Going, Going, Gone
Going, Going, Gone
The Death of Capital Punishment in the 21st Century
This chapter explores the diminishing use of the death penalty in the United States in the modern era. During the early 1800s, executions were practically celebrations, with merchants selling souvenirs and alcohol to thousands of onlookers. Such spectacles, which often included cursing at the widow and tearing down the scaffold and cutting the rope, prompted states to require private hangings. By the middle of the century, a majority had determined that executions were bringing out the worst in its citizenry. Despite excessive costs, bad lawyering, discrimination, procedural mistakes, and horrifyingly botched killings, execution in the United States persists—for now. Although 60% of the states and the federal government continue to maintain the policy, only a small percentage of states are actively pursuing executions.
Keywords: arbitrariness, botched execution, compounding pharmacy, exoneration, false confession
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
