This fifth edition of the first true textbook on the death penalty engages the reader with a full account of the arguments and issues surrounding capital punishment. The book begins with the history of the death penalty from colonial to modern times, and then examines the moral and legal arguments for and against capital punishment. It also provides an overview of major Supreme Court decisions and describes the legal process behind the death penalty. In addressing these issues, the author reviews recent developments in death penalty law and procedure, including ramifications of newer case law, such as that regarding using lethal injection as a method of execution. The author’s motivation has been to understand what motivates the "deathquest" of the American people, leading a large percentage of the public to support the death penalty. The book educates readers so that whatever their death penalty positions are, they are informed opinions.

This fourth edition of the first true textbook on the death penalty engages the reader with a full account of the arguments and issues surrounding capital punishment. The book begins with the history of the death penalty from colonial to modern times, and then examines the moral and legal arguments for and against capital punishment. It also provides an overview of major Supreme Court decisions and describes the legal process behind the death penalty. In addressing these issues, the author reviews recent developments in death penalty law and procedure, including ramifications of newer case law, such as that regarding using lethal injection as a method of execution. The author’s motivation has been to understand what motivates the "deathquest" of the American people, leading a large percentage of the public to support the death penalty. The book will educate readers so that whatever their death penalty opinions are, they are informed ones.

A textbook on the death penalty that engages the reader with a full account of the arguments and issues surrounding capital punishment. It begins with the history of the death penalty from colonial to modern times, and then examines the moral and legal arguments for and against capital punishment.

Alien assassin Soltan Gris will stop at nothing to destroy Fleet Officer Jettero Heller and sabotage his mission to save Earth from drowning in its own environmental problems, while, at the same time, he's forced to play husband to two wives and keep up with a teenage nymph. To add to his troubles, Heller has unearthed the long-lost son of Delbert John Rockecenter on a pig farm! A rip-roaring motorboat chase tops off this sixth action-filled installment of intergalactic espionage.

The press called Martin's actions a "crime spree." Already convicted of armed robbery, Martin was facing the death penalty. In less than two weeks the jury would decide his fate. Terrified that his son would be sentenced to die, Phillip did the only thing he felt he could do: in an act of faith and desperation in his garage with the car exhaust running, Phillip made the consummate sacrifice to spare his son the ultimate punishment. Ironically, his suicide presented Martin's with another chance at life; the jury, moved by Martin's loss, spared his life. Phillip's story-like those of the other parents, siblings, children, and cousins chronicled in this book-vividly illustrates the precarious position family members of capital offenders occupy in the criminal justice system. At once outsiders and victims, they live in the shadow of death, crushed by trauma, grief, and helplessness. In this penetrating account of guilt and innocence, shame and triumph, devastating loss and ultimate redemption, the voices of these family members add a new dimension to debates about capital punishment and how communities can prevent and address crime. Restorative justice theory, which views violent crime as an extreme violation of relationships; searches for ways to hold offenders accountable; and meets the needs of victims and communities torn apart by the crime, organizes these narratives and integrates offenders' families into the process of transforming conflict and promoting justice and healing for all. What emerges from hundreds of hours' worth of in-depth interviews with family members of offenders and victims, legal teams, and leaders in the abolition and restorative justice movements is a vision of justice strongly rooted in the social fabric of communities. Showing that forgiveness and recovery are possible in the wake of even the most heinous crimes, while holding victims' stories sacred, this eye-opening book bridges the pain of living in the shadow of death with the possibility of a reparative form of justice. Anyone working with victims, offenders, and their families-from lawyers and social workers to mediators and activists-will find this riveting work indispensable to their efforts.

Part One: After an industrial accident and a profound Near Death Experience in 1966, in which he went through the whole process of dying and where he spoke to Jesus (Yeshua), Dr. MacDonald was given the choice to stay “on the other side” or return to a broken body. He returned to life with the conviction that there was something wrong with the Gospels in the Bible and that he had returned to life to discover what the problem was. He discontinued his theological studies and started on a spiritual quest which took him from Canada to England and around the world, where he did research in Commonwealth Literature and the history of religion. He received his PhD from the University of Leeds in England and completed a successful career as a university professor in Canada. In the 1980’s he discovered a new gospel through the process of what the Tibetan Buddhists call a “terma,” a text hidden in consciousness for many lifetimes till the time came for it to be written in the present. Part One explores the process of discovering the gospel and the implications of the discovery. Kevin Ryerson, one of the chief trance channels in the United States’ confirmed that MacDonald was the reincarnation of Judas Thomas, and that is why he was drawn to tell his story.Part Two:The second part of the book is a gospel, told from the point of view of the Judas Thomas, who is considered in several early Christian writings to be the twin brother of Jesus. This section follows the canonical gospels fairly closely and includes many new teachings by Jesus (Yeshua) as well as an account of the relationship between Judas Thomas and his twin brother which sheds new light on the mission and teachings of Jesus. Many people have found this part of the book has moved them deeply and the Rev. George Parker (retired Anglican priest) reflects the reaction of many members of the clergy and laity when he says, after reading “The Thomas Book,” “the Gospels make sense for the first time in my life.” A number of people have found the teachings and the new account of the actions of Jesus and his disciples so important that they have bought multiple copies of the book for family and friends.

The true story of a woman’s fight for her brother’s life—and her own: “Essential for those interested in the U.S. justice system” (Library Journal). On September 21, 2011, Troy Anthony Davis was put to death by the State of Georgia. Davis’s execution was protested by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, and Pope Benedict XVI, Pres. Jimmy Carter, and fifty-one members of Congress all appealed for clemency. Davis’s older sister, Martina, a former Army flight nurse who had served in the Gulf War, was one of Davis’s strongest advocates—despite the fact that she was battling liver and metastatic breast cancer and died just weeks after her brother’s death by lethal injection. This book, coauthored by Martina and writer Jen Marlowe, tells the intimate story of an ordinary man caught up in an inexorable tragedy. From his childhood in racially charged Savannah; to the confused events that led to the 1989 shooting of a police officer; to Davis’s sudden arrest, conviction, and two-decade fight to prove his innocence, I Am Troy Davis takes us inside a broken legal system where life and death hang in the balance. It is also an inspiring testament to the unbreakable bond of family and the resilience of love, and reminds us that even when you reach the end of justice, voices from across the world can rise together in chorus and proclaim, “I am Troy Davis.” “Martina Correia’s heroic fight to save her brother’s life while battling for her own serves as a powerful testament for activists.” —The Nation “Should be read and cherished.” —Maya Angelou, author and civil rights activist