Although the US Supreme Court temporarily halted capital punishment in the early 1970s, it has since returned with a vengeance. Today Americans live in a "killing state" in which the death penalty has become an important part of criminal justice policy and sometimes a major factor in electoral politics. Bringing together the work of several prominent scholars. The Killing State helps explain why this country clings tenaciously to capital punishment long after other democratic nations have abandoned it. The book signals the emergence of a new way of thinking about state killing that moves beyond abstract moral argument and narrow policy debate to assess its impact upon our regal system, its powerful symbolic appeal, and its place in contemporary "culture wars".

Featuring writings by such distinguished contributors as Hugh Adam Bedau, Jonathan Simon, and Franklin Zimring, among many others, this collection of essays is a significant contribution to the literature on capital punishment in the United States.