Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America, 1972-1994 [Hardcover]

Herbert H. Haines (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0195088387 | ISBN-13: 978-0195088380

While most western democracies have renounced the death penalty, capital punishment enjoys vast and growing support in the United States. A significant and vocal minority, however, continues to oppose it. Against Capital Punishment is the first full account of anti-death penalty activism in America during the years since the ten-year moratorium on executions ended.

Building on in-depth interviews with movement leaders and the records of key abolitionist organizations, this work traces the struggle against the pro-death penalty backlash that has steadily gained momentum since the 1970s. It reviews the conservative turn in the courts which, over the last two decades, has forced death penalty opponents to rely less on the litigation strategies that once served them well. It describes their efforts to mount a broad-based educational and political assault on what they see as the most cruel, racist, ineffective, and expensive manifestation of a criminal justice system gone wrong.

Despite the efforts of death-penalty opponents, executions in the United States are on the increase. Against Capital Punishment diagnoses the reasons for the failure to mobilize widespread opposition to executions, and assesses the prospects for opposition to capital punishment in the future of the United States.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Drawing on a variety of methods, data, and theoretical frameworks, Professor Haines skillfully crafts a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the dynamics of the movement to abolish the death penalty in the United States. It is scholarly yet engaging, critical yet sympathetic, and topical yet important. Social movement scholars, criminologists, activists, and other observers will find this first extensive account of anti-death penalty activism since the ten-year moratorium on executions ended captivating and provocative."--Robert D. Benford, University of Nebraska

"Herb Haines tells the compelling recent story of one of the nation's oldest social movements. His tale picks up after organized opposition to the death penalty nearly succeeded in seeing capital punishment abolished in 1972, and it follows the movement's change of direction as hope faded that the U.S. Supreme Court would deliver on its promise to keep the death penalty free of arbitrariness and racial bias, or do away with it. Haines' book presents a uniquely critical but sympathetic appraisal of where the anti-death penalty movement now stands, and what directions it should take."--William J. Bowers, Ph.D., Northeastern University

"Mr. Haines' book is a clearly written and well-informed account of the struggles against the death penalty in America over the last two decades. Reading about the passions and commitment of those opposing executions is bound to give pause to even the closest friends of the executioner."--Michael L. Radelet, University of Florida

"The most important theoretical task in current social movement theory is the integration of organizational and culturalist approaches to movement dynamics. Haines provides us with a model of theoretical syncretism applied to an important empirical case. He makes both the movement's successes and its failures understandable. Against Capital Punishment will no doubt become a standard on social movement bibliographies."- -Rhys H. Williams, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

"Herbert H. Haines's fine book, Against Capital Punishment, is a compelling study of the anti-death penalty movement in America today, a vital but largely unstudied issue. This humane book is a must read for serious students of capital punishment."--Robert Johnson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Justice, Law and Society, American University, and author, Condemned to Die: Life Under Sentence of Death and Death Work: A Study of the Modern Execution Process

About the Author

Herbert H. Haines is Associate Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Cortland. He is the author of Black Radicals and the Civil Rights Mainstream, 1954-1970 (1988), which was selected as an Outstanding Book by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195088387
• ISBN-13: 978-0195088380
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,377,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for death penalty opponents, February 25, 2001

By 

Robert D Peebles (Tulsa, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America, 1972-1994 (Hardcover)

Herbert Haines explores the history of the death penalty abolitionist movement in the United States. He discusses the various strategies and beliefs that have been behind the movement since its inception in this country. After presenting the movement in this historical context, Haines makes sound recommendations for the future of the movement. A very practical and wonderful work.