A Review Of Death Penalty Caselaw: Future Directions For Program Evaluation

Abstract

The death penalty has been under increasing empirical study since the United States Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia. In recent years the Supreme Court has narrowed both the relevance and applicability of empirical evidence in deciding capital punishment cases. This paper reviews empirical challenges to the death penalty from the perspective of program evaluation. Recent trends in death penalty litigation suggest that the Supreme Court is simply fine-tuning the "death program," focusing on fairness of procedures and deferring the more difficult moral questions to state legislatures.