Description: 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.
Review Quotes: "Yost...has written a brilliant analysis of philosophical arguments for and against the death penalty...This is a seminal, comprehensive treatment of the capital punishment...Essential." -- CHOICE
"Benjamin S. Yost has written a meticulously researched and tightly argued treatment of the morality of executionâYost's book is the most powerful treatment of the procedural argument against execution in the scholarly literature. Its intricate arguments richly repay close study. In light of the injustice of capital punishment, we can only hope that Yost's arguments will serve as potent intellectual ammunition for the righteous citizens fighting tirelessly for abolition. I recommend the book wholeheartedly." -- Notre Dame Philosphical Reviews "Drawing on a variety of methods, data, and theoretical frameworks, Professor Haines skillfully crafts a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the dynamics of the movement to abolish the death penalty in the United States. It is scholarly yet engaging, critical yet sympathetic, and topical yet important. Social movement scholars, criminologists, activists, and other observers will find this first extensive account of anti-death penalty activism since the ten-year moratorium on executions ended captivating and provocative."--Robert D. Benford, University of Nebraska"Herb Haines tells the compelling recent story of one of the nation's oldest social movements. His tale picks up after organized opposition to the death penalty nearly succeeded in seeing capital punishment abolished in 1972, and it follows the movement's change of direction as hope faded that the U.S. Supreme Court would deliver on its promise to keep the death penalty free of arbitrariness and racial bias, or do away with it. Haines' book presents a uniquely critical but sympathetic appraisal of where the anti-death penalty movement now stands, and what directions it should take."--William J. Bowers, Ph.D., Northeastern University"Mr. Haines' book is a clearly written and well-informed account of the struggles against the death penalty in America over the last two decades. Reading about the passions and commitment of those opposing executions is bound to give pause to even the closest friends of the executioner."--Michael L. Radelet, University of Florida"The most important theoretical task in current social movement theory is the integration of organizational and culturalist approaches to movement dynamics. Haines provides us with a model of theoretical syncretism applied to an important empirical case. He makes both the movement's successes and its failures understandable. Against Capital Punishment will no doubt become a standard on social movement bibliographies."- -Rhys H. Williams, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale"Herbert H. Haines's fine book, Against Capital Punishment, is a compelling study of the anti-death penalty movement in America today, a vital but largely unstudied issue. This humane book is a must read for serious students of capital punishment."--Robert Johnson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Justice, Law and Society, American University, and author, Condemned to Die: Life Under Sentence of Death and Death Work: A Study of the Modern Execution Process