Death Penalty Cases: Leading U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Capital Punishment

Death Penalty Cases presents significant verbatim excerpts of death-penalty decisions from the United States Supreme Court. The first chapter introduces the topics discussed throughout the book. It also includes a detailed history of the death penalty in the United States. After this introduction, the remaining eighteen chapters are divided into five parts: Foundational Cases, Death-Eligible Crimes and Persons, The Death Penalty Trial, Post-Conviction Review, and Execution Issues.

The first part, consisting of five chapters, talks about the mandatory death penalty, mitigating evidence and racial bias. The next part covers death-eligible crimes, such as rape and other crimes that do not involve homicide and murder. The middle part presents the trial process, from choosing the appropriate decision-makers through the sentencing decision. Followed by this is a chapter focusing on the aftermath of conviction, such as claims of innocence. The book concludes by exploring issues related to execution, such as not executing insane convicts. Finally, execution methods are presented.

Provides the most recent case material--no need to supplementTopical organization of cases provides a more logical organization for structuring a courseCo-authors with different perspectives on the death penalty assures complete impartiality of the materialProvides the necessary historical background, a clear explanation of the current capital case process, and an impartial description of the controversies surrounding the death penaltyProvides the latest statistics relevant to discussions on the death penaltyClearly explains the different ways in which the states process death penalty cases, with excerpts of the most relevant statutes

1. The Law and the Issues

Section I: Foundational Cases 2. Cruel and Unusual as Applied: Furman v. Georgia 3. Not Inherently Unconstitutional: Gregg v. Georgia 4. Mandatory Death Penalty: Woodson v. North Carolina 5. Mitigating Evidence: Lockett v. Ohio, Jurek v. Texas, Note on Penry and later Texas cases 6. Racial Bias: McCleskey v. Kemp Section II: Death-Eligible Crimes and Persons 7. Rape: Coker v. Georgia 8. Murder: Godfrey v. Georgia 9. Felony-Murder: Enmund v. Florida, Tison v. Arizona 10. The Mentally Retarded and Juveniles: Atkins v. Virginia, Roper v. Simmons 11. Child Rape: Kennedy v. Louisiana

Section III: The Death Penalty Trial 12. Appropriate Decisionmakers: Spaziano v. Florida, Ring v. Arizona 13. Selecting Jurors: Witherspoon v. Illinois, Turner v. Murray, Uttecht v. Brown 14. Victim Impact Evidence: Payne v. Tennessee 15. The Sentencing Decision: McKoy v. North Carolina, Kansas v. Marsh

Section IV: Post-Conviction Review 16. Ineffective Counsel: Strickland v. Washington, Williams v. Taylor 17. Claims of Innocence: Herrera v. Collins, Kansas v. Marsh

Section V: Execution Issues 18. Mental Illness at Execution: Ford v. Wainwright, Panetti v. Quarterman 19. Method of Execution: Baze v. Rees

Appendix A. Facts and Figures on Murder and the Death Penalty B. Selected Death Penalty Statutes