Book Review: The Death Penalty: A Reference Handbook

Abstract

The affordable but brief single-volume The Death Penalty: A Reference Handbook is edited by Professor Joseph Melusky of St. Francis University and Keith A. Pesto, a veteran US Magistrate Judge and lecturer at St. Francis. Pesto and Melusky have collaborated several times on related ABC-CLIO reference works including The Death Penalty: Documents Decoded (2014), Capital Punishment (2011), and Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Rights and Liberties under the Law (2003). This title is part of ABC-CLIO’s Contemporary World Issues Series, which “address vital issues in today’s society” and are “written by professional writers, scholars and nonacademic experts,” covering current topics such as marijuana, social media, and prisons (v).