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Cruel and unusual punishment : rights and liberties under the law / Joseph A. Melusky and Keith A. Pesto.

By: Contributor(s): Series: America's freedomsPublication details: Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, Inc., c2003.Description: xxiii, 376 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 1576076024 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 345.73/0773 21
LOC classification:
  • KF9227.C2 M42 2003
Contents:
1. Introduction: History -- The Constitution and the Death Penalty -- Voices of the Capital Punishment Debate. 2. Origins and early development: America in the Era before Independence -- The Founding Era -- The Nineteenth Century. 3. Twentieth-century issues: Continuity and Change -- Some Facts -- Philosophy -- Dreams -- From Weems to Furman -- From Furman to Gregg -- After Gregg. 4. Into the twenty-first century: Unresolved and New Issues for the Death Penalty -- Penalties Less Than Death -- Conditions of Confinement. 5. Key people, Cases, and Events.
6. Documents: Code of Hammurabi, c.1780 B.C. -- The Bible, Book of Exodus, The Ten Commandments, c.1300 B.C. -- Code of Draco, c.621 B.C. -- The Magna Carta, June 15, 1215 -- The English Bill of Rights, 1689 -- The American Declaration of Independence, 1776 -- Ordinance of the Northwest Territory, 1787 -- Amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- "Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment," John Stuart Mill, April 21, 1868 -- Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Encyclical of Pope John Paul II, March 25 1995 -- American Bar Association Resolution on the Death Penalty, February 3, 1997 -- Message Supporting the Moratorium on the Death Penalty, the Dalai Lama -- Gregg v. Georgia (1976) -- Woodson v. North Carolina (1976) -- Coker v. Georgia (1977) -- Lockett v. Ohio (1978) -- Enmund v. Florida (1982) -- Solem v. Helm (1983) -- Ford v. Wainwright (1986) -- Tison v. Arizona (1987) -- McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) -- Penry v. Lynaugh (1989) -- Stanford v. Kentucky (1989) -- Harmelin v. Michigan (1991) -- Atkins v. Virginia (2002) -- Ring v. Arizona )2002).
Chronology of Capital Punishment. Table of Cases. Appendix: [Bureau of Justice Summary Findings on Executions and Death Row, 2001 -- Table: Number of People Executed in the United States, 1930-2001 -- Table: Number of Executions by State, 1976-2002 -- Table: Prisoners under Sentence of Death, 1953-2000 -- Table: Prisoners on Death Row by Race, 1968-2000 -- States with the Death Penalty -- Bureau of Justice: Key crime and justice facts -- Table: Public Opinion and the Death Penalty, 1936-1988.]
Summary: Publisher description: In one of the lengthiest, noisiest, and hottest legal debates in U.S. history, Cruel and Unusual Punishment stands out as a levelheaded, even-handed, and thorough analysis of the issue. The U.S. Constitution guarantees us freedom from "cruel and unusual punishment." Yet it allows the state to kill us, imprison us for life, or keep us in solitary confinement for years in the new Supermax prisons. How do we reconcile this contradiction? The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution created one of the nation's most valued freedoms but, at the same time, one of its most persistent controversies. On 184 separate occasions, the Supreme Court attempted to decide what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment." Constitutional scholars Joseph A. Melusky and Judge Keith A. Pesto help readers make sense of the controversy. The authors begin by sketching the context of the debate in a general overview that addresses issues such as excessive bails and fines, and noncapital offenses. But their primary focus is capital punishment. In a detailed, chronologically ordered discussion, they trace the evolving opinion of the nation's highest court from the late 19th century to the present, analyzing issues, arguments, holdings, and outcomes.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-360) and index.

1. Introduction: History -- The Constitution and the Death Penalty -- Voices of the Capital Punishment Debate. 2. Origins and early development: America in the Era before Independence -- The Founding Era -- The Nineteenth Century. 3. Twentieth-century issues: Continuity and Change -- Some Facts -- Philosophy -- Dreams -- From Weems to Furman -- From Furman to Gregg -- After Gregg. 4. Into the twenty-first century: Unresolved and New Issues for the Death Penalty -- Penalties Less Than Death -- Conditions of Confinement. 5. Key people, Cases, and Events.

6. Documents: Code of Hammurabi, c.1780 B.C. -- The Bible, Book of Exodus, The Ten Commandments, c.1300 B.C. -- Code of Draco, c.621 B.C. -- The Magna Carta, June 15, 1215 -- The English Bill of Rights, 1689 -- The American Declaration of Independence, 1776 -- Ordinance of the Northwest Territory, 1787 -- Amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- "Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment," John Stuart Mill, April 21, 1868 -- Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Encyclical of Pope John Paul II, March 25 1995 -- American Bar Association Resolution on the Death Penalty, February 3, 1997 -- Message Supporting the Moratorium on the Death Penalty, the Dalai Lama -- Gregg v. Georgia (1976) -- Woodson v. North Carolina (1976) -- Coker v. Georgia (1977) -- Lockett v. Ohio (1978) -- Enmund v. Florida (1982) -- Solem v. Helm (1983) -- Ford v. Wainwright (1986) -- Tison v. Arizona (1987) -- McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) -- Penry v. Lynaugh (1989) -- Stanford v. Kentucky (1989) -- Harmelin v. Michigan (1991) -- Atkins v. Virginia (2002) -- Ring v. Arizona )2002).

Chronology of Capital Punishment. Table of Cases. Appendix: [Bureau of Justice Summary Findings on Executions and Death Row, 2001 -- Table: Number of People Executed in the United States, 1930-2001 -- Table: Number of Executions by State, 1976-2002 -- Table: Prisoners under Sentence of Death, 1953-2000 -- Table: Prisoners on Death Row by Race, 1968-2000 -- States with the Death Penalty -- Bureau of Justice: Key crime and justice facts -- Table: Public Opinion and the Death Penalty, 1936-1988.]

Publisher description: In one of the lengthiest, noisiest, and hottest legal debates in U.S. history, Cruel and Unusual Punishment stands out as a levelheaded, even-handed, and thorough analysis of the issue. The U.S. Constitution guarantees us freedom from "cruel and unusual punishment." Yet it allows the state to kill us, imprison us for life, or keep us in solitary confinement for years in the new Supermax prisons. How do we reconcile this contradiction? The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution created one of the nation's most valued freedoms but, at the same time, one of its most persistent controversies. On 184 separate occasions, the Supreme Court attempted to decide what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment." Constitutional scholars Joseph A. Melusky and Judge Keith A. Pesto help readers make sense of the controversy. The authors begin by sketching the context of the debate in a general overview that addresses issues such as excessive bails and fines, and noncapital offenses. But their primary focus is capital punishment. In a detailed, chronologically ordered discussion, they trace the evolving opinion of the nation's highest court from the late 19th century to the present, analyzing issues, arguments, holdings, and outcomes.

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