Deadly Justice

“Baumgartner et al. question whether the death penalty as it is practiced today meets the standards for constitutional legitimacy imposed in Furman. Baumgartner et al. address every empirical issue relevant to that question, ranging from the process by which capital punishment is meted out in jurisdictions, to which crimes in which jurisdictions merit the death penalty, to how often persons are exonerated from death row. They also provide extensive statisticalevidence of differences in execution rates according to race and gender, and consider the evidence of whether the death penalty deters crime. This excellent volume is essential reading for anyoneinterested in the constitutionality of the death penalty.” – CHOICE”Overall, the work contains much good information and some valuable insights. I was especially intrigued with the way the authors framed the difference between Furman and Gregg. They noted that in the former case the Court ruled based on plentiful evidence and experience with how the system actually worked. In Gregg, they were ruling prospectively-based on untested proposals about how the system might be improved. One decision was based on empirical evidence;the other on theory. Baumgartner, et. al. have given us some useful tools to measure the success of that theory.” - Mary Welek Atwell, Professor Emerita of Criminal Justice, Radford University

FB: Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina; author of many books for Princeton UP and the U of Chicago PressMW: Student, UNCKJ: Student, UNCAK: Student, UNCCW: Student, UNC