Includes bibliographical references and index.

For and against the death penalty / Flamehorse -- Majority of the U.S. supports the death penalty / Gallup -- Moral arguments complicate support of the death penalty / Jeffrey Howard -- Green mile and accountability for the death penalty / Alyssa Rosenberg -- The alarming cost of a death penalty trial / Alex Mayyasi -- Evidence for the death penalty as a deterrent is lacking / Carolyn Hoyle and Roger Hood -- Race and its impact on death penalty cases / ACLU -- How gender affects the death penalty / Amanda Oliver -- Prisons continue to fail in providing help to mentally ill inmates / Hrw.org -- How state ordered executions challenge medical ethics / James K. Boehnlein -- Changing the code of ethics could end the death penalty / Tara Culp-Ressler -- Innocent people can receive the death penalty / Nicole Colson -- The death penalty has consequences for families too / Federica Valabrega -- Problems with today's death penalty system / Marc Hyden -- The death penalty is not always clear -- Death penalty information center.