Abstract

In 1994, Congress established more than sixty new capital crimes with wide public support. Davis argues that, if the U.S. is ever to join the majority of the world in abolishing capital punishment, opponents of the death penalty must make a stronger philosophical case against it. He systematically dissects the arguments in favor of capital punishment and demonstrates why they are philosophically superior to opposing arguments. By connecting the death penalty to a general theory of punishment in which penalties are retributive in proportion to the crime, Davis shows why we must reconceive the entire criminal justice system and address violent crime more successfully before the death penalty can be successfully opposed