A Moralist in a Legalist World: A Memorial Essay for Henry Schwarzschild

Introduction

On June 4th, 1996, the New York Times reported the previous day’s U.S. Supreme Court decision which upheld the use of the death penalty in military trials. While this expansion of capital punishment was criticized by opponents of the death penalty around the country, one voice was missing from the chorus, that of Henry Schwarzschild, long-time director of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project and founder and leader of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Henry’s obituary ran in the same edition of the Times. Throughout his life Henry set “an example of uncompromising commitment” to social change. With his death the nation and the world lost an eloquent and tireless moral leader in the fight against the death penalty.

Suggested Reading

Andrew Michaels∞ I. Introduction II. The Court’s Death Penalty And Categorical-Exemption Jurisprudence A. Atkins and Roper: The Court’s Articulation of the Two-Part Test for Categorical Exemption  B. Graham: Finding a National Consensus Against a Punishment Based Solely on the Rarity of its Implementation  III. Why