The death penalty : a worldwide perspective.
This volume assesses the global status of capital punishment at the start of the new millennium. It explores the changes that have taken place.
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford :
Oxford University Press,
2008.
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| Edition: | 4th rev. and expanded ed. / |
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- Introduction. Sources of information ; Plan of the book ; The approach taken towards capital punishment
- 1. The abolitionist movement : progress and prospects. The pace of abolition ; Generating the new wave of abolition ; What prospects for international acceptance or rejection of capital punishment?
- 2. In the vanguard of abolition. Western Europe and Australasia : death penalty free zones ; Eastern Europe : embracing abolition ; States of the former Soviet Union : from moratoria to abolition de jure ; South and Central America : long-term supporters of abolition
- 3. Where capital punishment remains contested. The Middle East and North Africa : cracks in the bastion? ; Africa South of the Sahara : resistance to abolition crumbling? ; Asia and the Pacific : opening up the issue ; The Caribbean : colonial legacies ; North America : faltering support
- 4. The scope of capital punishment in law. Offences punishable by death ; The scale of death sentences and executions
- 5. The death penalty in reality : the process of execution and the death row experience. Executing those found to be guilty ; Under sentence of death ; Conclusion
- 6. Excluding the vulnerable from capital punishment. Juvenile defendants ; The question of the aged ; The exemption of pregnant women ; The status of the mentally retarded ; Protection of the insane and severely mentally ill ; Conclusion
- 7. Protecting the accused and ensuring due process. International standards ; Ensuring a fair trial ; The right to appeal ; The right to seek a pardon, clemency, or commutation of sentence ; Finality of judgment : awaiting the outcome of legal proceedings ; Wrongful convictions and innocent persons exonerated ; Conclusions
- 8. Deciding who should die : problems of inequity, arbitrariness, and racial discrimination. Mandatory or discretionary? ; Legal analyses : the American experience ; Criminological investigations ; Policy implications
- 9. The question of deterrence. Reliance on the deterrent justification ; Conceptual issues : the need for clarification ; General deterrence in context ; Assessing homicide trends ; The comparative method ; Measuring the immediate impact ; The econometric model ; Methodological problems in measuring the deterrent effect ; Implications for policy
- 10. A question of opinion or a question of principle? Public opinion and the politics of abolition ; The nature of public opinion ; Changing public opinion ; Abolition and its effect on public opinion ; The impact of victims' advocates on support for the death penalty ; A question of principle
- 11. The challenge of a suitable replacement. The nature of the challenge ; The range of alternative penalties ; The ascendancy of life without parole in America ; Life without hope : the new challenge to human dignity ; Conditions of confinement ; The challenge of sentencing juveniles convicted of murder ; Implications for policy
- Appendices. Lists of retentionist and abolitionist countries ; Ratification of international treaties ; International instruments.