In this Book

summary

In The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, noted death penalty scholar Michael Radelet chronicles the details of each capital punishment trial and execution that has taken place in Colorado since 1859. The book describes the debates and struggles that Coloradans have had over the use of the death penalty, placing the cases of the 103 men whose sentences were carried out and 100 more who were never executed into the context of a gradual worldwide trend away from this form of punishment.

For more than 150 years, Coloradans have been deeply divided about the death penalty, with regular questions about whether it should be expanded, restricted, or eliminated. It has twice been abolished, but both times state lawmakers reinstated the contentious punitive measure. Prison administrators have contributed to this debate, with some refusing to participate in executions and some lending their voices to abolition efforts. Colorado has also had a rich history of experimenting with execution methods, first hanging prisoners in public and then, starting in 1890, using the "twitch-up gallows" for four decades. In 1933, Colorado began using a gas chamber and eventually moved to lethal injection in the 1990s.

Based on meticulous archival research in official state archives, library records, and multimedia sources, The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, will inform the conversation on both sides of the issue anywhere the future of the death penalty is under debate.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Accolades, Series Page, Half Title, Title Page, Copyright, In Memoriam
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-x
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Foreword
  2. Sister Helen Prejean
  3. pp. xi-xiv
  4. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Foreword
  2. Stephen Leonard
  3. pp. xv-xviii
  4. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. pp. 3-20
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 2. Hangings in the Nineteenth Century
  2. pp. 21-48
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 3. Twentieth-Century Executions and Debates
  2. pp. 49-86
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 4. The Thirty-Year Struggle to Obtain Execution No. 103
  2. pp. 87-108
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 5. The Death Penalty in Colorado in the Early Twenty-First Century
  2. pp. 109-134
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 6. The Hickenlooper Years
  2. pp. 135-165
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Epilogue: Summary, Trends, and Some Future Possibilities
  2. pp. 166-182
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 1: Catalog of Colorado Executions, 1859–Present
  2. pp. 183-244
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 2: People Sentenced to Death in Colorado, 1860–December 31, 2015, Not Executed and No Longer on Death Row
  2. pp. 245-265
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 3: Colorado Death Sentences, January 1, 1975 – December 31, 2015
  2. pp. 266-277
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 278-283
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.