The decline of the death penalty and the discovery of innocence / Frank R. Baumgartner, Suzanna L. De Boef, Amber E. Boydstun.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baumgartner, Frank R., 1958- author.

Linn, Suzanna, 1966- author.

Boydstun, Amber E., 1977- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capital punishment--United States--History.

Capital punishment.

Judicial error--United States--History.

Judicial error.

Guilt (Law)--United States--History.

Guilt (Law).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 292 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

The Decline of the Death Penalty & the Discovery of Innocence

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since 1996, death sentences in America have declined by more than 60 percent, reversing a generation-long trend toward greater acceptance of capital punishment. In theory, most Americans continue to support the death penalty. But it is no longer seen as a theoretical matter. Prosecutors, judges, and juries across the country have moved in large numbers to give much greater credence to the possibility of mistakes - mistakes that in this arena are potentially fatal. The discovery of innocence, documented in this book through painstaking analyses of media coverage and with newly developed methods, has led to historic shifts in public opinion and to a sharp decline in use of the death penalty by juries across the country. A social cascade, starting with legal clinics and innocence projects, has snowballed into a national phenomenon that may spell the end of the death penalty in America.

Contents:

List of tables

List of figures

Acknowledgments

1: Innocence and the death penalty debate

2: Death penalty in America

3: Chronology of innocence

4: Shifting terms of debate

5: Innocence, resonance, and old arguments made new again

6: Public opinion

7: Rise and fall of a public policy

8: Conclusion

Epilogue: Individuals exonerated from death row

Appendix A: New York Times capital punishment coverage, 1960 to 2005

Appendix B: Description of data

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-18701-X

1-281-24386-8

9786611243869

0-511-79063-5

0-511-37845-9

0-511-37758-4

0-511-37664-2

0-511-37510-7

0-511-37932-3

OCLC:

476127675