Full Description
One of the most controversial subjects in criminal law is whether or not we should continue to use capital punishment as the ultimate punitive sanction. The intended focus of The Problem with Capital Punishment and Why It Should Be Abolished in America is to take a harsh, critical look at theories in support of the use of this form of punishment and expose the truth about capital punishment: it is extremely costly; it is arbitrarily applied; there have been too many innocent persons exonerated from death row; and the only consistency with execution seems to be that of the mentally ill, the poor, and those without adequate legal representation and by using methods that are inhumane and "cruel and unusual".
This book shows that our current system of capital punishment is fraught with error, insanely expensive, and administered in such a manner that the possibility of executing a completely innocent person is not only possible but likely if we continue upon our present course. After reading this book, the reader will be left with no reasonable doubt that the time has come to abolish capital punishment in America.
Contents
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: The History of the Death Penalty: A Brief Overview
Chapter 2: The Death Penalty: An Unjust and Arbitrarily Applied Penalty
Chapter 3: The Financial Cost of Capital Punishment Makes It Illogical to Continue Its Use
Chapter 4: Capital Punishment Runs Counter to the United States Constitution by Violating the 8th Admendments Prohibition against "Cruel and Unusual Punishment"
Chapter 5: Lethal Injection: An Inherently Flawed Method of Execution
Chapter 6: Bad Lawyers: The Unspoken Key to Many Death Sentences
Chapter 7: The Persistent Problem of False Confessions in Death Penalty Cases
Chapter 8: Wrongful Convictions, Innocence and the Death Penalty
Chapter 9: LWOP: The Alternative to Capital Punishment
Chapter 10: Final Considerations: Capital Punishment
Bibliography
About the Author
