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Lethal Injection And The Right Of Access: The Intersection Of The Eighth And First Amendments, Timothy F. Brown Jan 2014

Lethal Injection And The Right Of Access: The Intersection Of The Eighth And First Amendments, Timothy F. Brown

Timothy Brown

The Spring and Summer of 2014 have witnessed renewed debate on the constitutionality of the death penalty after a series of high profile legal battles concerning access to lethal injection protocols and subsequent questionable executions. Due to shortages in the drugs traditionally used for the lethal injection, States have changed their lethal injection protocols to shield information from both the prisoners and the public. Citing public safety concerns, the States refuse to release information concerning the procurement of the drugs to the public. Such obstruction hinders the public’s ability to determine the cruelty of the punishment imposed and creates the …


Race And The Death Penalty: An Empirical Assessment Of First Degree Murder Convictions In Tennessee After Gregg V. Georgia, John M. Scheb Ii, Hemant K. Sharma, David J. Houston, Kristin Wagers Sep 2012

Race And The Death Penalty: An Empirical Assessment Of First Degree Murder Convictions In Tennessee After Gregg V. Georgia, John M. Scheb Ii, Hemant K. Sharma, David J. Houston, Kristin Wagers

John M Scheb II

We analyze over 1,000 first-degree murder convictions in the state of Tennessee from 1977 through 2007 to determine if either “race-of-defendant” or “race-of-victim” effects are present when it comes to the application of capital punishment. We control for numerous factors related to the demographics of offender and victim, as well as the circumstances of the crime itself and the availability of evidence. Our primary findings note that prosecutors are more likely to seek a death sentence when a victim is white, but we also find that juries are not affected by the race of the victim. We also find no …


Missouri's Ring Tone: Jury Sentencing Rights In Death Penalty Cases, Jacqueline M. Whipple Aug 2011

Missouri's Ring Tone: Jury Sentencing Rights In Death Penalty Cases, Jacqueline M. Whipple

Jacqueline M. Whipple

This Law Summary concerns recent developments in criminal law and the death penalty. It includes the national and state-specific legal background behind criminal defendants' rights regarding jury sentencing, and the latest interpretation and application of the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Ring v. Arizona by the Missouri Supreme Court.