The Road to Abolition?: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States (Charles Hamilton Houston Institute Series on Race and Justice)

At the start of the twenty-first century, America is in the midst of a profound national reconsideration of the death penalty. There has been a dramatic decline in the number of people being sentenced to death as well as executed, exonerations have become common, and the number of states abolishing the death penalty is on the rise. The essays featured in **The Road to Abolition?** track this shift in attitudes toward capital punishment, and consider whether or not the death penalty will ever be abolished in America. The interdisciplinary group of experts gathered by Charles J. Ogletree Jr., and Austin Sarat ask and attempt to answer the hard questions that need to be addressed if the death penalty is to be abolished. Will the death penalty end only to be replaced with life in prison without parole? Will life without the possibility of parole become, in essence, the new death penalty? For abolitionists, might that be a pyrrhic victory? The contributors discuss how the death penalty might be abolished, with particular emphasis on the current debate over lethal injection as a case study on why and how the elimination of certain forms of execution might provide a model for the larger abolition of the death penalty. Contains Scholarly Essays On The Possibility That Capital Punishment Might Be Abolished In The United States In The Twenty-first Century, Discussing The Decline In The Number Of People Being Sentenced To Death, And Exploring The Idea That Life Without Parole Will Replace The Death Penalty In The United States. Introduction : Toward And Beyond The Abolition Of Capital Punishment / Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. And Austin Sarat -- The Executioner's Waning Defenses / Michael L. Radelet -- Blinded By Science On The Road To Abolition? / Simon A. Cole And Jay D. Aronson -- Abolition In The United States By 2050 : On Political Capital And Ordinary Acts Of Resistance / Bernard E. Harcourt -- The Beginning Of The End? / Carol S. Steiker And Jordan M. Steiker -- Rocked But Still Rolling : The Enduring Institution Of Capital Punishment In Historical And Comparative Perspective / Michael Mccann And David T. Johnson -- For Execution Methods Challenges, The Road To Abolition Is Paved With Paradox / Deborah W. Denno -- Perfect Execution : Abolitionism And The Paradox Of Lethal Injection / Timothy V. Kaufman-osborn -- No Improvement Over Electrocution Or Even A Bullet : Lethal Injection And The Meaning Of Speed And Reliability In The Modern Execution Process / Jürgen Martschukat -- Torture, War, And Capital Punishment : Linkages And Missed Connections / Robin Wagner-pacifici -- Making Difference : Modernity And The Political Formations Of Death / Peter Fitzpatrick. Edited By Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., And Austin Sarat. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Introduction : toward and beyond the abolition of capital punishment / Charles Ogletree and Austin Sarat. Pt. I. Assessing the prospects for abolition. The executioner's waning defenses : the eroding defense of the executioner / Michael L. Radelet -- Blinded by science on the road to abolition? / Simon A. Cole and Jay D. Aronson -- Abolition in the U.S.A. by 2050 : on political capital and ordinary acts of resistance / Bernard E. Harcourt -- The beginning of the end? / Carol S. Steiker and Jordan M. Steiker -- Rocked but still rolling : the enduring institution of capital punishment in historical and comparative perspective / Michael McCann and David T. Johnson -- Pt. II. For execution methods challenges, the road to abolition is paved with paradox. For execution methods challenges, the road to abolition is paved with paradox / Deborah W. Denno -- Perfect execution : abolitionism and the paradox of lethal injection / Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn -- No improvement over electrocution or even a bullet? : lethal injection and the meaning of speed and reliability in the modern execution process / Jürgen Martschukat -- Pt. III. Putting the death penalty in context. Torture, war, and capital punishment : linkages and missed connections / Robin Wagner-Pacifici -- Making difference : modernity and the political dimensions of death / Peter Fitzpatrick