Readings for heading into the capital sentencing world

Next week, we will turn to an (all-too-quick) review of capital sentencing law, procedures and practices.  As the syllabus reveals, the readings for this unit (which will keep us busy through most of the rest of September) are to be provided mostly here online.  If requested, I can provided hard copies in class, and here are the electronic versions:

Chapter 3, Topic A: Regulation of Discretion in Capital Sentencing

Electronic Chapter 9: Race, Gender, and Class in Sentencing

I plan to cover the first 69 manuscript pages in the Chapter 3 materials linked here and the first 21 pages manuscript pages in the Chapter 9 materials linked here.  (Of course, you are always welcome to read more.) 

For the first week(s) of discussion, we will be giving the sleeper case of McGautha and the historic case of Furman a lot of attention.   Though only small portions appear in the Chapter 3 excerpt, I think the full McGautha and Furman are worth reading (or at least skimming) if you find constitutional history and/or death penalty procedure really interesting. 

The full McGautha can be found here; reading just the majority opinion authored by Justice Harlan (which is only 1/4 of the whole thing) is encouraged, but not required, for having extra fun throughout next week's discussion.  The full Furman can be found here; reading the whole thing could take you the rest of the semester, and our edited excerpt aspires to provide strategic highlights from each of the nine(!) opinions.  I will ask you in class to discuss which of the nine opinions you would be most likely to join, so you might want to read the full version of the one opinion you find most appealing from the Chapter 3 excerpt.