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Criminal Law - Death Penalty: Jury Discretion Bridled, J. Craig Young

Campbell Law Review

The Eighth Amendment requires that the jury be given discretion in capital cases, but this discretion must be guided with objective standards. North Carolina's attempt to conform to this constitutional standard is found in N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 15A-2000 to 2003, effective June 1, 1977.

A "Meaningful" Basis For The Death Penalty: The Practice, Constitutionality, And Justice Of Capital Punishment In South Carolina, F. P. Hubbard, Benton G. Burry, Robert L. Widener

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecutorial Peremptory Challenge Practices In Capital Cases: An Empirical Study And A Constitutional Analysis, Bruce J. Winick

Michigan Law Review

As presently construed, the Constitution does not prohibit the death penalty. The states and the federal government may punish the commission of certain crimes with death, so long as the extreme penalty is not imposed on a mandatory basis and so long as the procedures used in imposing a death sentence meet constitutional scrutiny.

A demonstration that the prosecutor used the peremptory challenge in the manner described in a single case probably would be insufficient to support a constitutional challenge in the federal courts and in the vast majority of state courts. In these courts a prosecutor's use of the …

Capital Punishment : Public Opinion And Abolition In Great Britain During The Twentieth Century, Carol A. Ransone

Master's Theses

Some form of capital punishment has been practiced for as long as there has been recorded history. Early laws were generally harsh and failed to consider the impact of crime on society. In 621 B.C. the Code of Dracon recorded the laws observed in Athens. The Code of Dracon revealed that almost all offences were punishable by death. Two centuries later a more humanitarian attitude was expressed in Greece. Plato believed in the segregation and reform of the criminal rather than his execution.

In England the death penalty for felony convictions was traced to the reign of Henry I. It …

Deterrence, Death, And The Victims Of Crime: A Common Sense Approach, Frank G. Carrington

Vanderbilt Law Review

The concept of deterrence is one of the most important in the formulations of the victim advocate, primarily because of two essential premises that underlie the entire field of victim advocacy.The first, but not necessarily the most important, of these premises concerns the policy that favors assuaging the plight of persons after they have been victimized. This relief can be provided in a number of different ways: compensation to innocent victims from the states; restitution to victims as a condition of granting probation to the criminal; victim counselling; and victim/witness assistance programs.' The second premise of victim advocacy, namely,preventing victimization …

The Death Penalty Cases: Shaping Substantive Criminal Law, David R. Schieferstein

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Administering The Death Penalty

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Retributivist Argument Against Capital Punishment, Robert A. Pugsley

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sentencing A Defendant To Death: Procedural Review Of The Use Of Testimony From Compelled Psychiatric Examinations, Lori Ann Weiner

University of Miami Law Review

In this casenote, the author critically examines the recent decision of Smith v. Estelle, in which the Fifth Circuit used a dual rationale for vacating a death sentence. The court held that Texas violated the defendant's due process rights by producing a surprise psychiatric witness at sentencing. The court held also that the defendant had a fifth amendment right to refuse a court-compelled psychiatric examination because he had not waived that right by raising an insanity defense. Discussing this decision in the context of the constitutionality of death sentencing procedures, the author argues that the Supreme Court should uphold …

The Jury System In Death Penalty Cases: A Symbolic Gesture, Courtney Mullin

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Deterrence And The Celerity Of The Death Penalty - A Neglected Question In Deterrence Research, William C. Bailey

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

This paper examines the deterrent effect of the celerity of the death penalty on homicide rates. Although in recent years there have been a number of investigations of the certainty of execution and deterrence, the effect of celerity of execution has not been examined empirically. As a result, we can only speculate about the merit of the deterrence hypothesis for the celerity of executions, and how previous deterrence and death penalty investigations may be biased due to celerity being ignored. The deterrent effect of the certainty and celerity of the death penalty on homicide rates is examined cross-sectionally for states. …

For Capital Punishment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Book Notice about For Capital Punishment by Walter Berns

Guiding Capital Sentencing Discretion Beyond The "Boiler Plate": Mental Disorder As A Mitigating Factor, James S. Liebman, Michael J. Shepard

Faculty Scholarship

In five decisions handed down on July 2, 1976, the United States Supreme Court held that the death penalty may be imposed for the crime of murder, so long as there are clear standards to guide the sentencing authority and the sanction is not imposed mandatorily. The authors examine the eighth amendment doctrinal framework used by the Court in the July 2 Cases, with particular reference to the requirement that individualized mitigating information be considered in the sentencing decision. Illustrating that requirement, they contend that mental disorder should be considered as a possibly mitigating factor and then suggest a standard …

Eighth Amendment Challenges To The Death Penalty: The Relevance Of Informed Public Opinion, Charles W. Thomas

Vanderbilt Law Review

In light of the Court's recent holding in Gregg v. Georgia, future death penalty challenges almost certainly will focus upon the type and quality of evidence available to serve as "objective indicia that reflect the public attitude toward a given sanction."'" Unfortunately, the "objective indicia" that can be relied upon and the manner in which they are to be weighted is not altogether clear. In Gregg, for example, the Court emphasized such traditional considerations as legislative enactments, decisions rendered by juries, and the single post-Furman referendum on the death penalty.'" Additionally, evidence pertaining to the determinants of public support for …

Murder And Death Penalty, William C. Bailey

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

The article examines the relationship between homicide and capital punishment. Studies by several researches have convinced most students of homicide that the ineffectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to murder has been demonstrated conclusively. Not all remain convinced, however, of the conclusiveness of the evidence. Comparative examinations of homicide rates before and after abolition, and in some cases, the restoration of the death penalty, have also questioned the efficacy of capital punishment. In sum, the evidence reported here falls within the pattern of previous death penalty investigations which span five decades.

Florida's Legislative And Judicial Responses To Furman V. Georgia: An Analysis And Criticism, Tim Thornton

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Some Legislative History And Comments On Ohio's New Criminal Code , Harry J. Lehman, Alan E. Norris

Cleveland State Law Review

Having briefly outlined the history of the formal development of the Act, it is the purpose of this Article to discuss in narrative form the legislative process on certain key provisions which were the subject of much debate and disagreement. These areas of disagreement include murder and felony penalties, especially minimum sentences; capital punishment to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman decision as well as other changes; parole eligibility for those serving life sentences for a capital offense; early release on parole, also known as shock parole; eligibility for probation; definition of reasonable doubt and jury instructions on reasonable …

The Response To Furman: Can Legislators Breathe Life Back Into Death, Carol Irvin, Howard E. Rose

Cleveland State Law Review

In the eighteen months since the Supreme Court of the United States struck down capital punishment in Furman v. Georgia twenty-three states have reinstated the death penalty. While the Supreme Court has not yet heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of these statutes, their validity will determine the fate of the forty-four persons currently awaiting execution in eight states. It is the purpose of this comment to consider the statutes reinstating capital punishment, in light of Furman.

The Eighth Amendment And Kentucky's New Capital Punishment Provisions--Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop, David Lemaster

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Florida's Legislative Response To Furman: An Exercise In Futility?, Charles W. Ehrhardt, Harold Levinson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Capital Punishment In Florida: Analysis And Recommendations, Charles W. Ehrhardt, Phillip A. Hubbart, Harold Levinson, William Mckinley Smiley, Thomas A. Wills

Scholarly Publications

The Supreme Court's decision abolishing the death penalty, at least as it existed in most jurisdictions, hardly represents the final resolution of the controversy over capital punishment. Given substantial public sentiment which apparently favors capital punishment in some form-voiced, for example, in the results of the recent referendum in California-various legislative bodies will face the question of whether capital punishment can and should be legislatively reinstated. In December 1972 the State of Florida became the first jurisdiction to pass judgment on this question. The legislature enacted a bill allowing imposition of the death penalty in certain circumstances. The two articles …