The Death Penalty, Third Edition, brings together all the legal issues related to the death penalty and provides case briefs for the most important United States Supreme Court death penalty cases. No other book available brings together a discussion of the major constitutional issues surrounding the death penalty with a broad array of associated case briefs. The authors classify cases according to legal issues and provide a commentary on the various sub-topics, presenting legal materials in an easily understood form. Though the primary audiences of the book are undergraduates in criminal justice programs and practitioners in the corrections and justice systems, the book will also prove useful to anyone who has an interest in the death penalty, the criminal justice system, or the United States Constitution. Every chapter starts with commentaries regarding general case law in a sub-topic, such as aggravating and mitigating factors, followed by a chart of the cases briefed in the chapter, and then the case briefs. These case briefs acquaint the reader with Supreme Court cases by summarizing facts, issues, reasons, and holdings. The Death Penalty, Third Edition , is a succinct, trusted guide to the law of capital punishment in the United States.

"Top Ten" Most Significant Death Penalty Cases 1. The Death Penalty: Past and Present 2. The Foundation Cases: Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia 3. Racial Discrimination and the Death Penalty 4. The Mentally Impaired and the Death Penalty 5. Death Penalty for Juveniles 6. Juries, Jurors, and the Death Penalty 7. The Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel and the Death Penalty 8. Due Process and the Death Penalty 9. Aggravating and Mitigating Factors in Death Penalty Cases 10. Appeals, Habeas Corpus, and the Death Penalty 11. Evolving Standards of Decency and the Eighth Amendment's Ban on Cruel and Unusual Punishment 12. Other Issues, Trends, and the Future of the Death Penalty