Cruel & unusual : the American death penalty and the founders' Eighth Amendment
Buy online ($)
Type
Book
Authors
ISBN 10
1555537162
ISBN 13
9781555537166
DDC
345.73
Category
American Law
[ Browse Items ]
Publication Year
2012
Publisher
Pages
464
Subject
American Constitutional Law
Tags
Abstract
The conventional wisdom is that the founders were avid death penalty supporters. In this fascinating and insightful examination of America's Eighth Amendment, law professor John D. Bessler explodes this myth and shows the founders' conflicting and ambivalent views on capital punishment. Cruel and Unusual takes the reader back in time to show how the indiscriminate use of executions gave way to a more enlightened approach--one that has been evolving ever since. While shedding important new light on the U.S. Constitution's "cruel and unusual punishments" clause, Bessler explores the influence of Cesare Beccaria's essay, On Crimes and Punishments, on the Founders' views, and the transformative properties of the Fourteenth Amendment, which made the Bill of Rights applicable to the states. After critiquing the U.S. Supreme Court's existing case law, this essential volume argues that America's death penalty--a vestige of a bygone era in which ear cropping and other gruesome corporal punishments were thought acceptable--should be declared unconstitutional. -- Publisher description.
Description
Content:
In cold blood -- On crimes and punishments -- The abolitionists -- America's founding fathers -- The Eighth Amendment -- Capital punishment in America -- The road to abolition.
In cold blood -- On crimes and punishments -- The abolitionists -- America's founding fathers -- The Eighth Amendment -- Capital punishment in America -- The road to abolition.
Biblio Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-415) and index.
Number of Copies
1
Library | Accession‎ No | Call No | Copy No | Edition | Location | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Main | 1935 | USA CON BESSLER 2012 | 1 | Yes |