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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Futile Quest For Racial Neutrality In Capital Selection And The Eighth Amendment Argument For Abolition Based On Unconscious Racial Discrimination, Scott W. Howe
Scott W. Howe
This article begins by discussing the characteristics of current capital-sentencing systems that make racial discrimination in capital selection uncontrollable. It also summarizes the social-science evidence that white-victim bias widely plagues capital selection. The article then develops the two central arguments suggested by its title. First, it provides a detailed explanation of why proposals for federal regulatory reform cannot succeed in achieving racial neutrality in capital selection. Second, it provides a theory to explain why unconscious racial discrimination in capital selection violates the Eighth Amendment and, given the futility of federal regulatory remedies, justifies abolition.
Men Of A Thousand Days: Death-Sentenced Inmates At Utah State Prison, Sandra Mcgunigall-Smith
Men Of A Thousand Days: Death-Sentenced Inmates At Utah State Prison, Sandra Mcgunigall-Smith
Sandy McGunigall-Smith
Studies of the pains of confinement and coping techniques have ignored the experiences of death-sentenced inmates, particularly those in the USA housed under the punitive regimes of supermax facilities. This research is a qualitative, mini-longitudinal study carried out between 1997 and 2001 which examines the particular pains of confinement for inmates in the supermax facility of Utah State Prison and how they coped with life under the sentence of death. The findings suggest that these inmates experienced different pains and utilized different coping techniques than those described in prison literature.