The top ten death penalty myths : the politics of crime control / Rudolph J. Gerber and John M. Johnson ; foreword by Helen Prejean.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-229) and index.

Introduction -- Death penalty history and the myth of community bonding -- The myth of the rule of law in capital cases -- The myth of equal justice -- The myth of deterrence -- The myth of fidelity to the Constitution -- The myth of humane execution -- The myth of closure -- The myth of retribution -- The myth of effective crime control -- The myth of the dedicated public servant -- Conclusion.

"The death penalty remains one of the most controversial issues in the United States. Its proponents claim many things in their defense of its continued application. For example, they claim that it deters crime, that death by lethal injection is painless and humane, that it is racially neutral, and that it provides "closure" to families of the victims. In this comprehensive review of the major death penalty issues, the authors systematically dismantle each one of these myths about capital punishment in a hard-hitting critique of how our social, political, and community leaders have used fear and myth (symbolic politics) to misrepresent the death penalty as a public policy issue. They successfully demonstrate how our political and community leaders have used myth and emotional appeals to misrepresent the facts about capital executions."--BOOK JACKET.