Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
Radical Discrimination In The Death Penalty In Tennessee: An Empirical Assessment, John M. Scheb Ii, Kristin A. Wagers
Radical Discrimination In The Death Penalty In Tennessee: An Empirical Assessment, John M. Scheb Ii, Kristin A. Wagers
Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy
The intense media coverage of the United States Supreme Court's recent decisions in Baze v. Rees' and Kennedy v. Louisiana highlights the ongoing saliency of the death penalty in American politics. In this article, we use empirical evidence to shed light on this controversy. Our analysis utilizes data from 1,068 first-degree murder convictions rendered in Tennessee between 1977 and 2007. The questions animating our research are: 1) What factors led prosecutors to seek the death penalty? and 2) What factors led juries to impose it? In particular, we are interested in the role that race plays in these decisions. Does …
Fact-Based Death Penalty Research, Lewis L. Laska
Fact-Based Death Penalty Research, Lewis L. Laska
Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy
The goal of fact-based death penalty research is, simply put, to capture and document as many facts surrounding legal executions as possible, organize them in a clear and logical manner, and present them without bias, cant, or sentiment. This compilation of facts is then made available for an analysis of whether patterns appear suggesting which facts were and possibly still remain the leading factors influencing legal death. The focus of fact-based research is clear and orderly facts. Indeed, publications that grow out of fact-based death penalty research document executions in chronological order, and each entry includes the executed person's name, …