Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America, 1972-1994

by Herbert H. Haines

Built on in-depth interviews with movement leaders and the records of key abolitionist organizations, this work traces the struggle against capital punishment in the United States since 1972. Haines reviews the legal battles that led to the short-lived suspension of the death penalty and examines the subsequent conservative turn in the courts that has forced death penalty opponents to rely less on litigation strategies and more on political action. Employing social movement theory, he diagnoses the causes of the anti-death penalty movement's inability to mobilize widespread opposition to executions, and he makes pointed recommendations for improving its effectiveness. For this edition Haines has included a new Afterword in which he summarizes developments in the movement since 1994.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the ONLY book, to my knowledge, that extensively examines the anti-death penalty movement in the US since the founding of the country. As an anti-death penalty activist, it was very rewarding to be able to have such a clearly written, exhaustive treatise on the subject. Haines' scholarship on the issue was superb, presenting the movement's history, social movement/organizational characteristics, the internal debates, the jurisprudence, challenges and future directions. He provides in-depth interviews with key actors in addition to his legal/historical discussion. While an academic work, it wasn't dry, although I suspect those without a deep abiding interest will be uninterested by the internal debates he documents. For me, it is a treasure trove of information, and he was remarkably predictive as to where the movement was going. I do hope he writes more on the issues (as 1994 was 20 years ago!) The reason why I could not give it five stars was because I disagreed so profoundly with his diagnosis of how the movement should proceed.