capital punishment

Studies the legal issues associated with "Furman versus Georgia," the Supreme Court case that resulted in the abolishment of most of the capital punishment laws in the United States in 1972.

"... students will examine the events leading up to the Eighth Amendment's creation, how it has been defined throughout the centuries, and how it is interpreted today"--Provided by publisher.

Traces the history of the death penalty in the United States, focusing on the state of Texas. Profiles those personally involved with the death penalty, including a prosecutor-turned-judge, a lawyer, death row prisoners and their families, the families of victims, and executioners.

Examines how slaves were treated in colonial America, and how laws and attitudes about the institution of slavery changed prior to the American Revolution and the establishment of the United States.

Capital Punishment examines all aspects of capital punishment in the United States. It discusses the history behind the death penalty in the United States and varying opinions about the ethics of capital punishment.

In their own voices, raw and uncensored, inmates sentenced to death as teenagers talk about their lives in prison, and share their thoughts and feelings about how they ended up there.

Contains over twenty essays in which various authors examine topics related to capital punishment, discussing the administration of the death penalty, innocents on death row, and other issues.

Sister Helen Prejean's story of her encounter with the death penalty in America.

"Readers will explore the history, significance, and controversy surrounding the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel or unusual punishment. Primary sources, sidebars, and compelling stories, demonstrate how the amendment protects, and potentially harms, criminals. Historic and present-day examples of long-standing debates about the amendment's controversial cruel and unusual clause further illustrate the amendment's importance"--Provided by publisher.

Despite human rights organizations' and the United Nations' calls to end the death penalty, the United States continues to use it, placing it in an unusual grouping with China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, among others. Yet, a 2018 Pew Poll reflected that most Americans still support capital punishment. This Times anthology includes over a century of perspectives on the subject, covering the advent of the electric chair and lethal injection, Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment's constitutionality, and today's renewed challenges to the death penalty in light of racial disparities in sentencing. Media literacy questions and terms will challenge readers to further analyze reporting styles, devices, and the controversial subject of the death penalty.