The death penalty in the United States : a complete guide to federal and state laws

The death penalty landscape has changed considerably since the 1998 first edition of this book. For example, six states that had the death penalty--Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York--no longer impose the punishment. Some of the changes set out in this second edition involve discussions of all of the significant cases decided by the United States Supreme Court after 1998, including Roper v. Simmons , 543 U.S. 551 (2005); Atkins v. Virginia , 536 U.S. 304 (2002); Schriro v. Smith , 126 S.Ct. 7 (2005); Harbison v. Bell , 129 S.Ct. 1481 (2009); Holmes v. South Carolina , 126 S.Ct. 1727 (2006); Kansas v. Marsh , 126 S.Ct. 2516 (2006); Ring v. Arizona , 536 U.S. 584 (2002); Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania , 537 U.S. 101 (2003).

This new edition includes 13 new chapters. They cover such topics as capital felon's defense team; habeas corpus, coram nobis and section 1983 proceedings; the Innocence protection act and post-conviction DNA testing; challenging the death sentence under racial justice acts; inhabited American territories; and the costs of capital punishment.

• List of Tables and Boxes p. vii
• Introduction p. 1
• Part I General Considerations
• 1 The Common Law and Capital Punishment p. 5
• 2 The Eighth Amendment and Furman v. Georgia p. 10
• 3 Double Jeopardy and Ex Post Facto p. 29
• 4 Right to Counsel and Right to Remain Silent p. 42
• 5 Capital Felons Defense Team p. 52
• Part II Initiating Capital Prosecutions
• 6 Charging Discretion of a Prosecutor p. 59
• 7 Capital Murder Charging Instruments p. 65
• 8 Death Penalty Notice Requirements p. 74
• 9 Prosecuting a Nontriggerman p. 77
• 10 Foreign Nationals and Capital Punishment p. 84
• Part III Court Proceedings
• 11 Death-Eligible Offenses p. 91
• 12 Determining Guilt Before Penalty Phase Hearing p. 107
• 13 Structure and Nature of Penalty Phase p. 120
• 14 Statutory Aggravating Circumstances p. 135
• 15 Mitigating Circumstances p. 148
• 16 Penalty Phase Burden of Proof p. 160
• Part IV Post-Conviction Proceedings
• 17 Automatic Appellate Review of Death Sentence p. 167
• 18 Habeas Corpus, Coram Nobis and Section 1983 Proceedings p. 184
• 19 The Innocence Protection Act and Post-Conviction DNA Testing p. 200
• 20 Challenging Death Sentence Under Racial Justice Acts p. 205
• Part V Laws Related to Execution
• 21 Barriers to Execution p. 209
• 22 Death Row p. 225
• 23 Witnessing an Execution p. 231
• 24 Execution Methods and Corpse Disposal p. 238
• Part VI Other Capital Punishment Issues
• 25 Military Death Penalty Laws p. 257
• 26 Native Americans and Capital Punishment p. 263
• 27 Inhabited American Territories and Capital Punishment p. 272
• 28 Opposition to Capital Punishment p. 276
• 29 The Costs of Capital Punishment p. 285
• Appendix: State and Federal Death Penalty Laws p. 289
• Glossary of Legal Terms p. 351
• Chapter Notes p. 356
• Bibliography p. 378
• Index p. 383