The death penalty in the Unites States is experiencing what scholars call a “slow death.” In their forthcoming book, “The Slow Death of the Death Penalty: Toward a Postmortem,” editors Todd C. Peppers, Jamie Almallen, and Mary Welek Atwell bring together death penalty experts to examine this shift in the use of capital punishment. New death sentences and executions still occur in a limited number of states; but Peppers et al reflect on the broader trends away from use of the death penalty. They remind that twenty-three states have abolished capital punishment — ten in the last two decades. And public support for the death penalty has plummeted from 80% in the early 1990s to just over 50% today.
The book’s contributors, who include scholars, activists, and attorneys, identify multiple drivers behind this transformation: high-profile cases and rates of wrongful convictions; racial bias in prosecutions; political interference in the clemency process; and mounting economic costs. Essays explore groups such as juveniles and mentally ill defendants; Supreme Court decisions that have narrowed the scope of capital punishment; and research undermining its alleged deterrent effect.
“This highly readable and compelling volume collects the perspectives of frontline visionaries,” notes Brandon L. Garrett, author of “End of Its Rope.” Dale M. Brumfield praises how the essays “rip the lid off” theoretical justification to expose “the true rotting underbelly of America’s death sentencing.”
The Slow Death of the Death Penalty: Toward a Postmortem, Edited by Todd C. Peppers, Mary Welek Atwell, and Jamie Almallen, July 2025.
