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.

(D. Oshinsky, “Capital Punishment On Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America,” University Press of Kansas, April 14, 2010). See Books and Supreme Court.