Chapter Twenty The Death Penalty

Learning Objective Contrast the issues in the debate over capital punishment. Understand the history of the death penalty in America. Discuss the legal issues that surround the death penalty. Characterize the inmates on death row. Speculate about the future of capital punishment.

Learning Objective 1 Contrast the issues in the debate over capital punishment.

Debate Support: Murder must forfeit the murderer’s life if there is to be justice (moral) Executions of wrongdoers deter others from committing the crime (utilitarian) Death penalty serves justice by paying back killers for their horrible crimes Victims’ families can be reassured that the murderer received a just punishment Prevents murderers from doing further harm Death penalty less expensive than life in prison

Debate Opposition: Mistakes can and have been made Discriminates against poor people and racial minorities No deterrent effect of the penalty Wrong for government to participate in intentional killing

Discussion questions Is it worth risking the life of an innocence person to have the death penalty? What are the problems with the appeals process for offenders sentenced to death?

Video: dead man talking

Learning Objective 2 Understand the history of the death penalty in America.

Death Penalty in America Executions carried out in public until 1830s Last public execution in Kentucky– August 14, 1936, 20,000 spectators Between 1930-1967: 3,859 executions Average: 128 per year in 1940s 72 in the 50s 19 in the 60s June 1977-June 2009: 1,125 executions

Figure 20.2 people executed in the united states

Death Penalty in America Support for capital punishment fails when other options are present 111 death sentences pronounced in 2009 Almost 3,300 are waiting on death row Since 1976 executions have never exceeded 98 in any one year Important issues are whether or not the punishment is administered fairly, and what should be done about those who are wrongly convicted

Learning Objective 3 Discuss the legal issues that surround the death penalty.

Discussion questions Why should we be concerned about possible pain an offender being put to death may experience? Does it matter if an offender experiences pain when being put to death?

Video: death penalty legal issues

Legal Issues Furman v. Georgia (1972): Gregg v. Georgia (1976): Death penalty was itself not unconstitutional, but the way it was administered constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Gregg v. Georgia (1976): Upheld laws that required the sentencing judge or jury to take into account specific aggravating and mitigating factors in deciding which convicted murderers should be sentenced to death.

Legal Issues McCleskey v. Kemp (1987): Atkins v. Virginia (2002): Court rejected a challenge, on the grounds of racial discrimination, to Georgia’s death penalty law. Atkins v. Virginia (2002): Execution of the mentally retarded was unconstitutional. Ring v. Arizona (2002): Juries, rather than judges, must make the crucial factual decisions as to whether a convicted murderer should receive the death penalty.

Legal Issues Roper v. Simmons (2005): Strickland v. Washington (1984): Offenders cannot be sentenced to death for crimes they committed before they reached the age of 18. Strickland v. Washington (1984): Defendants in capital cases have the right to representation that meets an “objective standard of reasonableness.”

Legal Issues Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968): Uttecht v. Brown (2007): Potential jurors who have general objections to the death penalty or whose religious convictions oppose its use cannot be automatically excluded from jury service in capital cases. Uttecht v. Brown (2007): Enhanced state’s ability to remove potential jurors with doubts about the death penalty

Legal Issues Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008): Coker v. Georgia (1977): Capital sentence where the crime did not involve murder was in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments. Coker v. Georgia (1977): Use of death penalty for rape of an adult was unconstitutional. Medellin v. Texas (2008) President did not have the power to order states to follow the Vienna Convention.

Other Pertinent Legal Issues What to do about executing the mentally ill? What to do if a defendant does not have a competent legal counsel? Should individuals who are anti-death penalty be excluded from capital cases (death qualified juries)? Also Issues of Child Rape, Appeals and International Law need to be considered. Supreme Court Cases have been argued regarding many of these issues, but they are still important to keep in mind.

Learning Objective 4 Characterize the inmates on death row.

Figure 20.4 characteristics of death row inmates

Death Row Inmates Poorly educated men from low-income backgrounds 65% have prior felony convictions 8.6% have prior homicide convictions 29.8% were on probation, parole, or in prison Only 58 women, only 11 have been executed since 1976, despite 1 in 7 murderers being women.

Death Row Inmates Where: 54% in south 2.5% in West 14% in Midwest 7% from Northeastern states 65% of executions carried out in 5 states 1977-2009): Texas (439) Virginia (103) Oklahoma (90) Missouri (67) Florida (67)

Other Death Row Issues Number of inmates sentenced to death also depends on the identity of the prosecutor. Race is also a factor. Major debate exists on the issue of who is on death row and how to properly deal with the death penalty.

Discussion Questions What do you think of the Tookie Williams case? Is it fair for someone who has reformed themselves in prison to still be sentenced to death? Do you think the outcome of Tookie’s case would have been different had he been white?

Video: tookie williams

Learning Objective 5 Speculate about the future of capital punishment.

The Future Innocent death row inmates Decrease in the number of death sentences States abolishing death penalty Issues with budgeting Racial Disparities The above issues are all hotly contested ones which will influence death row policy in the future