Quiz 13: Study Guide
Study Guide Quiz 13 -- CRJU 3311 The Death Penalty
8th Amendment: is succinct:
14th Amendment is complex:
The constitutional arguments against the death penalty
The “public opinion” arguments against the death penalty
Main reason that executions were done as a public spectacle
The sequence of methods used in American executions, which made them more acceptable to the public
States that have abolished the death penalty
* 19 States, mostly Northern: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mass, Michigan, Minn, New Jeresy, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia.
Executions conducted during the decade of the 1930’s
Five states that make use of the death penalty most frequently
The Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia (1972) -- The Supreme Court case Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Evidence showing that executions are "arbitrarily" conducted
Arbitrary: based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
Supporters: informed selectivity -- Opponents: selectivity uninformed
Common crimes for which a person is eligible for execution
Discretion determines which cases tried with the sentence of death
Woman -- does not get the death penalty -- commonplace for men
The age at which a juvenile can be executed
Justifications the death-penalty -- refutation
Cost effectiveness of the death penalty vs life in prison
* Furman and Gregg: William Henry Furman (Furman v. Georgia) was burglarizing a house in Savannah on August 11, 1967. When William Micke awoke, Furman shot and killed him. Furman claimed he had turned and blindly fired a shot while fleeing. He later contradicted and said he tripped and the weapon he was carrying fired accidentally. The shooting occurred during the commission of a felony, making it a death-eligible offense (Murder). Furman was convicted and sentenced to death, the punishment was never carried out. Resulted in a moratorium on capital punishment in America in 1972. Furman was paroled in April 1984, and in 2004 was convicted on a robbery charge for which he got a 20 year sentence.
The moratorium was lifted by Gregg v. Georgia (1976). On November 21, 1973, while hitchhiking, Troy Leon Gregg was picked up by Fred Simmons and Bob Moore. He killed both while robbing them. The Supreme Court held that the State of Georgia could constitutionally put Gregg to death.
However, On July 28, 1980, Gregg sawed through the bars in his prison cell, and along with accomplices, escaped in a car dressed in homemade correctional officer uniforms. Gregg was beaten to death later that night in a bar fight in North Carolina. The other escapees were captured three days later