For the month of October, the Zief Law Library will be showcasing a collection of books and materials focused on capital punishment in the United States. This display comes after citywide programming inspired by the memoir Dead Man Walking and anticipates the 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10th. Capital punishment is a fiercely contested issue with advocates both for and against its continuance. Common arguments center around the question of crime deterrence, racial and socioeconomic disparity, the wrongly convicted, morality, and the very definition of justice. We invite you to stop by the Collection Spotlight Display on the first floor at the research desk, across from the circulation desk, to learn more about this often overlooked aspect of the criminal justice system.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
IN THE UNITED STATES
While state-sanctioned executions have been held across the globe for centuries, the United States inherited its capital laws from Great Britain. Capital crimes in colonial America included treason, killing chickens, trading with Native Americans, and denying Christian religion. As time went on, states started reducing the number of crimes punishable by death and in 1794 Pennsylvania restricted the death penalty to only be used in cases of first degree murder. In 1846, Michigan abolished capital punishment for all crimes except treason and soon other states followed. Public opinion concerning the death penalty would wax and wane over the years with periods of economical and social distress seeing an increased support of the sentence. After World War II, the number of executions dropped dramatically and in 1972, during the Furman v. Georgia Supreme Court trial, the death penalty was suspended due to the arbitrary nature of sentencing and a new attention towards the 8th Amendment.
States in support of the death penalty responded to the Furman v. Georgia decision by creating new sentencing guidelines for jurors and in 1976, with Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, leaving individual states to decide where they fell on the issue of capital punishment. Although the last execution in California was in 2006, the state still has the largest amount of prisoners awaiting execution in the country with 581 inmates living on death row. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty in California and dismantled all state execution rooms. Upon returning to office, President Trump reinstated the federal death penalty, ending a Biden era moratorium. As of now, 27 states still permit capital punishment and in 2025, 33 inmates have been put to death across the country.
One of the most prevalent voices advocating for the abolition of the death penalty is Sister Helen Prejean who wrote the memoir Dead Man Walking after accompanying two inmates to the electric chair as their spiritual advisor. She was inspired by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall’s view that more people would oppose the death penalty if they were better informed and has devoted her life to spreading awareness of the process of capital sentencing. Sister Prejean’s novel was adapted into a film in 1995 and then an award-winning opera in 2000, which debuted in San Francisco and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with programming around the city. Amidst panels and discussions on her work, Sister Prejean also spoke at a rally against the death penalty, calling for Governor Newsom to commute all death sentences to life without parole. Sister Prejean has also visited the University of San Francisco’s Law School several times, most recently in 2024 for a lunch chat. In 2001, the University of San Francisco established the Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project to involve students in death penalty reform and abolition. A key aspect of the project is the Southern Internship program where law students can learn more about and provide aid to clients facing the death penalty in regions where capital convictions are more common.
BOOKS ON DISPLAY
- Dismantling the Death Penalty: Research-based Answers to the Essential Questions by Mark Costanzo
- Wounds that do not Bind: Victim-based Perspectives on the Death Penalty edited by James R. Acker, David R. Karp, Jarrett B. Warshaw
- In This Timeless Time: Living and Dying on Death Row in America by Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian
- Fighting the Death Penalty: A Fifty-Year Journey of Argument and Persuasion by Eugene G. Wanger
- Executing Freedom: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment in the United States by Daniel LaChance
- Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States by Helen Prejean
- Wretched Sisters: Examining Gender and Capital Punishment by Mary Welek Atwell
- Confronting the Death Penalty: How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases by Robin Conley
- Capital Defense: Inside the Lives of America’s Death Penalty Lawyers by Jon B. Gould and Maya Pagni Barak
- Slavery and the Death Penalty: A Study in Abolition by Bharat Malkani
- Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America by David M. Oshinky
SOURCES & ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Death Penalty Information Center
- 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty
- Amnesty International
- Death Penalty Focus of California
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
- National Death Penalty Archive
- Witness to Innocence
- National Center for Victims of Crime
- National Organization of Victim Assistance
- Public Events inspired by Dead Man Walking
- Dead Man Walking and Prison Arts Project Virtual Exhibit
- More on Sister Helen Prejean
- “Sister Helen Prejean Calls on Newsom to Commute All Death Sentences” David Greenwald, Vanguard News Group, September 12, 2025.
- “SF Leaders Urge Newsom to Commute All Death Sentences” Alise Maripuu, Bay City News, September 12, 2025.
- Sister Helen Prejean at University of San Francisco
- University of San Francisco Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project