PSC 153 Lecture 13: Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
Document Summary
Psc 153 lecture 13 capital punishment (death penalty) Only certain crimes are eligible for capital punishment. State law (varies state by state) aggravated murder. Victim is a police officer or a child. Committed as part of another felony (rape, robbery) 1972 us supreme court ruled that capital punishment was unconstitutional as currently applied ( furman v. georgia) Main concern uncontrolled discretion of judges/jurors. No consistent distinction between who was sentenced to death and who was not. Since 1976 (gregg vs. georgia), guided discretion statutes. Phase 2 penalty phase (sentencing decision between capital punishment and life without parole) All death sentences reviewed by state supreme courts. Since 2002 ( ring v. arizona), only jury can make decisions about capital punishment. During voir dire, exclusion of jurors whose belief system substantially impairs their ability to consider death penalty ( wainwright v. witt, 1985) Remaining pool is statistically more likely to convict and vote in favor of death sentence (e. g. butler, 2008)
