America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way [Hardcover]

John F. Galliher (Author), Larry W. Koch (Author), David Patrick Keys (Author), Teresa J. Guess (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1555535291 | ISBN-13: 978-1555535292 | Publication Date: May 23, 2002

A provocative study, with a new preface, of the abolition of capital punishment in the twelve American states that have outlawed it.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Twelve states and the District of Columbia do not impose the death penalty. The authors, all sociology professors at American universities, use the case-study method to examine why this is so. The factors they consider include murder rates, the history of executions, economic circumstances, public opinion, mass media, population diversity, and each state's abolition of the death penalty. They also examine the role of a state's social, cultural, and economic leaders in public debate on capital punishment. The states studied are Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, and West Virginia, though there is also some discussion of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Media reports and government documents were reviewed and legislators, civil servants, journalists, death-penalty activists, and others interviewed. Throughout, the authors express an abolitionist point of view, stating "We hope this book will provide practical information to those interested in furthering death penalty abolition in the United States and throughout the world." Although there are many other recent books on capital punishment (Stuart Banner's The Death Penalty: An American History and Ivan Solotaroff's The Last Face You'll Ever See: The Private Life of the American Death Penalty), this work makes an interesting, carefully researched and timely addition to death-penalty scholarship. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.
Mary Jane Brustman, Univ. at Albany Libs.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This work makes an interesting, carefully researched and timely addition to death-penalty scholarship. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries." -- Library Journal

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (May 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555535291
• ISBN-13: 978-1555535292
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,145,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David P. Keys was born in Saint Louis, Missouri in March 1955 to Cora Jane and James A. Keys. His father was an officer on the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (1937-1968), rising to the rank of Detective Sergeant and commanding the 3rd District detective squad in the last years of his life. David, his only living son, attended Herman Mehlville Senior High School and was admitted to the University of Missouri-Columbia as a journalism student. He failed miserably in that major, as he did at anthropology, economics, and engineering, until finding a home in the UMC Department of History. At that time the department had litany of fine scholars (e.g. Charles Nauert, Thomas Alexander, Charles Timberlake, Richard Bienvenu, Kirby Miller, Ford Mitchell, Eli Zaretsky to mention a few)who generously nurtured him. The university also maintained the noted continental philosopher Joseph Bien, the brilliant art historian Edzard Baumann, and economist John Kuhlmann who were instrumental in Keys' training. In the late 1970s, in his senior year, Keys left without a degree, worked at odd jobs, held temporary positions of all types, and moved across the country. Returning to the university in 1989, with his wife Janis Burkhardt, Keys resumed his studies taking an AB (History 1990); MA (Sociology 1994); and PhD (Sociology-Criminology 1998), the terminal degree studying with John Galliher, the famous criminologist and death penalty researcher. Keys was subsequently employed by Montana State University, West Texas State University, State University of New York-Plattsburgh (tenured), and New Mexico State University-Las Cruces (tenured) as a criminologist and social psychologist. Beside the little-known "Confronting the Drug Control Establishment" he has co-authored one book on death penalty abolition, another on the controversial sociologist Laud Humphreys, while writing a dozen journal articles on an array of subjects ranging from drug addiction to prison sexuality. He now resides in Las Cruces with Janis Burkhardt. They celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary recently and continue to oppose death sentencing whenever possible.

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The author reveals, August 18, 2002

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David P. Keys (Las Cruces, New Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way (Hardcover)

Northeastern University Press was kind enough to furnish two copies of this book to me and I saw exactly what several reviewers seized upon when they wrote on this collection of essays. Yes, the essays are not very well connected, as more than four people contributed bits and pieces to this work. No, the polish one normally sees in collections of this nature is missing. However, the theme that comes through is that race-class politics have and continue to be a big part of the abolition movement of the death penalty in the United States. Unlike my colleagues, I am a supporter, in theory, of punishing bad people who do terrible things. Unfortunately, executions in the US are undeniably flawed, fraught with corruption, and dependent on the worst sort of UnAmerican bias possible. After viewing my own book, I was again sickened by the evidence that innocent people have met their deaths at the hands of state/federal governments that use my money and do their dirty, incompetent business in my name. Any real American should be outraged by the idea that the greatest system of justice in the world is being undermined by individuals who use executions to pave their personal career paths. When one remembers this, it is truly difficult to worry about a few factual errors or some editorial mistakes. If you are supporting the death penalty in the United States you had better think again-it's a serious mistake. The condemned are not beautiful, heroic, or even innocent, just small people who make very serious mistakes. These people are being executed because they are poor, black, or without influential friends and families. If anyone doubts this just count the number of middle class or rich people on death rows in this country and you will know that abolition is the only possible answer if fair treatment is ever a reality.
(1/03)-If anyone cares, New York is soon to use its capital punishment law for the first time since 1963 where a man will die at the hands of the state. This is no reason to celebrate. It's another example of a politician (Pataki) who has misused his power in taking the lives of the poorest individuals among us. The death penalty in NY has always been a human tragedy, as the state executed 12 teenagers between 1940 and 1960, while taking the lives of dozens of young men under the age of 23. There is no reason to believe that the current political situation in NY would yield different results if the pro-death people are left to their own devices again. (9/04) Thank God NY has come to its senses!