The Road to Abolition?: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States

Acknowledgments viii; Introduction: Toward and Beyond the Abolition of Capital Punishment 1; Charles Ogletree and Austin Sarat; Part I. Assessing the Prospects for Abolition; 1. The Executioner's Waning Defenses: The Eroding Defense of the Executioner 24; Michael L. Radelet; 2. Blinded by Science on the Road to Abolition? 65; Simon A. Cole and Jay D. Aronson; 3. Abolition in the U.S.A. by 2050: On Political Capital and Ordinary Acts of Resistance 104; Bernard E. Harcourt; 4. The Beginning of the End? 142; Carol S. Steiker and Jordan M. Steiker; 5. Rocked but Still Rolling: The Enduring Institution of Capital Punishment in Historical and Comparative Perspective 204; Michael McCann and David T. Johnson; Part II. For Execution Methods Challenges, The Road to Abolition is Paved with Paradox; 6. For Execution Methods Challenges, The Road to Abolition is Paved with Paradox 264; Deborah W. Denno; 7. Perfect Execution: Abolitionism and the Paradox of Lethal Injection 307; Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn; 8. "No improvement over electrocution or even a bullet": Lethal Injection and the Meaning of Speed and Reliability in the Modern Execution Process 362; Jurgen Martschukat; Part III. Putting the Death Penalty in Context; 9. Torture, War, and Capital Punishment: Linkages and Missed Connections 403; Robin Wagner-Pacifici; 10. Making Difference: Modernity and the Political Dimensions of Death 455; Peter Fitzpatrick; Index; About the Contributors

Harvard Law School

"These essays will be essential reading for any person who wants to be informed about both the present and the future of the institution of capital punishment." Daniel J. Givelber, Northeastern University School of Law