Upfront teacher's edition.

• Author: Rebhun, Elliott
• Position: Editorial - Brief article

The battle over capital punishment is heating up again. Last month, Illinois became the 16th state to ban the death penalty, and for the past decade, the Supreme Court has been placing ever-greater restrictions on its use, barring it for juvenile offenders, the mentally retarded, and criminals who commit neither murder nor treason. Our cover story looks at the long-running debate over the morality and constitutionality of capital punishment--and why the U.S. remains one of the last Western democracies that still puts people to death.

"It's the economy, stupid." The mantra of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign rang just as true during last fall's midterm elections, when voters upset over the weak recovery installed a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. With the economy sure to loom large again in the 2012 elections, we offer a quick guide to...