America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way Review
Northeastern University Press was kind enough to furnish two copies of this book to me and I saw exactly what several reviewers seized upon when they wrote on this collection of essays. Yes, the essays are not very well connected, as more than four people contributed bits and pieces to this work. No, the polish one normally sees in collections of this nature is missing. However, the theme that comes through is that race-class politics have and continue to be a big part of the abolition movement of the death penalty in the United States. Unlike my colleagues, I am a supporter, in theory, of punishing bad people who do terrible things. Unfortunately, executions in the US are undeniably flawed, fraught with corruption, and dependent on the worst sort of UnAmerican bias possible. After viewing my own book, I was again sickened by the evidence that innocent people have met their deaths at the hands of state/federal governments that use my money and do their dirty, incompetent business in my name. Any real American should be outraged by the idea that the greatest system of justice in the world is being undermined by individuals who use executions to pave their personal career paths. When one remembers this, it is truly difficult to worry about a few factual errors or some editorial mistakes. If you are supporting the death penalty in the United States you had better think again-it's a serious mistake. The condemned are not beautiful, heroic, or even innocent, just small people who make very serious mistakes. These people are being executed because they are poor, black, or without influential friends and families. If anyone doubts this just count the number of middle class or rich people on death rows in this country and you will know that abolition is the only possible answer if fair treatment is ever a reality.
(1/03)-If anyone cares, New York is soon to use its capital punishment law for the first time since 1963 where a man will die at the hands of the state. This is no reason to celebrate. It's another example of a politician (Pataki) who has misused his power in taking the lives of the poorest individuals among us. The death penalty in NY has always been a human tragedy, as the state executed 12 teenagers between 1940 and 1960, while taking the lives of dozens of young men under the age of 23. There is no reason to believe that the current political situation in NY would yield different results if the pro-death people are left to their own devices again. (9/04) Thank God NY has come to its senses!
America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way Overview
In 2000, Governor George Ryan of Illinois, a Republican and a supporter of the death penalty, declared a moratorium on executions in his state. In 2003 he commuted the death sentences of all Illinois prisoners on death row. Ryan contended that the application of the death penalty in Illinois had been arbitrary and unfair, and he ignited a new round of debate over the appropriateness of execution. Nationwide surveys indicate that the number of Americans who favor the death penalty is declining. As the struggle over capital punishment rages on, twelve states and the District of Columbia have taken bold measures to eliminate the practice. This landmark study is the first to examine the history and motivations of those jurisdictions that abolished capital punishment and have resisted the move to reinstate death penalty statutes.
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