Deck 5: The Death Penalty at the Federal Level, in the Military, and Globally

Question 1

In which of the following courts are violations of federal capital punishment statutes first adjudicated?

A) federal district courts
B) federal circuit courts of appeal
C) the U.S. Supreme Court
D) state supreme courts
E) none of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

How many justices must vote to hear a case before the Supreme Court hears the case?

A) 1
B) 4
C) 5
D) 9
E) none of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

How many U.S. Supreme Court justices does it take to stay, or stop, an execution?

A) none (justices cannot stay or stop an execution)
B) 1
C) 4
D) 5
E) 7

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is the name of an order from a higher court to call up the records of a lower court or to remove a case pending in a lower court to a higher court?

A) writ of habeas corpus
B) writ of certiorari
C) writ of mandamus
D) writ of judicial reversal
E) none of the above

Question 5

What is the name of an order requiring that a prisoner be brought before a court at a stated time and place to decide the legality of his or her detention or imprisonment?

A) writ of habeas corpus
B) writ of certiorari
C) writ of mandamus
D) writ of judicial reversal
E) none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following actions can the Supreme Court take when it decides a case it has accepted on appeal?

A) affirm the verdict or decision of the lower court and "let it stand"
B) modify the verdict or decision of the lower court, without totally reversing it
C) reverse the verdict or decision of the lower court, requiring no further court action
D) reverse the verdict or decision of the lower court and remand the case to the court of original jurisdiction, for either retrial or resentencing
E) the Court can take all of the aforementioned actions

Question 7

In which of the following years did Congress enact a death penalty statute for murder in the course of a drug-kingpin conspiracy and, in doing so, created new death penalty procedures that would meet the requirements of Furman?

A) 1963
B) 1976
C) 1988
D) 1994
E) none of the above

Question 8

What is the minimum number of attorneys that must be appointed to represent federal capital defendants?

A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 4
E) none of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is not a ground for appeal of a federal death sentence?

A) the death sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor
B) the admissible evidence and information adduced does not support the special finding of the existence of the required aggravating factor
C) the proceedings involved a legal error requiring reversal which was properly preserved for appeal under the rules of criminal procedure
D) the finding of two or more mitigating circumstances
E) all of the above are grounds for appeal

Question 10

Which of the following groups is not exempted from the federal death penalty?

A) persons less than 18 years of age at the time of the offense
B) mentally retarded persons
C) insane persons
D) pregnant women
E) all of the groups are exempted

Question 11

Who and when was the first person executed by the U.S. government?

A) George Kendall in 1608
B) Benedict Arnold in 1779
C) Thomas Bird in 1790
D) Aaron Burr in 1803
E) none of the above

Question 12

Where did the Federal Bureau of Prisons construct the first national execution chamber in American history?

A) Terre Haute, Indiana
B) Leavenworth, Kansas
C) Florence, Colorado
D) Stark, Florida
E) none of the above

Question 13

When did the federal death-row facility become operational?

A) 1846
B) 1946
C) 1995
D) 1999
E) none of the above

Question 14

Who was the first person executed in the federal death chamber?

A) Timothy McVeigh
B) Juan Raul Garza
C) Richard Speck
D) Charles Manson
E) none of the above

Question 15

What was distinctive about the execution of Juan Raul Garza?

A) he was the first person executed by the federal government in nearly 40 years
B) he was considered the worst mass murderer in American history
C) his case cost American taxpayers more than $100 million
D) he was the first person executed under the 1988 federal "drug kingpin" statute, which allows the death penalty to be imposed on murders resulting from large-scale illegal drug operations.
E) all of the above

Question 16

According to a Justice Department study, what percent of federal defendants charged with capital offenses between 1995 and 2000 were minorities?

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 80
E) 95

Question 17

According to a Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel study, approximately what percent of the1500 organized crime figures that had been convicted between1996 and 2000 faced a death sentence, including those who committed multiple murders?

A) 0
B) 10
C) 25
D) 50
E) 75

Question 18

As of November 2010, approximately what percent of the 60 people under a federal death sentence were male?

A) 0
B) 23
C) 47
D) 71
E) 97

Question 19

As of November 2010, approximately what percent of the 60 people under a federal death sentence were black?

A) 10
B) 33
C) 45
D) 67
E) 100

Question 20

Which of the following is not true about the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996?

A) it requires that second or subsequent habeas petitions be dismissed when the claim had already been made in a previous petition
B) it requires that new claims be dismissed, unless the Supreme Court hands down a new rule of constitutional law and makes it retroactive to cases on collateral review
C) under the Act, the Supreme Court can hear a claim made for the first time only when the claim is based on new evidence not previously available
D) the Act made the federal appellate courts "gatekeepers" for second or subsequent habeas corpus petitions
E) all of the above is true

Question 21

Which of the following issues is not addressed by the Innocence Protection Act of 2004?

A) racial discrimination
B) DNA testing
C) legal representation
D) compensation of the wrongfully convicted
E) all of the above are addressed in the act

Question 22

Which of the following methods of execution is currently used by the federal government?

A) hanging
B) firing squad
C) electrocution
D) lethal gas
E) lethal injection

Question 23

From the American Revolution through the Civil War, for which of the following crimes were the most soldiers sentenced to death?

A) murder
B) rape
C) treason
D) desertion
E) none of the above

Question 24

During World War II, which branch of the military executed the most U.S. personnel?

A) the Army
B) the Navy
C) the Air Force
D) the Marine Corps
E) the Coast Guard

Question 25

During World War II, for which of the following crimes were the most soldiers sentenced to death?

A) murder
B) rape
C) treason
D) desertion
E) none of the above

Question 26

When was the military's last execution?

A) 1945
B) 1961
C) 1970
D) 1984
E) none of the above

Question 27

In which of the following cases did the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the military death penalty process?

A) U.S. v. Mathews
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Loving v. United States
D) Woodson v. North Carolina
E) none of the above

Question 28

Which of the following is a part of the military's death penalty process?

A) members of the military court must unanimously find, beyond a reasonable doubt, at least one statutorily enumerated aggravating circumstance before it may consider a death sentence
B) if at least one aggravating circumstance is found, then that aggravating circumstance (as well as any additional aggravating circumstances that are found) must be weighed against any mitigating circumstances that are presented at trial
C) the presentation of any mitigating factor that is supported by evidence must be allowed
D) if the members of the military court unanimously find that the aggravating circumstance or circumstances substantially outweigh any mitigating circumstances, then a death sentence may be imposed; however, if the mitigating circumstances are found to outweigh the aggravating circumstance or circumstances, then a death sentence may not be imposed
E) all of the above are parts of the military's death penalty process

Question 29

Which of the following methods of execution is currently used by the military?

A) hanging
B) firing squad
C) electrocution
D) lethal gas
E) lethal injection

Question 30

As of November 2010, approximately what percent of post-Furman executions have been conducted by the federal government and the military?

A) less than 1
B) 10
C) 20
D) 40
E) 60

Question 31

Under its appellate jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court hears death penalty cases appealed from U.S. circuit courts of appeals or from the high court of a state.

Question 32

The U.S. Supreme Court only hears death penalty appeals from the high court of a state when claims under federal law or the Constitution are involved.

Question 33

The U.S. Supreme Court only rules on cases in which the constitutionality of a state or federal death penalty statute is challenged, or a capital defendant claims that his or her constitutional rights were violated.

Question 34

The U.S. Supreme Court must hear all death penalty appeals.

Question 35

Generally, the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case ends the process of direct appeal.

Question 36

The habeas corpus proceeding tests whether the prisoner is guilty or innocent.

Question 37

Since 1990, Congress has greatly reduced the number of federal capital crimes.

Question 38

All federal capital crimes involve murder.

Question 39

When the Supreme Court in Furman invalidated existing death penalty statutes, it also invalidated the federal death penalty law.

Question 40

The federal death penalty law requires the government to inform the defendant of its intention to seek death within a reasonable time before trial or before the court accepts a defendant's guilty plea.

Question 41

The federal death penalty law requires the government, before trial or plea, to list the aggravating circumstances that it proposes to prove to justify a death sentence.

Question 42

The federal death penalty law gives the government the burden of establishing aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt.

Question 43

The federal death penalty law requires unanimity on the part of jurors in the finding of an aggravating circumstance.

Question 44

The federal death penalty law requires that a sentence other than death be imposed if no aggravating circumstance is found to exist.

Question 45

The federal death penalty law requires that all jurors find a mitigating circumstance before it can be weighed.

Question 46

The federal death penalty law prohibits victim impact evidence.

Question 47

The federal death penalty law provides the right to appeal both the conviction and the death sentence.

Question 48

Appellate relief in death penalty cases may be provided for any error even when the government is able to prove that it is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Question 49

The federal death penalty law requires authorization from the U.S. Attorney General before federal prosecutors can file capital charges.

Question 50

The federal death penalty law requires the court to consider the Federal Public Defender's recommendation about which attorneys are qualified for appointment in capital cases.

Question 51

The federal death penalty law has three different sets of aggravating circumstances: those for espionage and treason; those for homicide; and those for non-homicide drug offenses.

Question 52

The federal death penalty law requires federal judges in capital sentencing proceedings to instruct the jury that "in considering whether a sentence of death is justified, it shall not consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or of any victim."

Question 53

The federal death penalty law requires a jury that recommends death to furnish the court with a certificate signed by each juror swearing that discrimination played no part in the decision and that the same sentencing recommendation would have been made regardless of the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim.

Question 54

The U.S. government did not execute a woman between 1927 and 1963.

Question 55

Currently, there are no people under federal death sentence.

Question 56

Until recently, federal prisoners were usually executed in the state where the crime occurred because the federal government did not have its own site for executions.

Question 57

The Racial Justice Act and the Fairness in Death Sentencing Act allow offenders sentenced to death to have the same right to challenge, as racially discriminatory, their individual death sentences much in the same way as individuals have in challenging, as racially discriminatory, outcomes under federal employment or housing laws.

Question 58

The Racial Justice Act and the Fairness in Death Sentencing Act allow a black defendant, or a defendant whose victim is white, the opportunity to present evidence showing a pattern of racially discriminatory charging or sentencing.

Question 59

Two purposes of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 were to speed up the process and reduce costs.

Question 60

The military has used the death penalty mostly for crimes committed during peacetime.

Question 61

During World War I, all of the U.S. soldiers executed were black.

Question 62

The military's death penalty law requires court members (the military's equivalent to civilian jurors) to possess specific requirements, in addition to being the best qualified by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament.

Question 63

The military's death penalty law requires court members to hold a particular rank.

Question 64

The military's death penalty law entitles capital defendants individual military counsel, preferably one with experience defending capital cases, or civilian counsel.

Question 65

The military's death penalty law does not allow a guilty plea to an offense for which the death penalty may be adjudged.

Question 66

The military's death penalty law requires that if death is adjudged, the president (military judge and one of the court members) must announce which aggravating factors were found by the members.

Question 67

The military's death penalty law provides that a death sentence includes a dishonorable discharge or dismissal, as appropriate.

Question 68

The military's death penalty law provides that convictions and death sentences may be appealed first to the particular branches' court of criminal appeals (e.g., the Army Court of Criminal Appeals); next to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; and, finally, to the United States Supreme Court.

Question 69

The President of the United States must approve all military executions.

Question 70

All of the United States' major allies have abolished the death penalty.

Question 71

The United States has taken reservations to the death penalty abolition provisions of treaties that it has ratified or signed.

Question 72

The case of Jose Ernesto Medellin illustrates Texas's respect for the world court and international law.

Question 73

The most direct way in which the United States has been alienating its allies is the execution of foreign nationals, especially when they have not been accorded their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.