Deck 4: Capital Punishment and the Supreme Court: The Modern Period

Question 1

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court rule that racial discrimination must be shown in individual cases.

A) Harry Roberts v. Louisiana
B) Baze v. Rees
C) Maxwell v. Alabama
D) Boykin v. Alabama
E) none of the above

Answer 1

E

Question 2

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court rule that Kentucky's three-drug lethal injection protocol, which is similar to the execution protocol of most other death penalty states, did not violate the 8th Amendment as "cruel and unusual"?

A) Baze v. Rees
B) Sumner v. Shuman
C) Hitchcock v. Dugger
D) Delo v. Lashley
E) none of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following states lists the most (11) mitigating circumstances in its death penalty statute?

A) Connecticut
B) Delaware
C) Colorado
D) Idaho
E) none of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following states lists the fewest (2) mitigating circumstances in its death penalty statute?

A) Colorado
B) Missouri
C) Texas
D) Delaware
E) none of the above

Question 5

What is the average number of mitigating circumstances among states that list them in their death penalty statutes?

A) 5
B) 7.5
C) 11
D) 14
E) none of the above

Question 6

In Walton v. Arizona (1990), what standard of proof did the Supreme Court approve for proving the existence of mitigating factors in Arizona? (This standard has been adopted by most death penalty states.)

A) clear and convincing evidence
B) preponderance of the evidence
C) beyond a reasonable doubt
D) absolute certainty
E) none of the above

Question 7

Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas have the fewest aggravating circumstances listed in their death penalty statutes. How many aggravating circumstances are listed in the death penalty statutes of those states?

A) 4
B) 9
C) 12
D) 16
E) none of the above

Question 8

Indiana has the most aggravating circumstances listed in their death penalty statutes. How many aggravating circumstances are listed in the death penalty statutes of those states?

A) 8
B) 14
C) 18
D) 22
E) none of the above

Question 9

What is the average number of aggravating circumstances listed in the statutes of death penalty states?

A) 6
B) 9
C) 13
D) 16
E) none of the above

Question 10

What standard of proof is generally required to establish an aggravating circumstance?

A) clear and convincing evidence
B) preponderance of the evidence
C) beyond a reasonable doubt
D) absolute certainty
E) none of the above

Question 11

With which of the following participants in a capital trial was the case of Barefoot v. Estelle concerned?

A) prosecutors
B) judges
C) defense attorneys
D) psychiatrists
E) none of the above

Question 12

Which of the following is not a criticism of the use of victim-impact statements in capital trials?

A) Victim-impact statements about pain and suffering cannot be refuted.
B) Victims may pretend to suffer more than they actually do.
C) Some victims may not be able to express their pain and suffering as well as other victims.
D) Victim-impact statements improperly refocus the death decision from the defendant and his or her crime to the character and reputation of the victim and the effect on his family.
E) All of the above are criticisms.

Question 13

In 2013, what was the average time interval between death sentence and execution?

A) fewer than 6 years
B) more than 10 years
C) more than 15 years
D) more than 20 years
E) none of the above

Question 14

Of the more than 300 death sentences the Georgia Supreme Court had reviewed by the mid-1990s, how many had been found to be disproportionate?

A) none
B) 1
C) 12
D) 58
E) 104

Question 15

According to Chief Justice Rehnquist, what is the proper procedure for making a claim of actual innocence after the judicial process has been exhausted?

A) requesting executive clemency
B) requesting legislative clemency
C) seeking the help of "60 Minutes"
D) filing a habeas corpus petition with the original trial court
E) none of the above

Question 16

In Schlup v. Delo (1995), what standard of proof did the Supreme Court establish for demonstrating actual innocence?

A) probable innocence
B) preponderance of the evidence
C) clear and convincing evidence
D) beyond a reasonable doubt
E) none of the above

Question 17

Which of the following issues was addressed in the case of Miller-El v. Dretke (2005)?

A) jury instructions
B) racial bias during jury selection
C) prosecutor misconduct
D) ineffective assistance of counsel
E) none of the above

Question 18

With what issue do the following cases deal: Simmons v. South Carolina (1994), Weeks v. Angelone (2000), Shafer v. South Carolina (2001), and Kelly v. South Carolina (2002)?

A) aggravating circumstances
B) mitigating circumstances
C) jury instructions
D) electrocution as a method of execution
E) none of the above

Question 19

Approximately what percent of capital indictments are for felony murder?

A) 5
B) 20
C) 40
D) 60
E) 80

Question 20

According to a 2002 Gallup Poll, what percent of respondents favored the death penalty for the mentally retarded who are convicted of capital crimes?

A) 13
B) 25
C) 46
D) 61
E) 74

Question 21

Which of the following cases did not deal with the issue of effective assistance of counsel?

A) Bobby v. Van Hook
B) Smith v. Spisak
C) Cullen v. Pinholster
D) Hall v. Florida
E) all of the above

Question 22

The Supreme Court is willing to allow mandatory death penalty statutes as long as they are confined to a special category of victim, such as the killing of a police officer.

Question 23

The Supreme Court has held that a mandatory death sentence for murder committed by an inmate serving a life sentence without possibility of parole is constitutional.

Question 24

The Supreme Court has held that state death penalty laws are constitutional even when statistics indicate that they have been applied in racially biased ways.

Question 25

Rapes and kidnappings in which no death occurs are punishable by death.

Question 26

Some states currently have death penalty statutes that list capital crimes that do not necessarily involve murder.

Question 27

The Supreme Court has held that the sentencer (judge or jury) may not refuse to consider any relevant mitigating circumstance in a capital trial, as long as it is supported by evidence.

Question 28

The Supreme Court has held that a capital sentencing instruction to juries not to be swayed by "mere sympathy, passion, prejudice or public opinion" undermines the defendant's ability to present mitigating evidence and violates the 8th and 14th Amendments.

Question 29

The Supreme Court has held that capital sentencing instructions, which prevent the sentencing jury from considering any mitigating factor that the jury does not unanimously find, do not violate the 8th Amendment.

Question 30

The Supreme Court has held that convicted murderers trying to escape a death sentence in favor of life in prison may present evidence of their good behavior in jail while awaiting trial.

Question 31

The Supreme Court has held that evidence contradicting guilt must be considered at the sentencing phase of a capital trial.

Question 32

Death penalty states vary in the number of aggravating circumstances listed in their death penalty statutes.

Question 33

Research shows that virtually all persons sentenced to death in Georgia before Furman would have been deemed death-eligible under Georgia's post-Furman statute.

Question 34

Simon and Spaulding contend that aggravating factors have symbolic capital as "tokens of our esteem" as they validate the worth of potential victims.

Question 35

Aggravating circumstances differ widely in their significance; therefore, their content is more important than how many there are in determining the number of death-eligible offenses.

Question 36

According to the Supreme Court, for a statutory aggravating circumstance to withstand constitutional challenge, a state high court must adequately clarify its meaning and that meaning must be applied independently to the facts of the case.

Question 37

The Supreme Court is willing to allow psychiatric evidence predicting future dangerousness.

Question 38

An examination of 155 Texas death penalty cases in which prosecutors used experts to predict defendants' future dangerousness showed that the experts were wrong only 15 percent of the time.

Question 39

Research findings are mixed on the influence of victim-impact evidence on sentencing outcomes.

Question 40

In Payne v. Tennessee, the Supreme Court held that victim-impact statements are required in capital trials.

Question 41

The Supreme Court has held that issues raised for the first time pursuant to last-minute pleas for stays of execution where the issues could have been raised on previous petitions for habeas relief will not be considered.

Question 42

The Supreme Court has ruled that to show actual innocence on a successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a defendant must show, by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that "but for a constitutional error, no reasonable juror would have found the [defendant] eligible for the death penalty."

Question 43

A claim of "actual innocence" based on newly discovered evidence is grounds for granting a further hearing in federal court.

Question 44

A federal court can save a prisoner from execution only if the state court decision against the prisoner was not only wrong but unreasonably wrong.

Question 45

The Supreme Court has held that appointment of counsel to indigent death row inmates seeking state post-conviction relief is required.

Question 46

The Supreme Court has held that proportionality reviews are required in all capital cases.

Question 47

In Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968), the Supreme Court held that prospective jurors could not be excused simply because they were opposed to capital punishment.

Question 48

The Supreme Court has held that death penalty opponents can be excluded from juries deciding guilt or innocence in cases in which capital punishment is a possible sentence if they are opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances.

Question 49

The Supreme Court has held that even where a potential juror offers no objection to the death penalty and states clearly that he or she will follow the applicable law, it is not contrary to clearly established federal law to exclude the juror for cause under the Witherspoon-Witt "substantially impaired" standard.

Question 50

According to the Supreme Court, a prospective juror who would automatically vote for the death penalty upon conviction of a capital offense may not be challenged for cause.

Question 51

As a result of retrial or resentencing following appeal, the death sentence may be re-imposed.

Question 52

The Supreme Court has held that the double jeopardy clause prevents imposition of a death sentence upon retrial when a jury had imposed life imprisonment at the first trial.

Question 53

In Ring v. Arizona (2002), the Supreme Court ruled that the 6th Amendment right to a jury trial requires that juries and not judges determine whether or not death is the appropriate penalty in a capital case.

Question 54

In Schriro v. Summerlin (2004), the Court ruled that Ring v. Arizona (2002) applied retroactively to cases already final on direct review.

Question 55

The Supreme Court has held that the freedom of prosecutors to use peremptory challenges to exclude minority jurors is limited.

Question 56

The Supreme Court has held that failure to voir dire jury about racial bias in an interracial murder case creates an intolerable risk of discrimination.

Question 57

The Supreme Court has held that indictments by an all-white grand jury from which black individuals are systematically excluded creates an intolerable risk that the defendant's indictment is a result of discrimination, thereby violating the equal protection clause.

Question 58

The equal protection clause does not prohibit discrimination in jury selection on the basis of gender.

Question 59

Whenever a defendant's future dangerousness is raised by the prosecution, the defendant has the right to an accurate jury instruction that a life sentence means no possibility of parole.

Question 60

The Supreme Court has held that judges and juries may find murderous intent in someone who participated in a crime that resulted in a death but who did not actually kill or plan to kill anyone.

Question 61

The Supreme Court has held that states may execute people who have literally gone crazy on death row.

Question 62

For 8th Amendment purposes, the Supreme Court has defined insanity as the condition under which people are unaware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are to suffer it.

Question 63

The Supreme Court has ruled that a juvenile offender may be sentenced to life imprisonment without opportunity of parole for a non-homicide crime.

Question 64

The Supreme Court has held that appointed counsel representing capital defendant before U.S. Supreme Court is limited to $5,000 in fees.