Wrongful Death Sentences: Rethinking Justice in Capital Cases
  • 2010/188 pages

Wrongful Death Sentences:

Rethinking Justice in Capital Cases

Cathleen Burnett
Hardcover: $65.00
ISBN: 978-1-58826-716-0
What acts truly deserve the death penalty? And how equitably do we apply this ultimate punishment? Cathleen Burnett explores wrongful capital sentencing to offer a sober yet searing critique of the criminal justice procedures and legal criteria involved.

Highlighting problems such as the elicitation of false confessions, prosecutors who choose to ignore mitigating factors, and Supreme Court decisions that limit appeals, Burnett shows why those accused of capital crimes frequently fail to receive a fair hearing. Her rigorous and measured analysis underscores the crucial importance of the presumption of innocence in our society’s pursuit of justice.
Cathleen Burnett is associate professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is author of Justice Denied: Clemency Appeals in Death Penalty Cases.

Also of interest:
Race and Justice: Wrongful Convictions of African American Men by Marvin Free, Jr. and Mitch Ruesink