One paper on philosophical perspectives on capital punishment proposes an alternative sanction to the death penalty and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for persons convicted of first-degree murder. Another paper on philosophical perspectives profiles the debate over the death penalty as a controversy over social values. A third paper on philosophical perspectives argues for capital punishment as a necessary component to promote retributive justice and deterrence for heinous crimes. A paper on legal and historical perspectives reviews the history of capital punishment legislation in New York State and explains and assesses recent capital-punishment bills that have been vetoed by Governor Cuomo. Other papers on legal and historical perspectives present a 35-year perspective on the debate over capital punishment in New York State and a discussion of a legislative provision that would exclude juveniles from death penalty sentences. Four papers present the results of empirical studies pertinent to death-penalty issues in New York State. They address the impact of capital punishment on the rate of noncapital crimes, disparity in the processing of capital cases in New Jersey, public opinion on the death penalty in New York State, and the assessment of nondangerousness as a mitigating factor in sentencing in capital cases.