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Keynote Address: Political And Social Misconception Fueling The Death Penalty, David Bruck

David I. Bruck

No abstract provided.

A Pro-Death, Self-Fulfilling Constitutional Construct: The Supreme Court’S Evolving Standard Of Decency For The Death Penalty, Susan Raeker-Jordan

Susan Raeker-Jordan

In recent Eighth Amendment decisions applying the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause to substantive challenges to the death penalty, a plurality of the United States Supreme Court has favored employing only the "evolving standards of decency" test of constitutionality, purportedly because it is an objective measurement of cruelty and unusualness. The Article will show, however, that contrary to the assertions of some Court members, the indicia for ascertaining the evolving standard of decency are far from objective. Rather, the evidence gleaned from he "objective indicia" of legislative enactments and jury sentencing behavior can be and has been rigged to favor …

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