This distinguished constitutional theorist takes a hard look at current criminal law and the Supreme Court's most recent decisions regarding the legality of capital punishment. Examining the penal system, capital punishment, and punishment in general, he reviews the continuing debate about the purpose of punishment for deterrence, rehabilitation, or retribution.Acknowledgments --Introduction --Case against capital punishment. The biblical argument ; The naturalpublic law argument ; The argument respecting the dignity of man ; Thedeterrence argument ; The constitutional argument; Conclusion --Death penalty and the spirit of reform. The invention of the penitentiary; Contemporary rehabilitation ; Conclusion: blaming crime on society --The deterrence question and the deterrence problem. The argument againstdeterrence ; The argument for deterrence ; Crime without punishment ;The court problem ; Conclusion --Deterrence and the morality of law. The limits of deterrence ; The morality of punishment ; Conclusion --The morality of capital punishment. The immorality of abolition ; The moral necessity of capital punishment ; Conclusion --Not cruel but unusual: the administration of the death penalty.