Stephen Bright’s Capital Punishment Course: Available Online

This course examines issues of poverty and race in the criminal justice system, with a focus on the death penalty.

SCHR is pleased to announce that Stephen B. Bright’s course “Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty, & Disadvantage” is now available online on Yale's website, YouTube and iTunes, free of charge. Topics include the right to counsel for people who cannot afford lawyers, racial discrimination, prosecutorial discretion, judicial independence, and mental health issues. Utilizing decisions of the Supreme Court and other courts, transcripts, articles, interviews with people involved in the cases, and other materials, it examines both the legal and practical aspects of capital punishment, including the role of the prosecutor, defense lawyer, judge, and jury; the evidence to be considered; the procedures employed; and the fairness of its application. The course is divided into 13 sessions. Each session features a series of videos and accompanying readings, plus supplementary links.