The death penalty loses its mind: an interview with Professor James Acker

Abstract

In April 2009 the American Law Institute (ALI) made the decision to withdraw its support for the a section of the Model Penal Code that had been instrumental in shaping contemporary death penalty legislation. The Institute had created the modern legal and criminal justice administration framework for capital punishment as part of its Model Penal Code in 1962. Professor James Acker, one of the leading scholars on the death penalty in the United States, speaks to the import of this decision while providing some historical context for ALI’s involvement in the matter initially.

Keywords:

• American Law Institute
• death penalty
• James Acker
• punishment
• criminal justice administration
• Model Penal Code

Notes

1. James Acker, Distinguished Teaching Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, has written and been interviewed for CJR on several occasions. See Acker (2008) and Sullivan (2001).