In the book, A Life for a Life: The American Debate Over the Death Penalty, author Michael Dow Burkhead, a psychologist who has worked with criminal offenders for 25 years, explores the various trends in public opinion that influence crime prevention efforts, create public policy, and reform criminal law. He examines eight core issues about the use of executions: cruel and unusual punishment, discrimination, deterrence, due process, culpability, scripture, innocence, and justice. The book provides a brief history of capital punishment in the United States from the earliest known execution in1608 to the present time. Additional topics include the regionalization of capital punishment sentences, the spiritual and scriptural debate over the death penalty, the role of DNA evidence in modern death sentences, and the ongoing effects recent court rulings. The appendix includes recent state commission reports on the death penalty from Maryland, California, New Jersey, and Tennessee.
Messages of Life from Death Row features correspondence from Texas death row inmate Roger McGowen to sociologist and writer Pierre Pradervand. McGowen’s letters describe his life on death row and point to flaws in the American criminal justice system, especially the arbitrary nature of the death penalty. The publisher, BookSurge, said the book offers a "unique juxtaposition of carefully selected texts next to the heartfelt and memorable letters written by McGowen ... giv[ing] readers a historical, ethical and pragmatic overview of American criminal justice as well as an inside view of death row in Texas." Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, said, “This book of letters by a Texas death row inmate, who for over twenty years has been claiming his innocence, has a powerful message of unconditional love, dignity and forgiveness. It has already touched and transformed thousands via its French and Dutch versions. I cannot too warmly recommend it.”
A new book by David Dow, The Autobiography of an Execution, captures the author's personal and legal experiences in representing over 100 inmates on death row. The book is a personal memoir of Dow’s encounter with the death penalty system, as he represents defendants and witnesses their executions. Publisher’s Weekly called the book “sobering, gripping and candid." Dahlia Lithwick of Slate said it is "a powerful collage of the life of a death penalty lawyer," in a NY Times book review (Feb. 14, 2010).
A new book by David Oshinsky entitled "Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America" takes a closer look at the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that stopped the death penalty in 1972. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who is the holder of the Jack S. Blanton Chair at the University of Texas and a visiting professor at New York University, discusses the debates and controversy surrounding the case of Furman v. Georgia, including a focus on the issues of racial prejudice and arbitrariness. Austin Sarat called the book "A meticulously researched and elegantly written account by a masterful storyteller.... Filled with striking insights." The book will be published by University Press of Kansas on April 14, 2010.
"Media and Criminal Justice: The CSI Effect," is a new book by Dennis J. Stevens, illustrating how television programs and media coverage affect public perception of criminal justice. The author, who teaches at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College, maintains that television shows like "CSI" can give the false impression that all crimes are easily solved through advanced forensic science. The author also addresses the problem of wrongful convictions, particularly in cases involving the death penalty. He notes that the money spent on the death penalty with all its problems could be used for more effective means of fighting crime. The book is designed for educational use.
A new book authored by Todd Peppers and Laura Trevvett Anderson, "Anatomy of An Execution," follows the story of Douglas Christopher Thomas, a juvenile offender who was executed in Virginia in 2000. Thomas was convicted of a double homicide in 1990 and sentenced to death in 1991. He was one of the last juveniles put to death before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the execution of those under the age of 18 at the time of their crime to be unconstitutional in 2005 (Roper v. Simmons). The authors explore a variety of death penalty issues surrounding the case, including the quality of court-appointed counsel, conditions on death row, and the reasons for excluding the execution of juveniles. The book was published by Northeastern University Press.
Renowned death penalty defense attorney Andrea Lyon's forthcoming book, 
The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates is a book by John Temple about the courageous work of a death penalty defense attorney in the south. Ken Rose is an attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina. He has handled many capital cases, but the focus of this book is his defense of Bo Jones, a mentally handicapped farmhand convicted of a murder that occurred in 1987 and sentenced to death. The case highlights issues such as inadequate defense, mental retardation, mental illness and witness testimony. Based on over four years of behind-the-scenes reporting, The Last Lawyer tells the story of how Rose's work eventually led to the dismissal of all charges against Jones in 2008.
"That Bird Has My Wings" is a new book by Jarvis Jay Masters, an inmate on San Quentin’s death row in California. In this memoir, Masters tells his story from an early life with his heron-addicted mother to an abusive foster home. He describes his escape to the illusory freedom of the streets and through lonely nights spent in bus stations and juvenile homes, and finally to life inside the walls of San Quentin Prison. Using the nub and filler from a ballpoint pen (the only writing instrument allowed him in solitary confinement), Masters chronicles the story of a bright boy who turned to a life of crime, and of a penitent man who embraces Buddhism to find hope. Masters has written this story as a cautionary tale for anyone who might be tempted to follow in his footsteps, and as a plea for understanding about the forgotten members of society. (From publisher's description).