Capital Punishment -

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Résumé :
This authoritative, balanced, and accessible reference resource provides readers with a wide-ranging survey of capital punishment in America, including its history, its legal and cultural foundations, and racial and economic factors in its application. This carefully crafted primer on the history and present state of capital punishment in the United States examines cultural, political, and legal factors and developments, as well as key figures, groups, and movements, by consolidating a wide variety of material into a single, convenient source. Utilizing a rich and varied array of scholarship and primary sources, this work examines historical, political, cultural, and legal factors and developments that have shaped the contours of capital punishment throughout American history. It examines key figures and organizations who have played pivotal roles in debates over the death penalty; provides readers with illuminating coverage of laws, cases, and the people involved; discusses the experiences of death row inmates; and explores questions and controversies revolving around the socioeconomic factors that influence the use of capital punishment.

Biographie:
Joseph A. Melusky serves as Professor of Political Science, Director of the Center for the Study of Government and Law, Coordinator of Public Administration/Government Service, and Director of the Pre-Law program at Saint Francis University, USA.

Sommaire:

Alphabetical List of Entries ix
Topical List of Entries xiii
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xx

PART I: History and Politics 1

1 A Brief History of Capital Punishment 3
The Constitution and the Death Penalty 3
The Death Penalty in Pre-Colonial Times 5
The Death Penalty in America: Colonial Roots 8
Statistics and Facts about the Death Penalty 10
2 The Politics of Capital Punishment 13
Arguments against the Death Penalty 13
Arguments in Favor of the Death Penalty 15
Old (and Gruesome) Methods of Execution 18
Contemporary Methods of Execution 23
Botched Executions 29
Post-Furman Presidents and the Death Penalty 33

PART II: A-Z Entries 39-311

PART III: Primary Source Documents 313
Code of Hammurabi (c. 1780 bce) 313
The Bible, Book of Exodus (c. 1300 bce) 315
The Twelve Tables of the Roman Republic (c. 450 bce) 317
The Magna Carta (June 15, 1215) 320
The English Bill of Rights (1689) 321
The American Declaration of Independence (1776) 322
Ordinance of the Northwest Territory (1787) 324
Amendments to the United States Constitution (1791, 1868) 325
United Nations Resolution on the Use of the Death Penalty (December 17, 2019) 327

Chronology 330
Glossary 349
Bibliography 352
About the Editor and Contributors 367
Index 369