The Elgar Companion to Capital Punishment and Society / Benjamin Fleury-Steiner and Austin D. Sarat, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Edward Elgar Publishing, publisher.

Fleury-Steiner, Benjamin, editor.

Sarat, Austin, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capital punishment--Social aspects--United States.

Capital punishment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (424 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cheltenham, England : Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, [2024]

Summary:

"The Elgar Companion to Capital Punishment and Society presents a multidisciplinary overview of capital punishment's influences, processes and outcomes across society. A global range of philosophers, social scientists, legal experts, political theorists and historians critically analyse the trajectory of the death penalty in both retentionist and abolitionist countries, underscoring how state killing remains a crucial issue worldwide. The volume lays out the philosophical justifications for and against capital punishment, before examining the practicalities of the death penalty, including the roles of numerous legal actors before, during, and after a capital trial. Chapters assess the outcomes of the death penalty, documenting racial biases and erroneous sentences, as well as exploring exonerations and Life Without Parole. Finally, expert scholars compare the current status of capital punishment in 12 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America and the Middle East, presenting nuanced perspectives on the topic from different cultural and political viewpoints. This comprehensive Companion is a vital resource for students and scholars of criminology, criminal law and justice, law and society, and legal history. The discussions on cutting-edge legal questions surrounding the death penalty will also appeal to defence lawyers, non-governmental organisations, and advocates working in the field"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Front Matter

Copyright

Contents

Contributors

1. Introduction to the Elgar Companion to Capital Punishment and Society

Part I Influences

2. The case against the American death penalty

3. The case for capital punishment

4. The cultural rhetoric of capital punishment in Colonial America through the early Republic, 1641-1792

5. Public opinion and capital punishment in the United States

6. Capital punishment and the constitution

7. The death penalty as an international human rights concern: developments and challenges

Part II Processes

8. Capital trials: individualized sentences and generalized biases

9. Capital defense attorneys

10. Juries in capital cases

11. Appellate and post-conviction remedies in death cases

12. Six US execution methods and the disastrous quest for humaneness

Part III Outcomes

13. Race and the death penalty

14. Wrong-person error in capital cases

15. Death row exonerations: a scoping review

16. Comparing life without parole to the death penalty

Part IV Comparisons: Africa, Asia, Europe, Mexico, and the Middle East

17. The Myth of the Death Penalty in Egypt: Can It Ever Be Justified?

18. The death penalty in Botswana and Zimbabwe: a comparative historical analysis

19. The death penalty in the People's Republic of China

20. Capital punishment in Japan

21. Capital punishment in the Philippines

22. Capital punishment in Vietnam

23. Capital punishment in Great Britain

24. Capital punishment in Germany

25. The death penalty in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe

26. Capital punishment in Ireland

27. The history of the death penalty and its abolition in Mexico

28. The death penalty in Iran

29. The shadow of the death penalty in Israel: constructing enemies, citizens, and victims

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

1-80392-915-4