Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781851096060)

An extensive survey of the pros and cons, evolution, and current issues surrounding one of the hottest topics in today's social debates.

Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents sifts through the rhetoric, politics, and emotion that characterize one of the most highly discussed, yet least understood issues facing the United States today. Placing the death penalty in a historical perspective with an emphasis on the last 50 years, this case-driven volume explains the legal theory that has perpetuated it and the judicial reasoning, both pro and con, behind such landmark Supreme Court cases as Furman v. Georgia and The United States of America v. Alan Quinones.

From the first Massachusetts Bay Colony execution and the inventions of the electric chair and gas chamber to DNA testing of inmates, readers will learn how and why capital punishment continues to be so controversial.

Author: Gary Gershman
ISBN-10: 185109606X
ISBN-13: 9781851096060
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
Language: English
Published: 04/19/2005
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.32w x 1.01d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/15/2005 pg. 90
School Library Journal 12/01/2005 pg. 90
Rec Ref Bks for Small/Med Libr 01/01/2006 pg. 114
American Reference Bks Annual 01/01/2006 pg. 248