The death penalty: a 25-year retrospective and a perspective on the future

Death penalty law has been transformed dramatically over the last 25 years. By some measures, judicial and legislative initiatives have produced substantial improvements in the administration of capital punishment. By other accounts, changes in death penalty laws have been sorely inadequate to remed...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Acker, James R. 1951- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
Published: 1996
In: Criminal justice review
Year: 1996, Volume: 21, Issue: 2, Pages: 139-160
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
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Summary:Death penalty law has been transformed dramatically over the last 25 years. By some measures, judicial and legislative initiatives have produced substantial improvements in the administration of capital punishment. By other accounts, changes in death penalty laws have been sorely inadequate to remedy basic defects in capital punishment systems. This article reviews the development of death penalty law over the past quarter century. It focuses on the substantive and procedural changes that have occurred in capital punishment jurisprudence since the Supreme Court decided McGautha v. California (1971). After reviewing the watershed rulings of the early and middle 1970s, including Funnan v. Georgia (1972), Gregg v. Georgia (1976), and Woodson v.
ISSN:0734-0168
DOI:10.1177/073401689602100203