CRM/LAW C106 Study Guide - Final Guide: Wtwo, National Youth Administration, 18 Months
8 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Jessica Mangold
Spring 2018
C106 Crime & Public Policy
Issues to Think about for Final Exam
The Death Penalty
1. What is the recent history of the death penalty in the US? How does this differ from other
countries?
- majority of American citizens support the death penalty
- until recently rate of support was rising
*less people support the death penalty if provided with other options such as life
imprisonment w/o parole
- several states have gotten rid of the death penalty entirely
- CA recently voted on abolishing death penalty + replacing w/life w/o parole ->
measure did not pass
- Furman v. Georgia -> got rid of death penalty in 1972 w/moratorium (violated
8th + 14th amendments of Constitution)
- death penalty reinstated in 1976 w/Gregg v. Georgia
- US has executed at least approx. 5,000 people
- As of 2018:
- Number on Death Row: 2,817
- 746 in CA
- Number Executed Since 1976: 1475
- death penalty was abolished in 1972 then re-instated in 1976
- Number Executed in 1999: 98
- Number Executed in 2017: 23
- So far in 2018: 10 executed
- Total CA Executions: 10
*as attitudes about the death penalty have changes over time the numbers on
death row has been dropping
- Global Death Penalty
- 106 countries abolished capital punishment
- including almost all other advanced industrial societies + some third
world countries
- 140 countries have abolished “in law or practice”
- US continuing to have death penalty has caused friction with other nations
- Mexico has issues w/US for executing some Mexican citizens
- Top Execution Countries in 2017 (Amnesty International)
- China: (1,000’s) -> no official statistics
- Iran: 507+
- Saudi Arabia: 146
- Iraq: 125+
- Pakistan: 60+
- Egypt: 35+
- Somalia: 24
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- USA: 23 **US is within top 10 nations
- Japan: 4
*US appears to be somewhat unusual compared to rest of world when it comes to death
penalty
- one of very few wealthy, advanced, industrial countries to continue to have it
- only recently ruled execution of juveniles unconstitutional
- other countries do not allow for execution of juveniles
- Roper v. Simmons -> case decided in 2005 + Supreme Court ruled that
death penalty for those under 18 was unconstitutional
- death penalty persists despite Eighth Amendment against cruel + unusual
punishment
2. Is the death penalty administered fairly in America in terms of race and class? What’s the
evidence one way or another? Does the book Just Mercy shed light on this question?
- Among Death Row Inmates in 2017
- 42% are “white non-Hispanic”
- 41% are Black
- 13% are Hispanic
- <2% Asian + Native American (“other”)
- African Americans make up 12% of the population but are more likely to be put on
death row + more likely to be executed
- evidence of racial bias
- number of African Americans on death row + being executed does not reflect
their proportion of population
- Death Row, Race, + Region
- in Southern states black inmates outnumber white inmates on death row
- also true in some North Eastern states
- Harris County, Texas
- sent more people to death row than any other country
- every death sentence as of 2016 was given to defendant that was black or
Hispanic
- almost half of all Latino inmates on death row in nation are on death row in CA
- whether you get death penalty for killing someone depends on race of person
you kill
- likely to be one of more determinant factors according to research
- historically black offenders significantly more likely to be sentenced to
death if victim was white (pre-1972)
- extreme attitude in South that black lives not equal to white lives
- people that killed black people -> regardless of their race were
not punished as harshly
*race of victim of homicide continues to influence decision on capital
punishment even when everything else taken into account
- David Baldus on Race + Death Penalty Sentences
- murders with white victims were 4x more likely to result in a death sentence
- strong evidence that despite attempts to make death penalty less arbitrary ->
remained arbitrary + affected by race
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- study used in McCleskey v. Kemp in attempt to challenge discrimination -> SC
ruled that discrimination had to be determined on case by case basis (cannot
generalize about system)
- Race + Death Penalty in CA
- murders w/white victims were:
- 3x as likely to result in death sentences as those w/black victims
- 4x more likely than those w/Hispanic victims
- Other Factors That Affect Death Penalty Sentences
- poverty
- “the poor man gets the chair” -> said by death row prison guard in North
Carolina
- very few rich or middle-class people on death row across country
- lack of education
- about half of death row inmates had graduated from high school
- about 83% of society as whole graduates from high school
- 1/8 did not make it past 8th grade as of 2013 (very rare within country)
*combined with race -> much more likely to wind up on death row than anyone
else
- death penalty even more unequally applied than if you just look at race
- white offenders on death row tend to be very poor + uneducated
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Bryan Stevenson = founder of Equal Justice Initiative
- works on death penalty cases in the South
- represents “the poor, incarcerated, + condemned”
- works mostly with black defendants
- main case covered in the book -> Walter McMillian of Monroeville, Alabama
- McMillian grew up in poor neighborhood but started own business in
timber industry
- was a respected member of the community
- had an affair with Karen Kelly, a younger white woman
- was falsely convicted + sentenced to death for murder of Ronda
Morrison (a while victim)
- implicated by Ralph Myers w/far-fetched, ridiculous story
- no true evidence against McMillian
- had solid alibi that was at his house selling sandwiches with
family members + fellow church goers
- people wanted to believe it was his fault
- nobody questioned his sentencing since he was a black man who
had an affair with a white woman + had own business
- type of person that community wanted to take down
- ended up spending 6 years on death row -> released in 1993
- Stevenson showed that witnesses had lied in trial + that prosecution had
suppressed exculpatory evidence
- other cases that Stevenson worked with throughout the novel pointed to issues
within the criminal justice system + use of death penalty
- looked at cases in which children were sentenced to death
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Until recently rate of support was rising. *less people support the death penalty if provided with other options such as life imprisonment w/o parole. Ca recently voted on abolishing death penalty + replacing w/life w/o parole -> measure did not pass. Furman v. georgia -> got rid of death penalty in 1972 w/moratorium (violated. Death penalty reinstated in 1976 w/gregg v. georgia. Majority of american citizens support the death penalty. Several states have gotten rid of the death penalty entirely. Top execution countries in 2017 (amnesty international) 140 countries have abolished in law or practice . Us continuing to have death penalty has caused friction with other nations. Death penalty was abolished in 1972 then re-instated in 1976. *as attitudes about the death penalty have changes over time the numbers on death row has been dropping. Including almost all other advanced industrial societies + some third world countries. Mexico has issues w/us for executing some mexican citizens.
