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Vanderbilt University Law School

2004

Capital punishment

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Death Penalty--An Obstacle To The "War Against Terrorism"?, Thomas M. Mcdonnell Jan 2004

The Death Penalty--An Obstacle To The "War Against Terrorism"?, Thomas M. Mcdonnell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

September 11 seared our collective memory perhaps even more vividly than December 7, 1941, and has evoked a natural demand both for retribution and for measures to keep us safe. Given the existing statutory and judicial authority for capital punishment, the U.S. Government has to confront the issue whether to seek the death penalty against those who are linked to the suicide attacks or to the organization that sponsored them or both. Meting out the death penalty to international terrorists involves difficult moral, legal, and policy questions. The September 11 crimes were not only domestic crimes, but also international ones. …


How Different Is Death? Jury Sentencing In Capital And Non-Capital Cases Compared, Nancy J. King Jan 2004

How Different Is Death? Jury Sentencing In Capital And Non-Capital Cases Compared, Nancy J. King

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Drawing upon a recent study of felony jury sentencing in Kentucky, Virginia, and Arkansas, this essay highlights some of the similarities and differences between jury sentencing in capital cases and jury sentencing in non-capital cases. Unlike jury sentencing in capital cases, jury sentencing in non-capital cases includes functional differentials in judge and jury options for sentencing, and fewer controls on arbitrary decision-making. Jury sentencing in both contexts shares the potential for reluctance on the part of elected judges to reduce jury sentences, information gaps on the part of jurors in setting sentences, and, above all, service as a tool in …