Death Penalty in America, Legal Studies 485, Spring 2003

 

2-11-02

 

Class discussion

 

  1. Look at Tables 2-1 and 2-2.  How do capital crimes under state law compare to capital crimes under federal law?
  2. Do Tables 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4 support or refute the argument that the death penalty is an effective deterrent?  Explain.  Be specific.
  3. Look at Tables 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, and 4-8.  Can you draw out from these tables a profile (e.g. race, sex, age) of a person most likely to be a victim of criminal homicide?  Who is that person’s murderer most likely to be?  Who is next most likely to be a victim of a criminal homicide?  Who is that person’s murderer most likely to be?
  4. Look at table 4-9.  In which of these circumstances are murderer and victim likely to have known each other?  Without struggling over exact arithmetic calculations, is it more likely or less likely that the victim of a homicide knew his/her murderer? If you want to avoid getting killed, what activities does Table 4-9 tell you to stay away from?
  5. Look at Table 5-1.  Which state had the most prisoners on death row  in 1995?  Which state had the least?  Of all prisoners on death row in 1995, how many of them were White? How many were Black?  What percent of prisoners on death row were Black?  How does that percentage compare to the percentage of Blacks in the entire population?
  6. Do you think children should be executed if they commit first degree murder?  At what age would you draw the line? Look at Table 5-2. Which states have sentenced the most juvenile offenders to death? What is the racial breakdown of these juvenile offenders?  How does the proportion of Black and White juvenile offenders on death row compare to the proportion of Black and White adult prisoners?
  7. Look at Table 5-3.  How does the proportion of Black and White women prisoners on death row compare to the proportions for Black and White men?
  8. What, if anything, do you conclude from your answers to Questions 5, 6, 7?
  9. Look at Table 5-4.  About how long do convicted capital offenders spend on death row?
  10. Look at Tables 5-5 and 5-6.  What are the ways a capital prisoner is removed from death row?  What is the most likely way that a prisoner is removed from death row?  Which state(s) had the most sentences or convictions overturned?
  11. Look at Table 5-9. What does the data in this table suggest about the role of racism in the way the death penalty is carried out?



 

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