This book addresses one of the most controversial issues in the criminal justice system today--the death penalty. Paternoster et al. present a balanced perspective that focuses on both the arguments for and against capital punishment. Coverage draws on legal, historical, philosophical, economic, sociological, and religious points of view. Topics include: * The history of the death penalty in the United States, from the 1600s to today* The changing nature of the death penalty--changes in the types of crimes that warranted the penalty, the procedures employed to put capital offenders on trial, and the methods used to impose death* Constitutional/legal issues surrounding the death penalty* The influence of race on the administration of the death penalty, both in the past and in the present* Justifications for and against the death penalty (retribution, cost, public safety, and religious arguments)* Questions about the execution of innocents, exonerated capital offenders, and flaws in the operation of the death penalty* Public opinion and the death penalty* The death penalty and international law and practice* The future of the death penalty in America