Rethinking the Death Penalty: Can We Define Who Deserves Death – A Symposium Held at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York May 22, 2002

Authors

Martin J. Leahy, New York Law School
Norman L. Greene, New York University School of Law
Robert Blecker, New York Law School
Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier, City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law
William M. Erlbaum, Brooklyn Law School
David Von Drehle, Oxford University
Jeffrey A. Fagan, Columbia Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2003

Abstract

In light of the defects of the capital punishment system and recent calls for a moratorium on executions, many are calling for serious reform of the system. Even some who would not eliminate the death penalty entirely propose reforms that they contend would result in fewer executions and would limit the death penalty to a category that they call the "worst of the worst." This program asks the question: Is there a category of defendants who are the "worst of the worst?" Can a crime be so heinous that a defendant can be said to "deserve" to be executed? Would such a limited death penalty be supportable morally, philosophically, and constitutionally?

Disciplines

Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Law

Recommended Citation

Martin J. Leahy, Norman L. Greene, Robert Blecker, Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier, William M. Erlbaum, David Von Drehle & Jeffrey A. Fagan, Rethinking the Death Penalty: Can We Define Who Deserves Death – A Symposium Held at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York May 22, 2002, 24 Pace L. Rev. 107 (2003).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/3447