unusual Punishment?	268	(4)
Frank W. Heft Jr.
David Smith
Kevin Stanford committed a capital offense before his eighteenth birthday. Stanford's attorney claims it would be cruel and unusual punishment to execute Stanford, as our society does not view those under eighteen as adults. The Kentucky assistant attorney general, however, feels each juvenile case should receive individual consideration, as some juveniles are more mature than others at the time of their crimes
Death Is Never in the ``Best Interest'' of a Child	272	(6)
Suzanne D. Strater
The traditional role of the state is to act as the guardian of juveniles and promote the welfare of children. The juvenile death penalty is in direct conflict with the state's duty toward children; it is not in children's best interest to execute juvenile offenders
Researching Public Support for the Juvenile Death Penalty	278	(5)
Sandra Evans Skovron
Joseph E. Scott
Francis T. Cullen
While a large number of Americans support the death penalty for adults, most reject the same punishment for juveniles. Juveniles possess distinct differences from adults and should be treated differently in the justice system
The Death Penalty Teaches Violence	283	(5)
Philip Brasfield
Many states execute juveniles for capital offenses without any evidence that doing so will reduce juvenile crime. Our nation's willingness to execute juveniles and others is sending a negative message to young people about the value of life in America
The Innocent on Death Row
Introduction	287	(1)
Seventy-Five Sentenced to Death Were Innocent	288	(3)
By the Economist
The most abhorrent flaw in the death penalty is that innocent men and women are sometimes sentenced to die. One 1998 study found that roughly one in every seven inmates executed in America since 1976 has been innocent
Innocent Men on Death Row	291	(4)
Joseph P. Shapiro
From 1973 to 1998, seventy-four men were exonerated of their crimes and freed from death row. Perjured testimony, faulty eyewitnesses, and false confessions given under duress are some of the reasons innocent citizens end up on death row
Mistaken Executions Cannot Be Corrected	295	(8)
Jonathan Rauch
Clemency for condemned criminals is rare in America, where appeals for death penalty cases have been limited and executions are occurring sooner after sentencing than in the past. This new climate of rushing for justice does not bode well for the innocent on death row
Innocence and the System: One Man's Twenty-Year Battle on Death Row	303	(7)
Tena Jamison Lee
Joe Spaziono is an example of the American justice system gone awry. Convicted of a crime many believe he is innocent of, Spaziono has spent over twenty years in jail; he was spared the death penalty only because journalists and law professors have worked to keep his controversial case in the media spotlight
The Death Penalty and the Law
Introduction	309	(1)
The Death Penalty: A Nagging Issue in the Court	310	(4)
David O. Stewart
The death penalty remains a consistent and controversial topic for the Supreme Court. While the Court strives to assure consistent imposition of the death penalty regardless of race, religion, or sex, some justices are uncomfortable with the finality of the death penalty
Divided Opinions: The Death Penalty and the Supreme Court	314	(3)
Edward Lazarus
Death penalty cases have divided the opinions of Supreme Court justices and have wounded the Court by affecting its ability to reach collective judgments, to deliberate on the nation's fundamental values, and to translate those values into law
The Power of Public Opinion in the Courts	317	(6)
William Bowers
The Supreme Court's affirmation of the death penalty may reflect the Court's belief that the public is in favor of it. Public opinion polls have been known to sway the opinions of the Court, yet most public opinion polls about the death penalty do not ask those surveyed about their opinions on viable alternatives
The Difficult Case of Robert Alton Harris	323	(6)
Stephen Reinhardt
Robert Alton Harris was the first man executed in California after a twenty-five-year moratorium. His case and the controversial and cruel process of his execution resulted in worldwide ridicule of the American death penalty and remains an example of failure within the U.S. justice system
Inside the Capital Trial: Juries, Appeals, and the Ultimate Punishment	329	(7)
Mark Costanzo
The process of a capital case begins in the courtroom and ends in the execution chamber. To fully understand the death penalty, it is important to understand the legal process of jury selection, the trial, appeals, and execution
Capital Trials May Be Biased and Arbitrary	336	(7)
James Luginbuhl
Michael Burkhead
While more data are necessary regarding most aspects of death penalty trials, there is reason to believe that inequities exist in the form of caprice and bias. While the death penalty remains a part of our legal system, all efforts should be made to eliminate arbitrariness and bias in its administration
Behind the Verdict: Juries and the Death Penalty	343	(5)
David Lester
The American justice system maintains that a just verdict is best reached by a jury of one's peers, a selection of untrained citizens who do not have experience judging and sentencing crimes. However, juries are often influenced by numerous factors during a capital trial that may unfairly affect their opinions of defendants
Some Defendants Choose Execution	348	(8)
Welsh S. White
Gary Gilmore is the most famous of those defendants who have actively chosen execution rather than exert their legal right of appeal. Although this situation creates special concerns for defense attorneys, the Supreme Court has ruled that competent defendants may waive their rights to appeal
Famous Cases and Leading Supreme Court Decisions of the Twentieth Century
Introduction	355	(1)
Where Injustice Prevailed, Debate Lingers: Crime of the Century: Sacco and Vanzetti	356	(4)
John Yemma
A great legal controversy of our time, the 1920s death penalty case of Sacco and Vanzetti outraged people around the world. their death sentence, many still believe, was influenced by popular hysteria, a biased judge, and flaws in America's legal system
Leopold and Loeb: The ``Crime of the Century''	360	(8)
Elinor Lander Horwitz
Affluent teenagers in the 1920s, Leopold and Loeb plotted to commit what they thought was the ``perfect crime,'' killing a boy just to see if they could get away with it. Arrogant and unsympathetic, the boys shocked the nation with their courtroom behavior but received life sentences rather than the death penalty because of their age at the time of the crime
The Rosenbergs	368	(4)
Walter
Miriam Schneir
In 1953 alleged spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for treason against the United States. Americans supported the death sentences at the time and were baffled by criticism about the case from many influential Europeans convinced of the Rosenbergs' innocence
In Furman v. Georgia the Court Rules Most Death Penalty Sentences Are Unconstitutional	372	(4)
Hugo Adam Bedau
Furman v. Georgia marked an important turning point in the history of the death penalty in America. With this case the Supreme Court ruled that most death penalty sentences constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution. As a result of the ruling, a four-year moratorium on executions ensued
Gregg v. Georgia: Executions Resume When the Court Rules Death Penalty Is Not Inherently Unconstitutional	376	(7)
Potter Stewart
Lewis Powell
John Paul Stevens
In 1976 the Supreme Court found in Gregg v. Georgia that the death penalty is not inherently unconstitutional under the Constitution. Four years after the Furman decision, executions resumed in America and continue today
Coker v. Georgia: Death Penalty Sentences Are Unconstitutional for the Crime of Rape	383	(4)
Pallie Zambrano
In Coker v. Georgia the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty cannot be administered as punishment for the crime of rape. Some states, however, retain the death penalty for offenders who rape children
Enmund v. Florida: Nontriggermen Cannot Be Executed	387	(5)
John H. Wickert
The case of Enmund v. Florida led to the Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty cannot be imposed on nontriggermen present in the commission of a capital crime. The Court has not ruled, however, on whether it is unconstitutional to execute triggermen who do not intend to kill during the commission of a crime
Pulley v. Harris: The Constitution Does Not Guarantee Proportionality Review of Death Sentences	392	(3)
Manvin S. Mayell
Most states that allow the death penalty specify proportionality review procedures as part of their sentencing schemes to ensure that new death sentences are similar to those that have come before them for similar crimes. The Supreme Court has ruled, however, that proportionality review is not a constitutional right that must be applied in every death penalty case
Lockhart v. McCree: A ruling on the ``Death Qualification'' of Jurors
By the New York Times	395	(4)
Capital offenders claim that when juries are selected based on their approval of the death penalty the chance of receiving a fair trial is minimized. The Supreme Court ruled in Lockhart v. McCree that the selection of ``death qualified'' jurors is constitutional
Juries May Consider ``Utter Disregard'' When Determining Death Penalty Sentences	399	(2)
Cheri L. Bugajski
Juries are provided standards by which to hand down death sentences in capital cases. Although Idaho's statute on ``utter disregard'' has been challenged, the Supreme Court has ruled that the standard is clear and objective and can remain in use for capital crimes committed in that state
Supreme Court Decisions in the Early 1990s	401	(8)
Mark Tushnet
In the early 1990s opinion polls demonstrated public approval of the death penalty. Although executions have become more common within our justice system, the Supreme Court is still called on to review on appeal numerous cases reflecting ongoing challenges to capital punishment. In 1991-1992, for example, the Court ruled in seven death penalty cases
The Execution
Introduction	408	(1)
Hanging the Sioux Warriors: Mass Execution in 1862	409	(5)
Frederick Drimmer
Hanging as a method of execution is disappearing from most states' criminal codes, but it was once the favored method in America. One of the most famous cases of hanging was the mass hanging of Sioux warriors in 1862
The Development of the Electric Chair: Progress in an Industrial Age	414	(9)
Roger Neustadter
Early proponents of electrocution argued that it was a more humane way of disposing of condemned criminals. The electric industry of the day, however, opposed electrocution, worrying that linking their product to death would hurt its image and sales
Lethal Injection: The Search for a Modern Form of Execution	423	(7)
Franklin E. Zimring
Gordon Hawkins
With the development of lethal injection, the process of execution moved into the twentieth century. Both sides of the death penalty debate have used the application of lethal injection to bolster their cause
A Humane Death: Execution by Nitrogen Asphyxiation	430	(2)
Stuart A. Creque
Death penalty practice need not be cruel or unusual, especially with the administration of nitrogen asphyxiation, which simply puts people to sleep
Execution as Suicide	432	(6)
Katherine van Wormer
Many perpetrators of violent crimes are not afraid of death. In fact, some offenders commit capital crimes in hope of receiving the death penalty for their actions
The Death Penalty and the Victims' Families
Introduction	437	(1)
Executions Are Sometimes a Form of Therapeutic Vengeance for Victims' Families	438	(5)
Shannon Brownlee
Dan McGraw
Jason Vest
Many families victimized by violent crime seek comfort and closure in the execution of the murderers who killed their loved ones. The grieving process is complex, however, and not all families find solace in retribution
Executions Restore Inner Peace for Victims' Families	443	(2)
Eugene Kennedy
Victims' families seem to be ignored in the death penalty debate as the media often focuses on the offenders' rights. Inner peace is restored for these families only when murderers are executed
What Say Should Victims Have?	445	(2)
Walter Shapiro
Victim impact statements allow victims' families to address the court about their loss and suffering and the effect of violent crime on their lives. Many courts allow such statements but the practice is as controversial as the death penalty itself
Payne v. Tennessee: The Court Rules in Favor of Victim Impact Statements	447	(8)
Elizabeth Anna Meek
Victim impact statements encourage judgments based more on emotion than reason; therefore, they should not be allowed in capital trials, where defendants should be afforded every opportunity to convince a jury to impose a punishment less than death. The Supreme Court, nonetheless, has ruled that victim impact statements are constitutional in death penalty cases
The Death Penalty and the Media
Introduction	454	(1)
Television and the American Execution	455	(5)
Robert Johnson
As executions of convicted offenders increase in American society, so does media coverage of these events. Televising executions would provide no purposeful lessons for the American public. Viewers would become desensitized to executions as they have already to other kinds of violence in the media
Should Executions Be Televised?	460	(4)
Don Corrigan
The issue of televised executions is a controversial one within the death penalty debate. Surprisingly, groups both for and against the death penalty have called for televised executions, but for different reasons
The Press and the Courts: America's Venues for Capital Crimes	464	(2)
Thomas Harvey Holt
The American media plays a large role in capital cases in the presentation of those cases to the public. Capital offenders have gained sympathy in the press as well as condemnation, and the press has heightened the political pressure surrounding death penalty cases
Part of the Job: Journalists Respond to Covering Executions	466	(6)
Cynthia Barnett
Many journalists covering executions distinguish the experience from covering other social issues. Many are traumatized to the point of needing professional counseling after the event, and they also have to wrestle with their own views of the death penalty and whether these views do or do not have a place in their work
Glossary	472	(2)
Geographical Gazetteer	474	(2)
Chronology	476	(8)
Prominent People	484	(6)
Organizations to Contact	490	(3)
For Further Reading	493	(1)
Websites	494	(1)
Works Consulted	495	(6)
Major Subject List	501	(4)
Index	505	(12)
Picture Credits	517