The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies (Oxford Paperbacks)

Death penalty abolitionists will find much to like about The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies. Editor Hugo Adam Bedau makes his bias plain in the preface: "I ... am opposed to the death penalty in all its forms, no matter how awful the crime or how savage the criminal." Other than a token mid-1980s essay from Ernest van den Haag, then, the thrust of this collection is decidedly anti-death penalty. As such, it is a useful compendium of the abolitionist viewpoint, and its extensive bibliography will serve anyone as a starting point for research on the subject. The book also contains excerpts from important Supreme Court opinions and laws on the subject. Those of a quantitative bent will be frustrated by the argumentation and the short shrift it gives to the work of Isaac Ehrlich, who demonstrated the deterrent value of the death penalty. But those interested in an exhaustive survey of the arguments against all components of the death penalty will find this a must-have volume. --Ted Frank