Review and Concept Paper: James R. Acker, Questioning Capital Punishment: Law, Policy, and Practice (Routledge 2014)
Criminal Law Bulletin, 2016
15 Pages Posted: 3 Jan 2017
Date Written: December 27, 2016
Abstract
In January of 2016, the students of the Death Penalty Controversy class at Hartwick College were accorded the opportunity to review the recently published assigned text book, Questioning Capital Punishment: Law, Policy and Practice, (Routledge 2014), by James R. Acker of the University of Albany. Questioning Capital Punishment is a book covering all aspects of the death penalty, from its theories of application to the legal aspects, all the way through jury decisions and the final stages. Organized in three sections, Questioning Capital Punishment covers areas on (1) Theories of punishment, Justifications, and pros and cons of death penalty; (2) Deciding who dies, law and practice of the death penalty; and (3) Post-conviction error issues and the final stages of a death penalty case. This structure allows for an easier understanding of what each chapter proposes, and it facilitates a thorough discussion of the role of the death penalty as a part of the American criminal justice system.
Keywords: Death Penalty
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