Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court

Abstract

different analysis. In his discussion of the death penalty, being unable to demonstrate deterrence statistically, Tucker turns to the recent emergence of the 'serial murderer.' These are the murderers, he explains, were previously deterred by the death penalty. In this context, he prefers to have the blame fall elsewhere, and so delivers a blistering attack on those who assert family background plays a role in causing serial murders: Once again the have tried to psychologize and sociologize the whole thing into oblivion. Searching for an explanation of the 'serial murderers,' The New York Times quoted one expert as saying: 'All of them had real difficulties with their mothers early on.' When writing about black mothers, he must have forgotten his rapier-like response to the experts at The New York Times: