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Review Essay #3, due April 29
Systemic Problems of Capital Punishment Process
In this section, we have looked at a variety of problems that are systemic, or system-wide, to capital punishment. The include inadequate and/or ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial discretion, factors influencing jury behavior, extent of mistaken convictions, flaws in the clemency process, and the high costs of execution. You could probably write a book about each one of these.
For this essay, explain each problem in a few paragraphs. Some will be easier to characterize than others. Be sure to include specific examples and references to demonstrate that you have mastered this material. Where possible, not connections between different problems.
What do you conclude from these systemic problems about the implementation of the death penalsy? Are the problems significant? Do they compromise the validity of capital sentences? Or, do they demonstrate the validity of capital sentences? Are any of them “fixable”? What would it take to fix them?