Dealth penalty information PDF

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entire summary of death penalty information. includes professor powerpoint, film, documentaries ...

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Powerpoint lecture - 8th amendment ● bail is money you pay to court as a guarantee you will return for trial ○ Refunded to you ehen you show up ● Fines - punishments paid to courts - NOT refunded ● Furnman v georgia ○ Charged w felony murder - broke in a home to commit burgulary. Ferman shot in the dark or tripped over the weapon accidentally - killed the resident. He is convicted to felony murder and convicted to death on the basis of his unsworn testimony ○ Real issue - is the dealth penalty a cruel and unusual punishment? If we execute are we somehow engaging in an unnecessary punishment AND racism (raciam biased) ○ African americans were more likely to be convicted for anything ○ Supreme court: the du process rights of defendant are benig violated. Court cannot determine why one defendant gets death or live w parole. ■ Have to revise death penalty ■ Dealth penalty support was high in us ● Gregg v georgia ○ States wanted to comply with supreme court but they wanted to keep death penalty ○ Gregg was hitchhiking, robbed men and stole vehicle. Convicted of 2 murders and subjected to heath under new georgia death penalty ○ Supreme courts ● Legal Safeguards against Arbitrary and Capricious Outcomes ○ Just felony murder is eligible for death penalty ○ Jury decide on sentence - as opposed to 1 judge ○ Most cases go further than automatic appeals - mostly fill out more ○ 1st person to be executed in new laws :Gary gilmore ● Aggravating circumstances ○ Part of the death penality ○ Add murder of elderly/children ○ States have to spell out what makes a crime haneous ○ They only have to prove ONE on the list ● Mitigating circumstance ○ Things that might make the crime less serious and less eligible for delth penalty ○ Show that someone impacted their behavior ● The new system is still racist ○ Pre-ferman and post-ferman ■ Before they had to redo everything. Post should be imporved ○ Mcclesky v kemp - 1987 - mcclesky - black defendant kills a white police officer. Kemp is attorney general in georgia. ■ Convicted and sentenced to dealth bc killed police officer. ■ He thinks this is still racist and his race should not imact his dealth penalty process

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Has proof - baldus study - race is still an important predictor of who gets penalty. Murders with a white victim are 4.3 more likely to be executed than murders with a black victim ● Did HE recieve racism - harder to prove special groups of defendants ○ Atkins v virginina ■ Atkins and codefendant and shoot victim 8 times killing him ■ Has a very low iq ■ Supreme court - against law to kill mentally retarded - leave it up to tehe state to define mental retardation ■ Doesnt die - live w/o parole ○ Roper v simmons ■ Simmons (17yr) and 2 other young men plan to break into house and kill a girl ■ Throw her over a bridge over water and she drowns ■ If tour under 18 at the time of your crime then you cannot face death penalty Death penalty ~currently~ ○ South is the source of most executions ○ Do not use dealth pennalty in PA Death row stat ○ Downward trend in execution starts in 2018 ■ Public support has decreased ■ Getting the drugs to kill is harder ■ More likely to die from natural causes than from execution Important differences ○ If you dont like the death penalty then you wouldnt be chosen to be on the jury Gender and race on death row ○ Since 1976 - 56% were white, 34% black Race of the victim - white victims are getting better justice than black victims ○ 15% of black victims had their defendant end up on death row Exonerations Public opinons ○ 1985 - 80% poeple favor death penalty ○ Support drops to 56% ■ There is greater concern today that we may execute someone that didnt do the crime ○ Public shifts from wanting death penalty to lime imprisonment w no parole.

Ted talk ● Client - will, schizophrenic mom that tried to kill him. Then lived w bother who committed suicide. Joined a gang and murdered someone. He was executed for the crime

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1980s - death row inmates finally got lawyers More lead toward prison w no parole ○ The earlier you interviene in a case the more likely you can save your clinets life ○ “Points of intervention” Nudge them off the path that they were on****** We have a lot to learn - there are a wide varieties to intervine We need to pay sooner than later ○ The penalty - amazon prime ● Mother (darlene) wants killer to get death penalty ○ But killing him wont bring my daughter back ○ Killer - james rose ■ 67 iq, product of the system ● Court doesnt think this is an excuse - dealth penalty will remain ○ ‘Some people have lost the right to live in society with us’ ○ Brother of the victim wants him to die ■ “I want to buy him a bible and ask god to forgive him. I cant but maybe he could” ○ Gets life in prison w no parole ● -dif case- Inmate EXONERATED ○ Damon said he did certain things - it was a false didn't happen ○ 9hr interrogation ○ “When you break you'll tell them anything that they want to hear’ ■ Reminds me of central park 5 ○ ● Dennis McGuire ○ 53 being killed with different drugs never before used together ○ Killed a pregnant woman ○ Public defender fights for him to be killed humanely bc the drugs will be painful ○ Mcguire gasped for 26 minutes until he died ○ Received no compensation for his wrong time in prison

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Discussion board

1) Has your opinion on Capital Punishment changed? Explain why or why not. I have never been a fan of the death penalty - and my opinion has not changed. I believe that it is not right to kill someone just because they did something very bad. I can see why someone would think this - as it has crossed my mind to side with the death penalty - but ultimately I do not think it is right to inject drugs to kill someone like an animal. 2) What was the most persuasive source of information? Why was it persuasive? The film The Penalty really gave me a lot of information about persuading people

to disagree with forms of the death penalty. The public defender fighting for Dennis McGuire was okay with the death penalty, as long as he was not killed in inhumane ways. This was persuading to me because if it is a quick death it does not seem as bad in my mind. What I did like was how the attorney fought for McGuire to be killed in a humane way. Although he did not win his battle, I commend his efforts. Also, I could see why the victim’s family wanted James Rose to die but ultimately they ended up changing their mind. They stated that they wanted all of this to be over and that they would be okay with him just getting jail for life with no parole. The brother of the victim stated that he wanted to buy Rose a bible and ask God to forgive him. He could never forgive him but maybe God could. I think that is the most inspiring part of the film. It is not right to kill someone because they killed someone else. Although it is very hard, it is better to hope that they receive their karma and that they will never hurt anyone ever again. I am a huge believer in life in prison with no parole. This option makes the killer think about his decision every single day. This option also keeps he/she off of the streets and unable to hurt anyone else. 1) Is racism present in the usage of Capital Punishment? Cite evidence for your position? I believe that there are strong reasons for and against racism being a factor in capital punishment. My opinion is that it can vary in where you are at and who is viewing your case. Racism has been around for many years and I think that it is wrong to think that it has disappeared. As much as I want to say racism is no longer - it is not practical. Just like someone’s gender, their race also matters (I do not agree with this personally!) From chapter seven’s PowerPoint and the case of McClesky v. Kemp - McClesky has proof that race is still an important predictor of who gets the penalty (known as the Baldus study). Murders with a white victim are 4.3 more likely to be executed than murders with a black victim. But this doesn’t do much for him because it is hard to cite how and individual is being mistreated from his race. Chapter seven’s PowerPoint also highlights that there are more white men on death row than any other race (Since 1976 - 56% were white, 34% black). This is hard to believe but I think that we need to base our reasoning off of statistics and not racism we see through our daily life. This stat makes me think that racism isn’t as present as we would think it is. 2) Do you think it is possible to use Capital Punishment in a race-neutral manner in the United States? Explain your rationale. I think that it is a really touchy thing to say that something in our court system is neutral. Nothing is ever neutral. I believe it not possible to be race-neutral in the united states because there will always be racist people in the world. Some people are too stubborn to ever allow the views of someone else to change their opinions. To look at it in regards to white offenders, it isn't even neutral now because of my current statistic. Since 1976, 56% of people on death row were white. The next highest percentage is 34% black. That is not equal. I don’t expect it to be the same percentage, but when you are talking about people’s lives, a 20% difference is quite large....