Death Penalty in America, Legal Studies 485, Spring 2003

 

04-15-03

 

Class discussion questions

 

From Bedau, chapter 25:

 

  1.  Who are the authors of this article?
  2. Why was Clarence Bradley convicted (p. 350-251)?  How was Walter McMillian convicted (p. 351)?  What did it take to overturn their death sentences?  How was Federico Macias’s conviction overturned (p. 352)?
  3. The authors of this article suggest that the burden shifts to the defendant to prove his innocence after a capital conviction (p. 356).  Why do they say this?  What is the standard for post conviction relief?  Do you think this standard is too high or too low or just right?  Explain

 

From “Capital Attrition” on course website:

 

  1. What did the researchers purport to do in this study?  What were their goals?  How did they go about collecting data?  (Sec. I and II)
  2. What are their principal findings?  What do they conclude is the overall capital error rate?  How does that compare to the error rate in noncapital cases?  What do they find are the two most common errors found during post-conviction review?  What happens to cases that are retried?  Are elected state judges more or less likely to overturn a conviction? (Section II)
  3. What is the purpose of including Section III?
  4. The researchers state certain implication of their principal findings?  Do you agree or disagree with the implications they draw from the data?  Be specific. (Section IV)

 

 

 

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