Cases and Materials on the Death Penalty (American Casebook Series)

With 40 death penalty jurisdictions in the United States, over 3,600 people on death row, and increasing public attention to capital punishment, Cases and Materials on the Death Penalty is a timely publication that offers a comprehensive overview of federal constitutional law regarding the death penalty. The casebook, which results from the authors' experience teaching well-received death penalty courses for a decade and their work litigating capital cases on appeal, post-conviction and federal habeas corpus, is divided into five parts. The first part introduces the course with readings designed to foster discussion of the broad moral, social, political and constitutional questions surrounding capital punishment. The second part focuses on the basic requirements for a constitutional death penalty scheme. After this analysis of schematic concerns, the book, in the third part, looks more closely at specific issues that arise in litigating a capital case. The fourth part addresses what happens after a death verdict is rendered -- review in the state courts, federal habeas corpus review, clemency and execution. The final part of the book reconsiders the death penalty from both international and domestic perspectives.