Against the Death Penalty

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Review This brilliant opinion challenges every judge in the country to think long and hard about the death penalty and about whether it can any longer be said to serve a system of justice that meets our country's highest ideas.—Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law SchoolI think this case will be remembered more for that dissent than for the decision itself.—Richard Dieter, Death Penalty Information Center in WashingtonAgainst the Death Penalty is an important book in the field, best suited for anyone generally interested in issues related to capital punishment in the US. Highly Recommended.―CHOICE Read more From the Inside Flap Does the Death penalty violate the Constitution?In Against the Death Penalty, Justice Stephen Breyer argues yes, it does: it is carried out unfairly and inconsistently, thus violating the ban on “cruel and unusual punishments” in the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.Against the Death Penalty contains the full text of Justice Breyer’s dissent in the case of Glossip v. Gross, which involved an unsuccessful challenge to the state of Oklahoma’s use of a lethal-injection drug that could cause severe pain. This volume includes an introduction to the case and a history of the challenges to the constitutionality of the death penalty by law professor John D. Bessler.Throughout Against the Death Penalty, Justice Breyer’s legal citations are made accessible by Bessler’s explanatory notes, but the text retains the full force of Breyer’s powerful argument that the time has come for the Supreme Court to revisit the constitutionality of the death penalty.Breyer was joined in his dissent from the bench by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This passionate argument has been cited by many legal experts including the late Justice Antonin Scalia—as signaling an eventual Court ruling striking down the death penalty. Read more See all Editorial Reviews