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Two notable new death penalty papers

By Douglas A. Berman

These two new papers from SSRN concerning the death penalty look worthy of some attention: Science and the Death Penalty: DNA, Innocence, and the Debate over Capital Punishment in the United States by Jay Aronson & Simon A. Cole Abstract: The death penalty debate in the United States has recently undergone a fundamental shift. The possibility of executing the innocent has emerged as some abolitionists? most salient argument, displacing debates over such issues as fairness, deterrence, and cost. Innocence has managed to move to the fore of the debate in part because of the epistemological certainty attached to one particular kind of postconviction exoneration, one vouched for by the authority of DNA evidence.  We suggest that such rhetorical moves draw upon the epistemic authority of science as lever with which to challenge law?s claims to truth-making authority...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).