Deck 12: Capital Punishment and the Death Row Inmate

Question 1

Who is responsible for establishing that mitigating factors exist that should cause the jury to bring in a punishment recommendation other than death?

A) defense attorney
B) judge
C) prosecutor
D) victim

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which Supreme Court case declared the death penalty unconstitutional?

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Pulley v. Harris
D) McCleskey v. Kemp

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The U.S. Supreme Court decision that later followed Furman v. Georgia and declared the death penalty constitutional if and only if certain conditions are met was

A) Gregg v. Georgia
B) Tennessee v. Garner
C) Taylor v. South Carolina
D) Pulley v. Harris

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Recent research indicates that most people on death row are of what race?

A) black
B) white
C) Latino
D) Asian

Question 5

In which case did the Supreme Court rule that execution of the mentally handicapped was unconstitutional?

A) Atkins v. Virginia
B) Roper v. Simmons
C) Thompson v. Oklahoma
D) Witherspoon v. Illinois

Question 6

Research shows that the majority of Americans over the past two decades express which opinion?

A) support the death penalty.
B) oppose the death penalty.
C) have no opinion about the death penalty.
D) none of these

Question 7

The number of prisoners on death row nationwide is:

A) approximately 1,000.
B) approximately 3,000.
C) approximately 5,000.
D) approximately 8,000.

Question 8

Which Supreme Court case dealt specifically with aggravating factors relating to the death penalty?

A) Gregg v. Georgia
B) Pulley v. Harris
C) Kansas v. March
D) all of these choices

Question 9

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the insertion of the intravenous catheter to administer lethal injection must be made by a person who has at least:

A) 10 years of professional experience.
B) 5 years of professional experience.
C) 1 year of professional experience.
D) 3 months of professional experience.

Question 10

In which Supreme Court case did the defendant make the argument that the imposition of the death penalty was cruel and unusual because African American men killing white victims are sentenced to death with greater frequency than white men killing white victims?

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Pulley v. Harris
D) McCleskey v. Kemp

Question 11

What is the term used for convicted murders who continue to waive at least part of their ordinary appeals at the time of their execution?

A) the willing
B) volunteers
C) the chosen
D) mercenaries

Question 12

Which country maintains its secrecy over its use of the death penalty?

A) China
B) Russia
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Yemen

Question 13

The Supreme Court has ruled that no one who commits crime under the age of 18:

A) can be given the death penalty.
B) can be imprisoned past their 18^th birthday.
C) can have a sealed record.
D) can be sent to an adult prison.

Question 14

During which phase of the judicial process does the jury determine whether the person will be sentenced to death or life in prison?

A) death phase
B) guilt/innocence phase
C) innocence phase
D) punishment phase

Question 15

The majority of prisoners on death row:

A) receive the same amount of privileges as regular prisoners.
B) are segregated from the general prison population.
C) cannot receive visits from family members.
D) are allowed cell phones.

Question 16

The review process for prisoners on death row takes 10 or more years from conviction to execution because of which of the following?

A) there is the possibility of error
B) death penalty appeals are complex and take time
C) of appellate delays
D) all of these

Question 17

The predominant method of execution in the United States is:

A) the electric chair.
B) the gas chamber.
C) hanging.
D) lethal injection.

Question 18

Why does the death penalty remain a form of punishment in the United States?

A) public opinion supports capital punishment
B) political support for the death penalty
C) both public opinion and political support
D) neither public opinion nor political support

Question 19

The majority of executions occur in which U.S. state?

A) California
B) Virginia
C) Texas
D) Arizona

Question 20

The trend worldwide is to:

A) establish the death penalty in all countries.
B) abolish the death penalty worldwide.
C) sentence more offenders to death for other crimes beyond murder.
D) abolish the death penalty in practice but not in law.

Question 21

The review process can take 10 or more years from conviction to execution.

Question 22

Retentionists argue that the death penalty is used in a racist fashion and violates constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.

Question 23

The majority of the American public no longer supports the death penalty.

Question 24

How many officers usually escort the condemned from their cells to the execution room?

A) two
B) four
C) six
D) eight

Question 25

Which Supreme Court decision disallowed the execution of juveniles under the age of 18 who committed a capital crime?

A) Atkins v. Virginia
B) Roper v. Simmons
C) Thompson v. Oklahoma
D) Witherspoon v. Illinois

Question 26

The death penalty is used in every U.S. state except for West Virginia, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Arizona.

Question 27

States that impose capital punishment opt to use the electric chair as their method of execution.

Question 28

Which of the following is not a retentionist argument for the death penalty?

A) deterrence
B) fairness
C) pragmatic issues
D) threat of recidivism

Question 29

No state permits inmates to choose their method of execution .

Question 30

A death-qualified jury means that:

A) all jury members must oppose capital punishment.
B) defense attorneys must approve of the death penalty.
C) prosecuting attorneys must approve of the death penalty.
D) any person opposed in concept to capital punishment is removed during voir dire.

Question 31

One task of the prosecution in a death penalty case is to establish that the sentence should be death because the aggravating causes in the case exceed any potential mitigating causes.

Question 32

The case of Pulley v. California mandated that at least 10 percent of the jury hearing a death penalty case must be similar in race or gender to the defendant.

Question 33

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that Kentucky's lethal injection protocol satisfies the Eighth Amendment.

Question 34

Responses of inmates on death row include all of the following, except :

A) claiming innocence.
B) focusing on legal appeals.
C) adopting religion.
D) claiming guilt

Question 35

Which type of attempts to calculate the impact that a well-publicized execution has on the short-term murder rate?

A) contiguous-state analysis
B) immediate impact studies
C) time-series analysis
D) short-term controlled studies

Question 36

The team that carries out the official act of putting an inmate to death is called the:

A) execution team.
B) lethal crew.
C) capital team.
D) mortal crew.

Question 37

In the Supreme Court case of McClesky v. Kemp (1987), the court ruled that the Sixth Amendment requires that aggravating circumstances must be found by a jury, not a judge.

Question 38

Officers who work on death row are characterized by which of the following?

A) develop a rapport with the offenders.
B) feel a sense of loss when offenders are put to death.
C) do not feel responsible for putting offenders to death.
D) all of these

Question 39

The Supreme Court case of  Gregg v. Georgia first brought the death penalty to a halt in 1972 due to issues of cruel and unusual punishment.

Question 40

All of the following are reasons that a majority of death penalty convictions have been overturned except :

A) incompetent defense counsel
B) suppression of exculpatory evidence
C) false confessions
D) incompetent prosecutors

Question 41

In California, murder for profit, murder perpetrated by explosion, and murder of a police officer on active duty are all examples of ____________________.

Question 42

Most inmates on death row are black males.

Question 43

In  Witherspoon v. Illinois , the Supreme Court upheld the practice of removing jurors who ____________________the death penalty.

Question 44

In ____________________, the Supreme Court prohibited the state from executing persons with mental illness.

Question 45

In a capital trial, those who are convicted of murder and who continue to waive at least part of their ordinary appeals at the time of their execution are referred to as_____________.

Question 46

For every one female executed in the United States, three males are executed, meaning that only 33 percent of those killed on death row are women.

Question 47

____________________ , the predominant method of execution, is used in 35 states and by the federal government.

Question 48

In the Supreme Court case of Stanford v. Kentucky, the court upheld the practice of removing jurors who are opposed to the death penalty.

Question 49

In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in ____________________ that execution of the mentally retarded was unconstitutional

Question 50

Challengers to the legitimacy of capital punishment have built their case against the death penalty by the ambiguous language of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

Question 51

The United States is one of the few nations that have executed juvenile offenders.

Question 52

Abolitionists make the argument that the death penalty is several times more expensive than confining an inmate for the duration of his or her life.

Question 53

The warden examines the body at the time of execution and pronounces death.

Question 54

The first phase of a capital trial is the ____________________ phase, where the jury determines whether the accused is guilty or not guilty of the capital offense with which he or she is being charged.

Question 55

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in ____________________ that juveniles under the age of 16 at the time of the crime could not be executed.

Question 56

Based on recent empirical studies, it has been found that capital punishment is in fact a major deterrent for those who maybe considering the act of murder.

Question 57

The human rights group known as ____________________ contends that humanitarian standards require that people with mental impairment should not be subjected to the death penalty.

Question 58

A method to limit appeals is to restrict the use of ____________________,  whereby prisoners on death row argue that their detention as condemned persons is based on some error in the administration of the law.

Question 59

____________________ was the U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared the death penalty constitutional if certain conditions are met.

Question 60

Inmates on death row are prohibited any visitors, except for religious clergy.

Question 61

Describe the state court appeals process in a death penalty case.

Question 62

The 24- to 48-hour period prior to an execution is known as ____________________.

Question 63

Explain why the review process takes an average of 10 or more years from conviction to execution.

Question 64

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ____________________ allowed the execution of juveniles who were age 17 at the time of the crime.

Question 65

Discuss the average profile of a death row inmate in the U.S.

Question 66

Please discuss how most corrections officers who work on death row view their jobs?

Question 67

Does the Supreme Court allow the execution of mentally impaired inmates?

Question 68

Does the Supreme Court allow the execution of juvenile inmates?

Question 69

Those correctional staff who carry out an execution are referred to as the __________  _____________.

Question 70

A ____________________jury means that any person opposed in concept to capital punishment is removed during jury selection ( voir dire ).

Question 71

What is the international opinion surrounding the death penalty?

Question 72

In the United States, what is the public opinion related to the death penalty?

Question 73

What has research shown in regard to capital punishment as an effective deterrent?