Review by Choice Review
This is the third collection of essays on the death penalty from Ogletree (Harvard Law School) and Sarat (Amherst College). The essays, organized into three sections, are as compelling in their analyses as those in the first two collections. The first section focuses, as the title indicates, on "Assessing the Prospects for Abolition." In general, the contributors offer guarded optimism that the death penalty may be abolished. Michael Radelet notes that empirical research undermines several key arguments in support of the death penalty, including the reality of innocence and racial bias. Simon Cole and Jay Aronson observe that empirical research may open some people to the need to rethink the legitimacy of the death penalty. Bernard Harcourt presents the case that by the middle of this century, the death penalty may be viewed as not unlike the use of torture; though some "rogue" nations may embrace the death penalty, the civilized world will have rejected it. Carol Steiker and Jordan Steiker argue that the death penalty might end more because of constriction (too costly to implement) than because of outright rejection. Three additional essays examine lethal injection. The index is excellent, and endnotes are substantive. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. M. A. Foley Marywood University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
These ten papers, originally presented in February 2008 at Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, address capital punishment through a variety of lenses, from its endurance nationwide and the rationales advanced in its favor to political issues, methods of execution, the impact of science (especially DNA) on the exoneration of death row inmates, issues relating to the war on terror, and the history of the movement to abolish capital punishment. Excellent bibliographies accompany each paper. The authors are primarily American academics in various disciplines, including criminology, law, sociology, and cultural history, among them such well-known names as Charles Ogletree and Michael Radelet. Apparently, they concur that capital punishment will eventually be abolished. Among recent books on capital punishment that readers may also consider, Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition, edited by Peter Hodgkinson and William Schalbas, offers a more international scope. VERDICT The papers collectively result in a thoughtful discussion that is timely, well written, and deeply relevant to current public policy and law. Highly recommended for those involved in public policy advocacy, for criminal justice scholars, and for university and college students.-Mary Jane Brustman, Univ. at Albany Libs., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Library Journal Review
