Article essay and Q&A

katerinaki

TheDeathPenalty.pptx

Home >Law homework help >Criminal homework help >Article essay and Q&A

The Death Penalty

Corrections in America

CHAPTER

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

FOURTEENTH EDITION

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Lethal injection room with the bed the inmate is strapped to during the execution. Credit: Bob Child/AP Images.

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Will Be Covered!

Outline the history of the death penalty in the nation and the legal provisions for it.

Describe the forms of execution.

Describe the effects of decisions of the U.S Supreme Court on capital punishment.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Will Be Covered!

Summarize the eighth amendment's impacts on the death penalty.

Explain how prosecutorial discretion impacts the death penalty.

Draw appropriate conclusions about the deterrent effects of the death penalty.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Will Be Covered!

Describe forms of capital punishment.

Describe how executions are carried out and the problems associated with them.

Explain why there are so few females on death row in America.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Will Be Covered!

Compare and contrast the abolitionists and retentionists positions on the death penalty.

Identify who may not be executed in the nation.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Will Be Covered!

Summarize the characteristics of current death row prisoners.

Compare and contrast the costs of the death penalty and a sentence of life without parole.

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Origins of the Death Penalty

Capital punishment defined

The methods by which the punishment has been carried out

Arguments for and against the death penalty

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The term capital punishment generally refers to the execution, in the name of the state, of a person convicted of certain crimes.

The methods by which the punishment has been carried out have been even more varied, and include being hanged, burned, boiled in oil, impaled, shot, strangled, beheaded, drawn and quartered, electrocuted, gassed, and now injection with lethal drugs.

Arguments for and against the death penalty concern the issues of deterrence, excessive cruelty (8th Amendment arguments), equability (6th and 14th Amendment considerations) and attitudes toward capital punishment.

Better Ways to Die?

Lethal injection as the "most humane" form of execution as the primary or secondary option

Since 1976, most executions have been with lethal injection.

Gregg v. Georgia

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Thirty-Five states (some states authorize more than one method) and the federal government have passed legislation to use a lethal injection of chemicals as the 'most humane" form of execution as the primary or secondary option.

Since 1976, about 85% of executions have been with lethal injection.

Gregg v. Georgia- the 1977 case that ended the moratorium on the death penalty.

Arbitrary and Infrequent Punishment

The number of executions between 1976 and May 2011

Most executions have taken place in the South.

The list of states with the highest number of executions

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The total number of executions between 1976 and May 2011 was 1,247, with the highest number in 1999 at 98.

Most executions have taken place in the South.

Over 80% of the 1,247 executions between 1976 and midyear 2011 took place in the South, with Texas (467), Virginia (108), Oklahoma (96), Florida (69), and Missouri (68) accounting for nearly two-thirds of all executions.

Arbitrary and Infrequent Punishment

Furman v. Georgia

Prosecutorial discretion in states with capital punishment

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Furman v. Georgia- The Supreme Court decision that the death penalty in Georgia was being applied arbitrarily and discriminatorily against minorities; as a result of this case, a moratorium on the death penalty was imposed throughout the United States.

In those states with capital punishment, the prosecutor must decide to seek the death penalty, using the vast discretion inherent in that office.

The 8th Amendment and the Death Penalty

Cruel and unusual punishment

The 8th amendment

In Gregg v. Georgia opinion

Bifurcated trial

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Cruel and unusual punishment- prohibited by the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.

In Gregg V. Georgia opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated a bifurcated trial, the first part to determine guilt and the second trial to determine the penalty.

Prosecutor's Discretion

Formal charge and the death penalty

One factor that affects the decision

An example of how race effects the possible use of the death penalty

The death-row population

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The prosecutor must enter a formal charge and may or may not seek the death penalty.

One factor that affects the decision to seek the death penalty is the race of the victim.

In South Carolina, for example, studies show that if the victim is white and the offender black, then the black offender is eight times as likely to face a death sentence.

The death-row population has since shifted from a majority black population to a more diverse population in which blacks are only about 1/3 of the offenders on death row.

Deterrence of the Death Penalty

If the death penalty were a deterrent, no crime would occur.

Deterrent defined

Retentionists

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

One should realize that if the death penalty were a deterrent, no crime would occur.

Deterrent - The hope that a criminal sanction will stop potential offenders by inflicting suffering on actual offenders.

Retentionists - Those who favor the death penalty.

Pubic Opinion and the Death Penalty

The American public's attitude toward the death penalty

Support for the death penalty has declined.

Life Certain

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The American public's attitude toward the death penalty has fluctuated wildly, as reflected in public opinion polls.

Although support for the death penalty has declined over the past decade, most polls continue to show strong support for the death penalty in the abstract (that is, if no alternative is considered)- with about 65% approval for cases involving murder.

Life Certain- Judge's sentence that precludes parole eligibility, order to incarcerate the offender until dead.

The Controversy Continues

DNA testing and the factual innocence of death row inmates

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Many death-row inmates profess their innocence, and recently developed scientific techniques (such as DNA testing) have established the factual innocence of at least a dozen inmates on death row.

Kerry Max Cook, recently exonerated by DNA after 22 years on death row in Texas. Credit: Robin Marchant/Contributor/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images.

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The Issue of Equability

Equitability

"Are blacks who kill white victims more likely to receive a death sentence than white killers who murder black victims?"

The answer is yes.

Available evidence

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The heart of the question of equitability is whether the punishment is applied evenhandedly across a jurisdiction.

In terms of the death penalty, "Are blacks who kill white victims more likely to receive a death sentence than white killers who murder black victims?

The answer is yes.

Available evidence suggests that the death penalty is not evenly applied and my be wanton and freakish in its imposition.

Women and the Death Penalty

Women on death row

Small number

Execution is rare.

Screening-out effect

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

In general, both the sentencing-to-death rate and the death row population remain very small for women in comparison to those for men. Actual execution of female offenders is

quite rare, with only 571 documented instances beginning with the first in 1632. These 571 female executions constitute less than 3 percent of the total of 20,425 confirmed executions

in the United States since 1608. In the past 100 years, 40 women have been executed in the United States, and 13 female offenders have been executed since 1976. The most recent

execution was on December 3, 2013, in Texas.

Death sentences for and actual executions of female offenders are also rare in comparison to such events for male offenders. In fact, women are more likely to be dropped out of the system the further the capital punishment process progresses.

Following in summary outline form are the data indicating this screening-out effect:

• Women account for about 1 in 10 (10 percent) murder arrests.

• Women account for only 1 in 50 (2.0 percent) death sentences imposed at the trial level.

• Women account for only 1 in 67 (1.5 percent) persons presently on death row.

• Women account for only 1 in 100 (1 percent) persons actually executed since Furman.

Juveniles and the Death Penalty

A 2010 Pew Research Center poll

Opposition to capital punishment for juvenile offenders

The court, the 8th and 14th amendments, and the execution of juvenile offenders

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

In a 2010 Pew Research Center poll, some 62% of respondents endorsed the death penalty in general.

79% of the respondents in one 2003 survey opposed capital punishment for juvenile offenders.

In 2005, the Court held that the 8th and 14th Amendments forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crime was committed.

Justifications

Three major justifications for the death penalty

Revenge

Just desserts argument

Societal protection argument

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Three major justifications for the death penalty are collectively referred to as the retentionist position, and include revenge, just desserts, and protection.

Revenge - Seeking retribution for a harm inflicted.

Just desserts argument - Argument that offenders should receive severe punishment because of the nature of the crime committed.

Societal protection argument - The argument that once executed, the offender cannot commit another crime, thus protecting society.

The Death Penalty and Terrorism

The federal government and the U.S. Code of Military Justice

Tried in either a federal court or military tribunal

Is either jurisdiction appropriate for terrorists?

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

The federal government and the U.S. Code of Military Justice have death penalty statutes that permit capital punishment for designated offenses.

The accused would be tried in either a federal court or military tribunal, depending on the jurisdiction.

At the time of this writing, it is unclear which, if either, jurisdiction would be appropriate for terrorists.

The Cost of the Death Penalty

Is cheaper to invoke the death penalty than to incarcerate an offender in prison for life?

Cost examples (pages 311-312)

Washington

Tennessee

Kansas and others

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

Some may argue that it is cheaper to invoke the death penalty than to incarcerate an offender in prison for life, studies do not bear that out.

For example, a study concluded that the cost of the death penalty in California has totaled over $4 billion since 1978. This figure is over and above what it would have cost that state had it utilized life without parole instead of death.

Other examples in the text:

Washington: At the trial level, death penalty cases are estimated to generate roughly $470,000 in additional costs to the prosecution and defense over the cost of trying the same case as an aggravated murder without the death penalty. On direct appeal, the cost of appellate defense averages $100,000 more in death penalty cases than in non–death penalty murder

cases.

• Tennessee: Death penalty cases cost an average of 48 percent more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.

• Kansas: The investigation costs for death sentence cases were about three times greater than for non–death sentence cases. The appeal costs were 21 times greater.

• Indiana: The cost of the death penalty is 38 percent greater than the total costs of life without-parole sentences. (Others also found on page 312.)

What Was Covered!

Outline the history of the death penalty in the nation and the legal provisions for it.

Describe the forms of execution.

Describe the effects of decisions of the U.S Supreme Court on capital punishment.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Was Covered!

Summarize the eighth amendment's impacts on the death penalty.

Explain how prosecutorial discretion impacts the death penalty.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Was Covered!

Draw appropriate conclusions about the deterrent effects of the death penalty.

Describe forms of capital punishment.

Describe how executions are carried out and the problems associated with them.

Explain why there are so few females on death row in America.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Was Covered!

Compare and contrast the abolitionists and retentionists positions on the death penalty.

Identify who may not be executed in the nation.

continued on next slide

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder

What Was Covered!

Summarize the characteristics of current death row prisoners.

Compare and contrast the costs of the death penalty and a sentence of life without parole.

Corrections in America, 14e

Allen | Latessa | Ponder