Articles

Civil rights litigator and death penalty expert Ronald J. Tabak recently published “The Private Bar’s Efforts to Secure Proper Representation for those Facing Execution” in the Justice System Journal. The article presents an in-depth review of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) role in ensuring effective counsel in capital cases.

A recent article in Time Magazine by Editor-at-large David Von Drehle examines the current state of the death penalty in the United States at a time when the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the most widely used method of execution--lethal injection. Von Drehle writes, “In a perfect world, perhaps, the government wouldn't wait 30 years and several hundred executions to determine whether an execution method makes sense. But the world of capital punishment has never been that sort of place.

A recent Newsweek article by Evan Thomas and Martha Brant compares the historical search for humane methods of execution with the current decline in the use of the death penalty in the U.S.:

The most recent edition of The Angolite, the nation's largest prison news magazine, contains an article detailing national death penalty trends and developments. The piece also highlights the impact of capital punishment on family members and close friends of those facing execution. It notes, "Lost in the shadows of these central arguments is something that defines us human beings: Taking care of our own.

Critical developments in the modern history of capital punishment in the United States are examined through a biographical sketch of Anthony Amsterdam (pictured), one of the nation's most respected death penalty attorneys and legal scholars, in the latest edition of New York University's Law School Magazine. Prof. Amsterdam argued Furman v. Georgia before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, resulting in the overturning of all death penalty laws and the sparing of over 600 inmates on death row.