Since 1996, death sentences in America have declined more than 60 percent, reversing a generation-long trend toward greater acceptance of capital punishment. In theory, most Americans continue to support the death penalty. But it is no longer seen as a theoretical matter. Prosecutors, judges, and juries across the country have moved in large numbers to give much greater credence to the possibility of mistakes -- mistakes that in this arena are potentially fatal. The discovery of innocence, documented here through painstaking analyses of media coverage and with newly developed methods, has led to historic shifts in public opinion and to a sharp decline in use of the death penalty by juries across the country. A social cascade, starting with legal clinics and innocence projects, has snowballed into a national phenomenon that may spell the end of the death penalty in America.
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"Although a number of writers have discussed the problem and consequences of convicting the innocent and sentencing them to death, the authors of The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence take an interesting and decisively different approach in explaining the current state of the death penalty in the United States."
- Priscilla H. M. Zotti, Law and Politics Review
- Priscilla H. M. Zotti, Law and Politics Review
Book Description
In theory, most Americans continue to support the death penalty. But since 1996, death sentences in America have declined more than 60 percent. The discovery of innocence, and the acknowledgment of fallibility of our justice system, may spell the end of capital punishment in America.
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The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence,
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This review is from: The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence (Paperback)
The book was very informative. The numbers and stats can bog you down a little when reading it, but overall the book has a clear cut thesis which is easily distinguishable through out the book.
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The Power of Innocence and the Death Penalty,
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This review is from: The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence (Paperback)
This book carefully studies and shows the power of the idea of innocence in ending the death penalty.
There are many arguments against the death penalty, and it is troubling to many of us who have opposed it all of our lives that so many people in the USA continue to support it, even as the world has turned against it. However, the idea that the system might execute an innocent person has a particular power to reach people in this country -- a power that is carefully researched in this book. As a new staffer for Witness to Innocence, working with people who served time on Death Row before their innocence was established, I have seen this power face to face. I have seen people have their minds changed as they listen to another human being who was sentenced to death, spent years or even decades on Death Row, and then were proven to be innocent. Anyone reading this book will learn a lot not only about the death penalty, but about public opinion in the US.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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innocence frame, net tone, penalty tone, penalty direction, penalty coverage, anti fairness, innocence movement, weighted attention, social cascade, pro fairness, penalty stories, death penalty sentiment, death penalty debate, blanket clemency, fewer death sentences, death penalty system, penalty arguments, aggregate public opinion, evolutionary frame, homicide levels, fairness dimension, innocence debate, morality frames, standard factor analysis, capital punishment system Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Supreme Court, New York Times, Chronology of Innocence, Governor Ryan, Old Arguments Made New Again, The Shifting Terms of Debate, Houston Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, Houston Police Department, George Ryan, New Jersey, Innocence Project, Kirk Bloodsworth, Oklahoma City, Centurion Ministries, North Carolina, Gallup Murder, Rolando Cruz, Gallup Life, Earl Washington, Eighth Amendment, Chicago Sun-Times, World War, John Muhammad Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
innocence frame, net tone, penalty tone, penalty direction, penalty coverage, anti fairness, innocence movement, weighted attention, social cascade, pro fairness, penalty stories, death penalty sentiment, death penalty debate, blanket clemency, fewer death sentences, death penalty system, penalty arguments, aggregate public opinion, evolutionary frame, homicide levels, fairness dimension, innocence debate, morality frames, standard factor analysis, capital punishment system Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Supreme Court, New York Times, Chronology of Innocence, Governor Ryan, Old Arguments Made New Again, The Shifting Terms of Debate, Houston Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, Houston Police Department, George Ryan, New Jersey, Innocence Project, Kirk Bloodsworth, Oklahoma City, Centurion Ministries, North Carolina, Gallup Murder, Rolando Cruz, Gallup Life, Earl Washington, Eighth Amendment, Chicago Sun-Times, World War, John Muhammad Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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