Death
Penalty in America, Legal Studies 485, Spring 2003
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Death
Penalty in America, Legal Studies 485, Spring 2003 |
The purpose of this review essay is to have you analyze the legal reasoning in leading U.S. Supreme Court cases that address the death penalty. The question you are addressing is how the Supreme Court applies the Eighth Amendment to the Death Penalty.
Keep in mind that it is probably impossible to reconcile all of these cases, since the Court and its membership has changed drastically since Furman. Note any significant changes in the Court’s analysis.
Start with Furman v. Georgia. Explain the Court’s ruling and the major disagreements among the justices. Then look at Gregg v. Georgia and explain why the Court now thinks the death penalty does not violated the Eighth Amendment. The rest of the cases discuss specific topics: mandatory sentencing, capital crimes, executing people who were juveniles at the time they committed murder, executing people who are mentally retarded, and racism.
Identify the common themes or threads that run through the cases. For instance, many of the cases are based on the “evolving standards of decency in a maturing society.” How does the Court define this? What factors does the Court rely on to analyze whether the evolving standards of decency allow or disallow a particular aspect of the Death Penalty? When does the Court apply its “own judgment” in death penalty cases?
Another common theme is that the death penalty must be fair and not arbitrary. How does the Court determine if a death penalty statute is arbitrary or unfair? How does the Court deal with the question of race?
You can assume that I have a pretty good familiarity with these cases. There’s no need to recite all the facts or procedural details.
A strong essay will discuss each case we have covered in class, describing the salient parts of the Court’s reasoning. A strong essay will also draw conclusions about the Supreme Court’s views on the death penalty and discuss whether the Supreme Court will ever declare the death penalty unconstitutional and, if so, under what circumstances.
Your essay should be 5-7 pages long.