Death Penalty Status

The death penalty has fallen out of favor in several states over the last few years.  In 2007, New Jersey banned capital punishment, as did New Mexico earlier this year.  Maryland's governor will soon sign a bill to restrict the death penalty, and in Colorado legislation to abolish it is pending before the Senate. 

Columbia Law Professor Jeffrey Fagan testified against the death penalty before commissions in New Jersey and Maryland.  In this lecture, he discusses these developments in the context of the broader historical, national, and international landscape.