For or Against the Death Penalty
yanci83
DQ15.pdf
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Chapter 15 Death:
The Ultimate Sanction
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Learning Objectives
q Discuss the history of capital punishment q Describe the characteristics of people executed in the United States since 1977 and on death row today
q Discuss the politics influencing capital punishment
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Learning Objectives
q Summarize the arguments for and against the death penalty
q List and summarize the major U.S. Supreme Court decisions that influenced capital punishment legislation
q Describe the death penalty appeals process
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Learning Objectives
q Summarize Liebman’s findings on the frequency of errors in capital punishment cases
q Discuss the Supreme Court’s reasoning for banning the execution of offenders with mental retardation and juveniles
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Capital Punishment
q Lawful imposition of the death penalty q Was once common throughout the world q Began declining in the 18th century during the Enlightenment
q Some states banned or limited capital punishment in early 20th century
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Exhibit 15.2 - Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries
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Exhibit 15.3 - Jurisdictions With and Without the Death Penalty
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Exhibit 15.4 - People Executed, 1976–2012
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Capital Punishment in the U.S.
q Capital crime: Crime for which the death penalty may but need not necessarily be imposed
q Federal death penalty q Government uses lethal injection q Federal Death Penalty Act was established in 1994
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Procedures in Federal Capital Cases
q Federal prosecutors must obtain authorization from the attorney general
q Request is reviewed by the: q Assistant attorney general q Deputy attorney general q Attorney general
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Federal Death Penalty Act and the Right to Counsel
q Minimum of two lawyers should be appointed to represent federal capital defendants q At least one of the two lawyers must have experience in capital work
q Federal court must consider the Public Defender’s recommendation regarding which counsel are qualified for appointment in capital cases
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Federal Death Row
q Called the Special Confinement Unit (SCU)
q Opened in 1999 because of the increasing number of federal defendants sentenced to death
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Exhibit 15.6 - Characteristics of Prisoners Under Sentence of Death, Yearend 2012
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Victim Race, Gender, Geography, and the Death Penalty
q Victim race has a high impact on the jurisdiction
q Location affects the proceeding and the outcome in federal death penalty prosecutions
q Homicides with white female victims were more likely to result in a death sentence than others
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Methods of Execution
Lethal injec,on Electrocu,on Lethal gas
Hanging Firing squad
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Exhibit 15.7 - Method of Execution
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Death Row
q Prison area housing inmates who have been sentenced to death
q Most death row inmates spend 22 to 23 hours per day locked down in a five-by- eight- or six-by-nine-foot cell
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Arguments For and Against the Death Penalty
Pros
• Deters people from commi=ng crime
• Just punishment for murder • Cons,tu,onally appropriate • Reduces ,me spent on death rows, thereby reducing costs
• Protects society • More humane than life imprisonment
• It is impossible for an innocent person to be executed
Cons
• Does not deter crime • Violates human rights • Falls dispropor,onately on racial minori,es
• Costs too much • Boosts the murder rate by leading to the brutalizing effect
• Not everyone wants vengeance
• Arbitrary and unfair
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Courts and the Death Penalty
• Death sentence that the legislature has required to be imposed upon people convicted of certain offenses
Mandatory death penalty
• Decision making bounded by general guidelines, rules, or laws Guided discre,on
• Two separate hearings for different issues in a trial, one for guilt and the other for punishment
Bifurcated trial
• Factors that may reduce the culpability of the offender Mi,ga,ng circumstances
• Factors that may increase the culpability of the offender Aggrava,ng circumstances
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Appealing the Death Penalty
q Legal issues about the trial and sentence are appealed to the state appellate courts
q Serious error: Error that substantially undermines the reliability of the guilt finding or death sentence imposed at trial
q If the defendant’s direct appeals are unsuccessful and the Supreme Court denies review, state postconviction appeals begin 20
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Exhibit 15.13 - The Capital Criminal Process: Trial Through State and Federal Postconvictions
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Appealing the Death Penalty
q AEDPA defines filing deadlines and limits reasons for second, or successive, federal appellate reviews to: q New constitutional law q New evidence that could not have been discovered at the time of the original trial
q New facts that, if proven, would be sufficient to establish the applicant’s innocence
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Wrongful Convictions
q Errors found by the Liebman study q Incompetent defense lawyering q Prosecutorial suppression of evidence
q Cost of serious errors q Danger to society q Monetary settlements
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Exhibit 15.14 - The Attrition of Capital Judgments
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Reforms Suggested to Avoid Wrongful Convictions
Require proof beyond any doubt that the defendant commiRed the capital crime
Require that aggrava,ng factors substan,ally outweigh mi,ga,ng ones
Bar the death penalty for people with extenua,ng circumstances
Make life imprisonment without parole an alterna,ve to the death penalty
Abolish judge overrides of jury verdicts imposing life sentences
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Reforms Suggested to Avoid Wrongful Convictions
Use compara,ve review of murder sentences
Base charging decisions in poten,ally capital cases on full and informed delibera,ons
Make all police and prosecu,on evidence available to the jury at trial
Insulate capital sentencing and appellate judges from poli,cal pressure
Iden,fy, appoint, and compensate capital defense counsel to aRract well-‐qualified lawyers
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Juveniles and the Death Penalty
q Unconstitutional and in violation of the Eighth Amendment
q Reasons for being banned q Reflects evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society
q Juveniles are not the same as adults even though the crimes might be the same
q Out of line with other developed countries
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Banning the Execution of People with Mental Retardation q Held by court as cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment
q Depends on the explanation of mental retardation q IQ score of 70 or below is generally considered an indicator of mental retardation
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