Chapter 20

The Death
Penalty
Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

The Death Penalty

The Debate over Capital Punishment
The Death Penalty in America
Death Row Population Public Opinion
The Death Penalty and the Constitution
Key U.S Supreme Court Decisions
Continuing Legal Issues
Who is on Death Row?
Who Are They?
Where Was the Crime Committed?
Who Was the Prosecutor?
Was Race a Factor?
A Continuing Debate?
Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

capital punishment debate

the PRO side
moral

arguments

retribution calls for death penalty

utilitarian

arguments (deterrence)

200 studies: most--no evidence of deterrence:

Peterson & Bailey: murder rates were higher in states

with death penalty than in adjacent states without it

Lempert: confirmed no effect
Ehrich: each execution between 1933 & 1969 prevented
between 7 & 8 murders
National Academy of Sciences reanalyzed data & dismissed
findings

economic

arguments

death penalty is less expensive than life

imprisonment

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

capital punishment debate

the CON side

moral arguments

capital punishment is not moral

state does not have the right to take a life

utilitarian arguments (deterrence)

no convincing evidence that capital punishment deters

many capital crimes cannot be deterred
drug/alcohol-based, psychological disturbance, rage

economic arguments

death penalty more expensive than life sentence

extra $216,000 to prosecute; $2.16 million to execute

other arguments

mistakes are unavoidable & irreversible

death sentence imposed in unfair & discriminatory way
e.g., by race, jurisdiction, even politics (see Houston)
e.g., 1,000 murders to 1 execution
Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

public opinion: death penalty

nearly 3/4 Americans support death penalty.
majority have supported it since Gallup

survey first asked about it in 1936

only exception was 1960 - 1965

support generally risen over last 35 years

important note on survey methodology:

support level depends on how question worded

when offered alternative to capital punishment,
many supporters opt for the alternative
life without possibility of parole

>20% shift to opposition, when given this option

life, in addition to restitution to the victim
Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Comparing Homicide Rates

and Executions in Four
States

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

% states with death penalty

NOdeathpenalty

24%

76%

WITHdeathpenalty

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Persons Executed in the

United States, 19302006

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Attitudes toward the Death

Penalty for Persons Convicted of
Murder, 19652006

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

death penalty
by the numbers
270

death sentences are pronounced

yearly

compared to 22,000 yearly arrests for murder &

non-negligent manslaughter

persons on death row exceeds 3,700

54 women are on death row

722 executions from 1976 - July, 2001

yearly executions generally > 74 since

1976

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Furman v. Georgia, 1972

U.S.

Supreme Court ruled that the death

penalty, as administered, constituted cruel
and unusual punishment, in violation of the
8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
invalidated death penalty laws of 39 states &
D.C.
35 states re-enacted laws
issue returned to Supreme Court...

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Gregg v. Georgia, 1976

U.S.

Supreme Court upheld death penalty

laws which

required the sentencing judge or jury to take

into account specific aggravating and
mitigating circumstances in deciding which
convicted murders should be sentenced to
death, and which
authorized a bifurcated proceeding (trial to
determine guilt and a separate hearing
exclusively to determine penalty)

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

McCleskey v. Kemp, 1987

U.S.

Supreme Court rejected a constitutional

challenge (to Georgias death penalty law)
on the grounds of racial discrimination
attorney cited rigorous research showing the
application of the death sentence in Georgia
was racially biased.
Court rejected claim (5-4 vote), ruling:

in cases alleging racial discrimination, defendant

has to prove decision makers acted with a

discriminatory purpose in that specific case.
statistical evidence showing discrimination
throughout the state was not adequate proof.

McKleskey executed in 1991

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

legal issues

re: capital punishment

executionof
insane
counsel
execution
ofjuveniles

populations
&processes

appeals

executionof
retarded
Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Ford v. Wainwright, 1986

U.S.

Supreme Court ruled the 8th

Amendment prohibited the state from
executing the incompetent; the accused
must comprehend both the fact that he has
been sentenced to death and reason for it.

accused was delusional, claiming KKK was part

of a conspiracy to get him to commit suicide
Court ruled there is no deterrent or retributive
value to executing the mentally disturbed
idea is offensive to humanity

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

execution of juveniles
minimum

84

age for execution varies by state

8 states dont specify

in some, age is same as juvenile waiver age

males on death row who were < 18

(at time of offense)
Thompson v. Oklahoma, 1988

decided that William Thompson, 15 when he

committed murder, could not be executed
Sanford v. Kentucky & Wilkins v. Missouri, 1989
offenders aged 16 and 17 can be executed

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

execution of the retarded

360 offenders on death row are retarded
the retarded account for 10% of executions
Penry v. Lynaugh, 1989

Supreme Court held 8th Amendment does NOT

prohibit execution of the mentally retarded;
Penry was a convicted killer with an IQ of 56
and mental capacity of a 7-year-old.

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

habeas corpus
petition

a writ requesting a court to review the

conditions of incarceration or the
basis of detention
habeas

corpus is the only means by

which a federal court can hear
challenges by state inmates to their
convictions and/or sentences
before an inmate may file a complaint in
federal court, he must exhaust all the
administrative remedies that the state
courts make available to him.

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

appeals
average time sentence - execution:
recent moves to limit that interval

7- 8 yrs

McCleskey v. Zant, 1991, Supreme Court:

except in exceptional circumstances, lower
federal courts must dismiss prisoners second
and subsequent habeas corpus petitions.
1993 Supreme Court: offender who presents
belated evidence of innocence not necessarily
entitled to new hearing in federal court;
evidence must be truly persuasive
Anti-Terrorism & Effective Death Penalty Act, 1996
death row inmates must file habeas corpus
petition within one year

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

counsel
appointed

counsel often receive small fees

e.g., $1,000 per case; $20/hr (Alab.);

$11.75/hr (Miss.)

Stickland

v. Washington, 1984, Supreme Crt:

defendant has a right to representation that

meets an objective standard of
reasonableness
accused must show that there is a reasonable
probability that, but for counsels
unprofessional errors, the result of the
proceeding would have been different.

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

where executions happen,

1976 - July, 2001

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

inmates on death row

by race

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th