In 1987, the United States Supreme Court decided a case that could have ended the death penalty in the United States. Imprisoned by the Past: Warren McCleskey and the American Death Penalty examines the long history of the American death penalty and its connection to the case of Warren McCleskey, revealing how that case marked a turning point for the history of the death penalty. In this book, Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier explores one of the most important Supreme Court cases in history, a case that raised important questions about race and punishment, and ultimately changed the way we understand the death penalty today. McCleskey's case resulted in one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in U.S. history, where the Court confronted evidence of racial discrimination in the administration of capital punishment. The case currently marks the last time that the Supreme Court had a realistic chance of completely striking down capital punishment. As such, the case also marked a turning point in the death penalty debate in the country. Going back nearly four centuries, this book connects McCleskey's life and crime to the issues that have haunted the American death penalty debate since the first executions by early settlers through the modern twenty-first century death penalty. Imprisoned by the Past ties together three unique American stories. First, the book considers the changing American death penalty across centuries where drastic changes have occurred in the last fifty years. Second, the book discusses the role that race played in that history. And third, the book tells the story of Warren McCleskey and how his life and legal case brought together the other two narratives.

About the Author
Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier is a Professor of Law at City University of New York School of Law. He received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University. Before joining the CUNY Law faculty, he was an Associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., and he taught at Tulane School of Law and Arizona State University College of Law. For several years, he was a staff attorney at the Arizona Capital Representation Project. Professor Kirchmeier is a member and former Chair of the Capital Punishment Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and has appeared before a New York Assembly joint committee regarding the reinstatement of the New York death penalty. He is the author of numerous law review articles on the subject of criminal procedure, constitutional law, and the death penalty.

Reviews
In McCleskey v. Kemp, the Supreme Court egregiously blinked-finding that patterns of life-or-death decisions in Georgia cases could be explained on no basis other than race, yet approving Georgia's use of the death penalty nonetheless. Imprisoned by the Past for the first time exposes the complex and disturbing reasons why the Supreme Court stumbled so badly in McCleskey and how the nation has been struggling ever since to extricate itself from a flawed and historically tainted punishment. * James S. Liebman, author of The Wrong Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution *
Imprisoned by the Past is an important and compelling history of the United States death penalty. By placing that history next to the story of Warren McCleskey and the role of race, Jeff Kirchmeier provides new insight into the legacy of capital punishment and the status of the death penalty today. Anyone interested in understanding the sweeping scope of death penalty history and its human story will want to read this book. * Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents *
The Definitive examination of a case that might have revolutionized criminal Justice in the United States. * Evan J. Mandery, author of A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America *
This is an incredible book and indeed one of the most important death penalty books that has appeared on American bookshelves in recent decades. It is bound to be adopted in courses in Criminal Law and Criminology, and, in addition, will be widely read by practitioners and the wider public who are looking for a first-rate introduction to the way the death penalty works, and does not work, in modern American society. * Michael L. Radelet, co-author of In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases *
No legal decision in the last half of the 20th century characterized America's continuing failure to confront its history of racial inequality more than the McCleskey decision. Jeff Kirchmeier's welcomed and insightful book brings much needed context and perspective to this critically important issue. Compelling and thoughtful, this book is a must read for those trying to understand America's death penalty and its sordid relationship to our failure to overcome three centuries of racial injustice. * Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy: A Short Story of Justice and Redemption *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199967933
Author Prof. Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 33mm