A background paper reviews the status of capital punishment in the Federal and Michigan constitutions, indicates the prevalence of this sentence, and outlines the major arguments for and against it. The Supreme Court approves of death penalty statutes if (1) jury trials are used, (2) aggravating and mitigating circumstances are considered, and (3) automatic review in the States' highest appellate courts ensues. However, Michigan, the first State to abolish the sentence, still forbids the death penalty, while 34 other States allow it. The principal arguments reviewed concern deterrence, the public sense of security, rehabilitation of offenders, psychological torture, the treatment of minorities, the effect on the administration of the criminal justice system, and mistaken executions. A paper presenting the case for capital punishment begins with a refutation of opponents' claims that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, that vengeance should have no part in criminal justice, that capital punishment is applied arbitrarily and discriminates against racial minorities, and that innocent people may be executed. The deterrent effects of capital punishment receive special attention, and recent studies indicating that this sentence does have a deterrent value are considered. Reasons for rejecting the death penalty are discussed in a further paper which argues that this penalty seriously obstructs the certainty and swiftness of conviction and punishment -- society's best deterrent to crime. In addition, the penalty is seen as degrading the administration of justice, as discriminatory against nonwhites, and as causing the deaths of innocent persons. Notes are included. For individual papers, see NCJ 75376 and 45562-63.