Cases and Materials on the Death Penalty

On this fourth edition, Nina Rivkind and Steve Shatz, the authors of the previous editions, are joined by two co-authors with extensive death penalty law experience: Sam Kamin and Justin Marceau, professors at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. This edition includes eight principal cases decided since the third edition, including Cullen v. Pinholster, the Supreme Court's leading case on the scope of federal habeas corpus and Glossip v. Gross, the Court's latest decision on execution methods, one that produced a debate among four justices about the constitutionality of the death penalty itself. All notes have been updated to reflect recent case and non-case developments concerning the death penalty, and material has been added on the perspectives of victims' families and prison officials. This casebook is a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the Supreme Court's death penalty jurisprudence. Part I contains background information about the death penalty and the Court';s seminal cases. Part II addresses constitutional challenges to various aspects of death penalty schemes. Part III considers the litigation of a capital case by examining the Court's constitutional decisions regarding the process as a whole and the penalty phase, in particular. Part IV covers issues arising after the death judgment, specifically, those arising on federal habeas corpus review of the death judgment and those concerning the execution itself. Part V reconsiders the death penalty in light of international norms and from the perspectives of victims' families, prison officials who administer the death penalty, and reformers.