Capital Punishment in America

Catalog description

From the colonization of America to the present, over 18,000 individuals have been executed under lawful and/or territorial authority. This course examines the historical, social, ethical, judicial, legislative and political events that have led to the present patchwork approach to executions in the United States. With an eye toward evaluating the continued efficacy of capital punishment in a 21st-century criminal justice system, attention is given to the rationale and justification for executions from legal, social, political and economic points of view.