whats new at justice blind

Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice, 3rd Edition, provides a thought-provoking critique of American criminal justice, one aimed at bringing about real-world change in our political and criminal justice agencies. It critically examines criminal justice and media processes including the political and ideological nature of law-making, crime, and terrorism. Other topics include policing, bail and plea bargaining, sentencing, punishment through incarceration and the death penalty, the war on drugs, and the role that race, class, and gender play in criminal justice.

What the reviewers say:

"This text is an excellent example of critical criminology for introductory students. The coverage of current issues is great, and Robinson injects the importance of factors such as politics and the media. The text inspires critical thinking in students!" -- Lisa Anne Zilney, Ph.D Montclair State University

"Robinson provides a rigorous social commentary regarding social institutions and their roles in the criminal law making and criminal justice systems. For example, the media as a player (rather than a reporter) in American criminal justice is new to many students, and this is a challenge that Robinson invites them to consider, with excellent information along the way." -- Demetra Pappas, Seton Hall University

"The book's greatest strength is that it is more than just an introductory text. It explains the[criminal justice] system and is realistically critical of it." -- Gary R. Perlstein, Portland State University

"I like the author's willingness to challenge the conventional wisdom. Critical criminology is crucial to the advancement of the field." -- Joan Crowley, New Mexico State University.

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Death Nation: The Experts Explain American Capital Punishment

By Matthew B. Robinson

Death Nation: The Experts Explain American Capital Punishment illustrates the reality of capital punishment, as it is actually practiced in the United States. Findings from a study of expert opinion of capital punishment are presented, based on a survey of nationally recognized death penalty scholars.

The aim was to determine what scholarly experts think about the death penalty. Does it meet its goals? Is it effective? Is it plagued by any serious problems? Do the experts support it? What is the likely future of capital punishment in the United States?

The book shows that a large majority of capital punishment experts do not support capital punishment, feel that it is ineffective, and think that it is plagued by serious problems that make it unsustainable as a state-sanctioned punishment. That is, experts do not think the death penalty deters murder, prevents murder through an incapacitative effect, or provides justice from crime victims' families or society. They also believe the punishment is biased based on race and social class, and that innocent people are subjected to the punishment. An independent review of the latest empirical evidence supports each of these conclusions.

The book also provides a solid yet brief background on the major issues pertaining to capital punishment in the United States. It examines topics such as the history of the death penalty in America, American death penalty law, justifications for capital punishment, as well as alleged problems with its practice.

The book concludes with a fair assessment of capital punishment in the United States, including both the costs and the benefits. I also offer conclusions from the study and suggest a course of action for changing America's death penalty practice.

The book contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Capital Punishment Facts and History

Chapter 2: Death Penalty Law

Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 4: Justifications for Capital Punishment: Is the Death Penalty Effective?

Chapter 5: Alleged Problems with Capital Punishment: Is the Application of Death

Penalty Plagued by Bias and Error?

Chapter 6: Death Penalty Opinion and the Future of Capital Punishment in America

Main Findings of the Book

Part One: Does capital punishment achieves its goals?

Retribution

Does capital punishment, as actually practiced in the United States, achieve retribution (i.e., provide justice for murder victims, their families, and society at large)?

Yes 31%

No 36%

Unsure 33%

Deterrence

Does capital punishment, as actually practiced in the United States, achieve deterrence (i.e., prevent future murders by causing fear in would-be murderers so that they do not commit murder)?
Yes 9%

No 79%

Unsure 12%

Incapacitation

Does capital punishment, as actually practiced in the United States, achieve incapacitation (i.e., prevent future murders by killing murderers who would murder again)?

Yes 64%

No 24%

Unsure 12%

Summary

Capital punishment experts generally feel as if the death penalty, as actually practiced in the United States, does not meet its goals. First, most experts did not indicate that they thought the death penalty achieves retribution – defined as providing justice for murder victims, their families, and society at large. Second, a very large majority indicated that they thought the death penalty does not achieve deterrence of murder or other crimes. Third, although most capital punishment experts indicated that they thought capital punishment achieves incapacitation, many concluded that the size of the effect was small (do the infrequency with which executions actually occur in America), that the incapacitative effect was not without significant costs (e.g., execution of the innocent), and that incapacitation could be achieved through other means (e.g., life imprisonment without the possibility of parole). Thus, expert opinion suggests that capital punishment does not meet its goals. A review of the empirical evidence strongly supports this conclusion.

Part Two: Is capital punishment plagued by significant problems?

Racial bias

Is American capital punishment plagued by a racial bias of any kind?

Yes 84%

No 7%

Unsure 9%

Class bias

Is American capital punishment plagued by a social class bias of any kind?

Yes 80%

No 4%

Unsure 16%

Gender bias

Is American capital punishment plagued by a gender/sex bias of any kind?

Yes 50%

No 12%

Unsure 38%

Innocence

Is American capital punishment ever used against the innocent?

Yes 76%

No 2%

Unsure 22%

Other problems

In your opinion, are there any other problems (not addressed in the questions above) with the way capital punishment is practiced in the United States?

Yes 80%

No 10%

Unsure 10%

Summary

Capital punishment experts feel as if the application of the death penalty is plagued by significant problems. That is, the experts feel that the death penalty is racially biased, class biased, and to a lesser degree, biased based on gender/sex. Additionally, a clear majority of capital punishment experts also indicated that they thought the death penalty had been used against the innocent. Furthermore, a large majority of capital punishment experts in the study listed other problems with the reality of capital punishment in America, including excessive costs; the length of time it takes to complete the appeals process; problems with jury selection; jury instructions; interpreting how to weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances; the problematic nature of victim impact statements; ineffectiveness of counsel; politics; geographic disparities; a lack of proportionality, judicial, and appeals review; inadequate resources and representation for the poor; the unwillingness of parole boards or governors to grant clemency in deserving cases; improperly being applied when the victim is culpable; the immoral nature of the punishment; inhumane methods of execution; that the reputation of the US is suffering as a result of continuing to utilize capital punishment; and the polarizing nature of the punishment. Therefore, expert opinion suggests that capital punishment provides little benefit to society and is characterized by significant costs such as biases based on race, class, and gender/sex and a significant risk of convicting and/or executing innocent people, among many other problems. A review of the empirical evidence strongly supports this conclusion.

Part Three: Do the experts support capital punishment?

Support or not

Do you believe in capital punishment/the death penalty, or are you opposed to it?

Believe in 9%

Opposed 80%

Unsure 11%

Appropriate punishment for murderers

What is the most appropriate punishment for someone convicted of first-degree murder?

Death sentence 0%

LWOP 37%

Other 63%

Moratorium

Do you personally favor a temporary halt to executions (moratorium) in the United States while the practice of American capital punishment is studied?

Yes 79%

No 14%

Unsure 7%

Abolition

Does capital punishment, as actually practiced in the United States, have problems that are serious enough to make it unacceptable as a government-sanctioned punishment (so that states should permanently stop executing convicted murderers)?

Yes 84%

No 14%

Unsure 2%

Summary

Capital punishment experts generally agreed that capital punishment is a failed policy. It fails to meet its goals and the costs associated with the death penalty vastly outweigh its modest benefits. Thus, the experts are generally opposed to capital punishment and unanimously favor alternatives to capital punishment for convicted first-degree murderers, such as life imprisonment without parole, life imprisonment with the opportunity for parole, and very long prison sentences depending on the nature of the offender and the offense. The rationales offered in defense of alternatives to capital punishment were varied, but tended to revolve around the inability of capital punishment to meet its goals of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation, as well as the numerous problems with the application of the death penalty in the United States.

Capital punishment experts also support a temporary halt to executions (moratorium) in the United States so that the death penalty can be studied, and a permanent end to capital punishment due to problems that were serious enough to make capital punishment “unacceptable as a government-sanctioned punishment.” Their stated rationales were varied but again tended to focus on the ineffectiveness of capital punishment and the very real problems with its application in the United States.

To order, see the web site of Prentice Hall at:

http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0131586939,00.html

Contact the primary author at:

Matthew Robinson, PhD

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC 28608

(828) 262-6560

robinsnmb@appstate.edu

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Lies, Damned Lies and Drug War Statistics

By Matthew B. Robinson and Renee G. Scherlen

“Robinson and Scherlen make a valuable contribution to documenting how the Office of National Drug Control Policy fails to live up to basic standards of accountability and consistency.”

– Ethan Nadelmann, author of Psychoactive Drugs and Harm Reduction, and Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicyalliance.org/)

“Dr. Robinson and Dr. Scherlen have performed a valuable service to our democracy with their meticulous analysis of the White House ONDCP public statements and reports. They have pulled the sheet off what appears to be an official policy of deception using clever and sometimes clumsy attempts at statistical manipulation. This document, at last, gives us a map to the truth.”

– Mike Gray, Author, Drug Crazy, and Chairman, Common Sense for Drug Policy (http://www.csdp.org/)

“‘LIES’ is a thorough indictment of ONDCP. Much of Robinson and Scherlen's analysis reads like prose, revealing the indignation of scientists exposing insidious lies, unaccountable policies and failed objectives -- all supported by federal tax dollars."

– Nora Callahan, November Coalition (http://www.november.org/)

“[I]n a word it is magnificent. While the book is quite thorough, it is also amazingly concise and easy to read ... an excellent job of completely deconstructing and debunking everything the ONDCP claims.”

– Brian Bennett, Former US Intelligence Analyst and author of truth: the Anti-Drugwar (http://www.briancbennett.com/)

Lies, Damned Lies and Drug War Statistics presents a study of seven years (2000-2006) of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Drug Control Strategy which “directs the Nation's anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, a budget, and guidelines for cooperation among Federal, State, and local entities.” The Strategy is the primary mechanism through which the White House and the federal agencies involved in the war on drugs communicate with the American people about the drug war.

The authors were interested in how ONDCP uses statistics to make claims about the nation's drug war, and whether these claims are accurate, honest, transparent, and justifiable. Since ONDCP regularly presents graphs and figures to depict important drug war statistics, the authors critically analyzed how ONDCP chooses to present drug war data visually.

The book offers the methodology and findings of the study, including claims by ONDCP related to its goals of reducing drug use, healing drug users and disrupting drug markets, and reducing costs of drug use & abuse. The authors show the specific ways in which ONDCP inappropriately uses statistical information and visually presents graphical information in order to continue to promote a drug war that consistently has failed to meet its stated policy goals.

The text also provides a brief yet complete background on the major issues pertaining to America's war on drugs. It discusses topics such as the role of ideology and claims-making in drug war policy formation, how to analyze policies such as the drug war, the history of America's drug war at home and abroad, goals of the drug war, agencies that fight the drug war, and the drug war budget.

The authors conclude with a fair assessment of America's drug war, including both the costs and the benefits, and offer conclusions from the study and suggest policy implications of it.

The book contains the following chapters:

Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: About the Drug War
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Claims of Success in Reducing Drug Use
Chapter 5: Claims of Success in Healing America's Drug Users and
Disrupting Drug Markets
Chapter 6: Costs of the Drug War
Chapter 7: A Fair Assessment of the Drug War
Chapter 8: Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

To order, see the web site of the State University of New York Press at:

http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61382

Contact the primary author at:

Matthew Robinson, PhD

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC 28608

(828) 262-6560

robinsnmb@appstate.edu

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