A wild justice
Subtitle: the death and resurrection of capital punishment in America
By: Evan J. Mandery
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 534
ISBN-13: 9780393239584
Subjects: Capital punishment; History
Description: "Drawing on never-before-published original source detail, the epic story of two of the most consequential, and largely forgotten, moments in Supreme Court history. For two hundred years, the constitutionality of capital punishment had been axiomatic. But in 1962, Justice Arthur Goldberg and his clerk Alan Dershowitz dared to suggest otherwise, launching an underfunded band of civil rights attorneys on a quixotic crusade. In 1972, in a most unlikely victory, the Supreme Court struck down Georgia's death penalty law in Furman v. Georgia. Though the decision had sharply divided the justices, nearly everyone, including the justices themselves, believed Furman would mean the end of executions in America. Instead, states responded with a swift and decisive showing of support for capital punishment. As anxiety about crime rose and public approval of the Supreme Court declined, the stage was set in 1976 for Gregg v. Georgia, in which the Court dramatically reversed direction. A Wild Justice is an extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at the Court, the justices, and the political complexities of one of the most racially charged and morally vexing issues of our time."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: An audacious idea, 1963-1971. An audacious idea ; The most important law firm in America ; Surcease of sorrow ; A near knockout ; To license a laundry, to license a life; title: Death, 1971-1972. Young lawyers ; Boiling in oil ; Nine law firms ; Whizzer ; Lightning bolts ; A red-letter day; title: Resurrection. 1972-1976. Sobering up ; Behind the backlash ; Proving deterrence and rationality ; The lion in winter ; The sausage factory ; Taking stock ; The main event ; The center in control ; Postscript: what might have been; title: Glossary of key cases.