ABSTRACT
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 30 Death Penalty Study Commissions: Their Appointment,
Composition, and Charges .........................................................................31 Issues, Findings, and Recommendations .......................................................... 34
Penological Objectives ............................................................................... 35 Administrative Issues and Cost ................................................................ 35
Wrongful Convictions and Innocence ....................................... 35 Race and Arbitrariness ................................................................. 37
Death Penalty Statutes: Scope, Sentencing Factors, and Alternative Punishments ........................................................................... 41 Cost ............................................................................................................... 43
Participants in Capital Trials: Defense Counsel, Prosecutors, Judges, Juries, and Victims ........................................................................ 44 Defense Counsel ......................................................................................... 44 Prosecutors .................................................................................................. 45 Trial Judges .................................................................................................. 46 Jury Issues .................................................................................................... 46 Victims ......................................................................................................... 48
Appeals, Post-Conviction Review, and Clemency .......................................... 49 Executions ............................................................................................................. 52 Moratoria ............................................................................................................... 52 Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................................ 53 Notes ...................................................................................................................... 55 References .............................................................................................................. 56 Cases Cited ............................................................................................................ 59
The death penalty is an American tradition. In excess of 20,000 people have been lawfully executed on American soil since colonial times, including more than 7000 during the twentieth century (Banner, 2002; Bedau, 1997, p. 3). Thirty-seven states,1 the federal government, and the U.S. military presently authorize capital punishment. At this writing, more than 3300 offenders are under sentence of death (Death Penalty Information Center, 2006; Snell, 2006). Despite the fact that all other Western industrialized countries have abolished the death penalty, the United States has stayed its course (Proctor, 2006-2007).
