The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment

Preface ix Acknowledgments xi I. Divergent Trends 1(64) The Peculiar Present of American Capital Punishment 3(13) More Than a Trend: Abolition in the Developed Nations 16(26) The Symbolic Transformation of American Capital Punishment 42(23) II. Explaining the American Difference 65(76) Federalism and Its Discontents 67(22) The Vigilante Tradition and Modern Executions 89(30) The Consequences of Contradictory Values 119(22) III. Capital Punishment in the American Future 141(66) The No-Win 1990s 143(36) The Beginning of the End 179(28) Appendix A: Statistical Materials on Lynchings and Executions 207(6) Appendix B: Reported Frequencies of National Death Penalty Policy, 1980 to 2001 213(14) Appendix C: Death Row and Execution Statistics 227(2) Appendix D: New Survey Analysis Materials 229(8) Appendix E: Justified Killings by Citizens and Police, by State 237(4) Appendix F: Review of Death Penalty Exoneration Data from the Death Penalty Information Center 241(2) References 243(8) Index 251