BOOKS: A Life for a Life – The American Debate Over the Death Penalty

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.

(Posted Aug.18, 2009, M. Burkhead, A Life for a Life: The American Debate Over the Death Penalty, McFarland & Co. 2009). See Books and Public Opinion.