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.
Contents
1 Introduction to the Elgar Companion to Capital Punishment and Society 1
Benjamin Fleury-Steiner and Austin Sarat
PART I INFLUENCES
2 The case against the American death penalty 7
Evan Mandery
3 The case for capital punishment 17
Joseph M. Bessette and Edward Feser
4 The cultural rhetoric of capital punishment in Colonial America through
the early Republic, 1641–1792 31
John Cyril Barton
5 Public opinion and capital punishment in the United States 48
Cheryl Lero Jonson, William Andrew Stadler and Brooke Miller Gialopsos
6 Capital punishment and the constitution 62
Carol S. Steiker and Jordan M. Steiker
7 The death penalty as an international human rights concern:
developments and challenges 73
Sangmin Bae
PART II PROCESSES
8 Capital trials: individualized sentences and generalized biases 88
Sarah Beth Kaufman
9 Capital defense attorneys 102
Maya Pagni Barak and Jon B. Gould
10 Juries in capital cases 114
Valerie Hans and Amelia Hritz
11 Appellate and post-conviction remedies in death cases 127
David R. Dow
12 Six US execution methods and the disastrous quest for humaneness 137
Deborah W. Denno
PART III OUTCOMES
13 Race and the death penalty 159
Diann Rust-Tierney, Barbara O’Brien and Catherine M. Grosso
14 Wrong-person error in capital cases 171
James S. Liebman
15 Death row exonerations: a scoping review 190
Amy Shlosberg, Valli Rajah, Michael Horahan and Júlia Malheiros
16 Comparing life without parole to the death penalty 208
Christopher Seeds
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? 222
Mohamed ‘Arafa
18 The death penalty in Botswana and Zimbabwe: a comparative historical
analysis 235
Andrew Novak
19 The death penalty in the People’s Republic of China 249
Bin Liang and Jinzhou Wang
20 Capital punishment in Japan 265
Viviana Andreescu
21 Capital punishment in the Philippines 275
David T. Johnson
22 Capital punishment in Vietnam 287
Hai Thanh Luong
23 Capital punishment in Great Britain 293
Lizzie Seal
24 Capital punishment in Germany 307
Birte Christ
25 The death penalty in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe 318
Agata Fijalkowski
26 Capital punishment in Ireland 331
David M. Doyle and Lynsey Black
27 The history of the death penalty and its abolition in Mexico 342
Patrick Timmons
28 The death penalty in Iran 356
William Schabas
29 The shadow of the death penalty in Israel: constructing enemies,
citizens, and victims 368
Smadar Ben-Natan
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