The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado. Timberline Book Series. By Michael L. Radelet. Forewords by Sister Helen Prejean and Stephen Leonard
2017; Oxford University Press; Volume: 48; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/whq/whx044
ISSN1939-8603
Autores Tópico(s)Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
ResumoThe State of Colorado—the Centennial State—is known for its majestic Rocky Mountains, hiking trails, columbine, western spirit, ranchers, cowboys, and rodeos. In The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, the internationally renowned sociologist Michael Radelet effectively lassos the past and present state of affairs as regards a centuries-old practice—capital punishment—in his home state. His subjects: the use of the noose from pre-territorial days through statehood, Colorado’s transition to the gas chamber then lethal injection, the abolition movement, and the current de facto moratorium on executions, courtesy of Governor John Hickenlooper. Radelet’s meticulously researched study of Colorado’s death penalty should be of considerable interest not just to state residents but to anyone concerned about the United States’ ultimate sanction. He begins—as Sister Helen Prejean’s foreword notes—“with the forty-year history of public executions in the state” (p. xi). He then methodically describes Colorado’s sordid history of hangings, asphyxiations, and—in the case of Gary Lee Davis, the 103rd person put to death in the state—lethal injection. All of Colorado’s executions from 1859 through the present—the earliest ones viewed by thousands of spectators—are cataloged in Appendix 1, with separate appendices describing those sentenced to die but never executed.
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