| Preface to the Second Edition | xi |
| 1 | Capital Punishment in Context | 1 |
| Why Death? | 2 |
| Controlling the "Uncontrollable Brutes" | 3 |
| Deterrence | 5 |
| A Sense of Justice | 6 |
| Keeping Order | 9 |
| The Origins of Capital Punishment | 11 |
| Class Distinctions | 13 |
| Killing Machines: Methods of Execution in England and Europe | 13 |
| The American Colonies | 15 |
| The Early United States | 16 |
| Elsewhere | 19 |
| Conclusion | 21 |
| 2 | Problems and Controversies | 25 |
| The Question of Deterrence | 26 |
| Does the Death Penalty Encourage Crime? | 30 |
| Is the Death Penalty Needed to Protect Society from Those Who Would Kill Again? | 33 |
| Is Life-without-the-Possibility-of-Parole an Effective Alternative to the Death Penalty? | 35 |
| Does the Death Penalty Mean Fewer Convictions? | 36 |
| The Question of Cost | 37 |
| Does the Death Penalty Violate (or Uphold) the Sanctity of Human Life? | 40 |
| Is Death the Ultimate Punishment? | 42 |
| Hope | 43 |
| Private Vengeance/Public Retribution | 44 |
| Questions of Fairness | 47 |
| The Indigent | 47 |
| Race | 48 |
| Underrepresented Groups | 52 |
| Summary | 52 |
| Inconsistency | 52 |
| Shame and Excitement--the Public's Response | 55 |
| The Risk of Mistake | 58 |
| Clemency: The Potential for Mercy | 62 |
| "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" | 64 |
| Brutalization | 66 |
| Executing the Incompetent | 68 |
| The Mentally Ill | 68 |
| The Young | 69 |
| The Retarded | 71 |
| Judeo-Christian Beliefs | 72 |
| The Political Question | 75 |
| Life Imprisonment | 75 |
| Rehabilitation | 76 |
| Improved Law Enforcement | 77 |
| Summary | 78 |
| 3 | The International Perspective | 87 |
| The World Divided | 87 |
| Religious Influence on National and International Attitudes toward the Death Penalty | 90 |
| Legitimacy of the Death Penalty in the Modern World | 95 |
| Binding Treaties | 97 |
| Near Unanimity on the Execution of Juveniles | 99 |
| International Pressures | 100 |
| 4 | Chronology | 107 |
| 5 | People and Events | 157 |
| People | 158 |
| Anthony Guy Amsterdam (1935-) | 158 |
| Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) | 159 |
| Hugo Adam Bedau (1926-) | 161 |
| Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) | 161 |
| Walter Berns (1919-) | 162 |
| Marvin H. Bovee (1827-1888) | 163 |
| William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (1906-1997) | 163 |
| Rev. George Cheever (1807-1890) | 165 |
| Newton M. Curtis (1835-1910) | 167 |
| George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864) | 168 |
| Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) | 169 |
| Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) | 170 |
| Rev. Joe Ingle (1948-) | 171 |
| Jack Ketch (?-1686) | 172 |
| Lewis E. Lawes (1883-1947) | 173 |
| Edward Livingston (1764-1836) | 174 |
| Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) | 174 |
| Albert Pierrepoint (1905-1992) | 176 |
| William Hubbs Rehnquist (1924-) | 177 |
| Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818) | 178 |
| Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) | 179 |
| Harvey Schwartzchild (1926-) | 180 |
| Potter Stewart (1915-1985) | 181 |
| Events | 182 |
| A Plea for the Lives of the Notorious "Thrill" Killers Leopold and Loeb | 182 |
| The Futile Struggle of Caryl Chessman (1920-1960) | 186 |
| The Trial and Execution of Sacco and Vanzetti | 188 |
| Gary Mark Gilmore Gets His Wish (1940-1977) | 190 |
| 6 | Facts and Statistics | 193 |
| Key Death Penalty Decisions of the United States Supreme Court | 193 |
| Common Contemporary Methods of Execution | 199 |
| Shooting | 199 |
| Hanging | 200 |
| Gas | 200 |
| Electrocution | 200 |
| Lethal Injection | 201 |
| Less Commonly Used Methods of Execution | 201 |
| Stoning | 201 |
| Beheading or Decapitation | 202 |
| Ancient Methods of Execution | 202 |
| Crucifixion | 202 |
| Burning | 203 |
| Breaking on the Wheel | 203 |
| Drawing and Quartering | 203 |
| Peine forte et dure | 204 |
| Garrotting | 204 |
| Other Historical Methods | 205 |
| Tables and Figures | 206 |
| 7 | Documents | 229 |
| A Nineteenth-Century Execution by Guillotine | 229 |
| Excerpt from Pope John Paul II's Encyclical Letter, On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life | 233 |
| The U.S. Supreme Court Allows the Resumption of Executions | 237 |
| A Justice Dissents | 259 |
| European Parliament Resolution on the Death Penalty | 264 |
| South Africa Abolishes the Death Penalty | 267 |
| The European Union Explains Its Views to a Friend | 286 |
| 8 | Organizations | 295 |
| Selected Organizations Based in the United States | 295 |
| Selected Oranizations Based Abroad | 303 |
| 9 | Print and Nonprint Resources | 307 |
| Books | 307 |
| Pamphlets and Monographs | 324 |
| Print Articles and Reports | 325 |
| Videos | 330 |
| Selected General Information Web Sites | 337 |
| Abolitionist Web Sites | 338 |
| Selected Abolitionist Web Sites (State Specific) | 340 |
| Retentionist Web Sites | 341 |
| Selected Web Sites Devoted to Specific Cases or to Material by Inmates | 342 |
| Selected Web-Site Articles and Essays | 343 |
| Glossary | 347 |
| Index | 355 |
| About the Author | 369 |
