The death penalty exemplifies the unequal and illogical practices of our out-of-control penal system. The social toll of this form of sentencing is significant. The fiscal costs are also high and are even more difficult to justify in tough economic and fiscal times. There is scant evidence that capital punishment actually deters violent crime and plentiful evidence that it does not. The majority of the world’s nations reject capital punishment. And traditional supporters of capital punishment among the families of homicide victims and law enforcement are questioning whether the money being spent on rare executions is truly worth it.

Partly because of the high stakes involved in capital cases, the process is fraught with controversy. As in other parts of the criminal justice system, death row inmates are disproportionately poor people of color. There is mounting evidence that innocent people have spent years awaiting execution. Many of them have been exonerated, but there is no telling how many more should be. Furthermore, methods of execution are extremely problematic.

Public support for capital punishment appears to be waning, and its use is becoming more restricted and rare. In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the death penalty for minors and the developmentally disabled. All indications are that restrictions on the death penalty are likely to increase in the future.

• To understand the basic controversies related to the death penalty.
• To grasp the decline in the use of the death penalty compared to the death row population.
• To be able to argue either side of the debate about the death penalty as a deterrent and as just deserts.
• To grasp the issue of racial disparity and capital punishment.
• To be able to describe the significance of at least three of the most important legal challenges to the death penalty that have come through the U.S. Supreme Court.
• To be able to name the states that use the death penalty the most and at least two states that have rejected it most recently.     
• To learn about the comparative costs of death row.
• To gain an insight into the dilemma surrounding methods of execution.