Deck 12: Capital Punishment

Question 1

During the nineteenth century, the ________ worked to have long-term punishment as a humanitarian alternative to the death penalty.

A) New England Lutherans
B) Maine Pilgrims
C) Pennsylvania Quakers
D) Pennsylvania Utilitarians

Answer 1

Pennsylvania Quakers

Question 2

In the period from 1930 to 1976 executions were typically for murder, with African-Americans accounting for about half of those executions. About 12% of the executions during that period were for rape. African-Americans made up what percentage of the executions for rape?

A) 12%.
B) 33%.
C) 70%.
D) 90%.

Answer 2

90%.

Question 3

Today, ________ U.S. states, plus the federal government and the military, have death penalty statutes.

A) 12
B) 21
C) 31
D) 42

Answer 3

31

Question 4

Since 1976, most (55%) of the persons executed were

A) African-American.
B) Asian-American.
C) Latino.
D) White.

Question 5

Since 1976, most executions have taken place in the ________ and the fewest in the ________.

A) West / Midwest
B) South / Northeast
C) Northeast / West
D) South / West

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a capital crime as found in any of the federal or state statues authorizing capital punishment?

A) Treason.
B) Second degree murder.
C) Aggravated kidnapping.
D) Drug trafficking.

Question 7

All executions since 1976 have been for

A) murder with aggravating circumstances.
B) murder with mitigating circumstances.
C) murder of more than one person in a single event or over time.
D) murder or rape.

Question 8

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the death penalty to be a disproportionate punishment, and therefore unacceptable, for the crime of

A) rape of an adult woman who was not killed.
B) kidnapping when the victim was not killed.
C) rape of a child that did not result in the victim's death.
D) All the above have been ruled to be disproportionate and unacceptable.
E) None of the above has been ruled to be disproportionate and unacceptable.

Question 9

In the 1970s the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in ________ that the death penalty-as it was being applied-was unconstitutional, but the ________ decision ruled the death penalty was constitutional when specific guidelines are followed.

A) Furman v. Georgia / Atkins v. Virginia
B) Coker v. Georgia / Roper v. Simmons
C) Roper v. Simmons / Gregg v. Georgia
D) Furman v. Georgia / Gregg v. Georgia

Question 10

The ________ statutes required the death penalty upon conviction of specific crimes, whereas the ________ statutes required juries to impose capital punishment only after considering both aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

A) managed judgment / compulsory
B) compulsory / guided discretion
C) mandatory / guided discretion
D) compulsory / managed judgment

Question 11

Bifurcated trials are required in capital cases. The means

A) at least half the jury members in capital cases must be of the same race as the defendant.
B) anyone convicted on one of two specific crimes (intentional murder or forcible rape) must be sentenced to death.
C) death penalty trials must have two stages with the first being used to determine guilt and the second stage to decide the sentence.
D) a different judge than the one conducting the trial must be used to determine the sentence.

Question 12

In 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (Thompson v. Oklahoma) that people aged 15 or younger when they committed their crime may not be sentenced to death. Which of the following statements is TRUE today?

A) The age remains at 15 or younger.
B) The age today is at 17 or younger.
C) The age today is at 19 or younger.
D) None of the above. There are no age restrictions.

Question 13

Since 1976 more than 8,000 prisoners have entered prison under sentence of death. Of those, about ________ percent were executed.

A) 16
B) 33
C) 62
D) 84

Question 14

Which of the following best describes the means by which most of those people leaving death row since 1976 have left?

A) Most were executed.
B) Most died from causes other than execution.
C) Most received clemency.
D) Most had their sentence or conviction overturned by an appeals or higher court.

Question 15

In 1972, Charles Manson's death sentence was reduced to a life sentence. Manson received a(n)

A) reprieve.
B) commutation of sentence.
C) abatement.
D) pardon.

Question 16

If most murders are emotional rather than rational acts, which argument favoring the death penalty is weakened?

A) Retribution.
B) Fairness.
C) Deterrence.
D) Innocence.

Question 17

Which of the following describes people who favor the elimination of the death penalty in modern-day society?

A) Abolitionists.
B) Retentionists.
C) Deterrents.
D) Libertarians.

Question 18

After their review of available evidence, the National Research Council determined that research to date

A) clearly shows that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on homicide rates.
B) suggests that capital punishment deters many people considering first degree murder but only a few of those considering second degree murder and manslaughter.
C) indicates that the death penalty effectively deters women, but cannot be said to deter men from committing first degree murder.
D) cannot conclusively determine whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates.

Question 19

The majority of persons executed since 1976

A) were convicted of murdering white victims.
B) had hired their own lawyer.
C) had murdered more than one person in a single event or over time.
D) All of the above are correct.
E) None of the above is correct.

Question 20

Using criteria from the Death Penalty Information Center, from 1973 to the end of 2015, how many people were released from death row with DNA evidence being a substantial factor in establishing their innocence?

A) 3.
B) 20.
C) 43.
D) 87.

Question 21

In 1994, public opinion polls found that 80% of the public favored the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. Since then (through 2015) the percentage favoring the death penalty

A) has remained about the same.
B) increased to 85% in 2003 where it has remained.
C) has declined to around 60%.
D) is now at only 40%, the lowest level since 1966.

Question 22

African Americans were 10-12% of the total U.S. population during the twentieth century, but were 54% of persons executed in mid-twentieth century.

Question 23

People who have been personally and directly involved in executing someone have been known to suffer PTSD-like symptoms as a result of that involvement.

Question 24

Today, all U.S. jurisdictions with the death penalty have authorized lethal injection as a method of execution.

Question 25

Some historians are surprised that capital punishment became popular in the United States because it had been banned in all 13 colonies.

Question 26

Since 1976, all executions have been for murder with aggravating circumstances.

Question 27

The Furman decision was not against capital punishment itself; it was against the way it was being implemented.

Question 28

Most inmates on death row today are held in prisons in the West.

Question 29

Assuming that all U.S. Supreme Court rulings have been followed, persons currently on death row should be offenders who were convicted of first degree murder with aggravating circumstances, who were neither mentally ill nor intellectually disabled and who were at least 18 years of age at the time of their crime.

Question 30

As a result of court rulings that prohibit the execution of persons who are mentally ill or intellectually disabled, a review of 100 recent executions confirmed that none of the executed offenders suffered from intellectual disability or showed symptoms of mental illness.

Question 31

A review of 23 years of state death sentences found that more than 70% of the reversals were the result of egregiously incompetent lawyering, prosecutorial misconduct or suppression of evidence, misinstruction of jurors, or judge or juror bias.

Question 32

After years of research with different methodologies and statistical approaches, the empirical evidence seems to clearly suggest that capital punishment is an excellent general deterrent to murder.

Question 33

One example of the unfairness in how the death penalty is applied is shown by noting that although women account for about 2% of all death sentences imposed in the United States, they represent more than 10% of persons executed.

Question 34

In a study of death penalty cases in Texas, researchers found that capital defendants with court-appointed lawyers were just as likely to receive a death sentence as were those who hired their own attorneys.

Question 35

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, more white people have been executed than have black people.

Question 36

According to a review of methodologically sophisticated studies, black and Hispanic suspects-especially those who victimize whites-are more likely to be charged and fully prosecuted than are white suspects.

Question 37

African-Americans are 13% of the U.S. population and comprise a similar percentage of homicide victims.

Question 38

National polls found that most people believe an innocent person has been executed since 1976, but the majority still support the death penalty as a punishment.

Question 39

As of February 2016, ________ states plus the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty.

Question 40

The three states of ________, Oklahoma, and Virginia accounted for 53% of all U.S. executions since 1976.

Question 41

First used in 1888 by New York, ________ was considered a more humane method of execution than hanging and was presumed to be a relatively painless way to die because death would be virtually immediate.

Question 42

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty to be unconstitutional, as it was then being used, in the ________ v. Georgia case.

Question 43

In a(n) ________ trial, the first stage is the traditional trial to determine guilt and, for those found guilty, the second stage decides whether the sentence will be death or life imprisonment.

Question 44

As a result of the Roper v. Simmons decision, in order to receive a death sentence the person must have been at least ________ years of age when he or she committed the capital offense.

Question 45

________ is a broad term referring to an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.

Question 46

Persons who favor keeping the death penalty are referred to as ________.

Question 47

Rather than requiring an exactly similar punishment for a criminal, ________ retributivism requires only that the worst crime be punished with the worst penalty.

Question 48

The ________ hypothesis suggests that a public which has been about the death penalty and its effects would oppose the death penalty.

Question 49

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Mandatory statutes

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 50

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Guided discretion statutes

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 51

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Bifurcated trials

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 52

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Furman decision

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 53

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Gregg decision

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 54

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Clemency

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 55

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Reprieve

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 56

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Commutation

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 57

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Pardon

A) A reduction of the sentence through action in the executive branch.
B) A stay of execution that grants time for something, such as an appeal, to happen.
C) A broad term describing an act of leniency in the criminal justice system.
D) Releases the person (partially or fully) from the legal consequences of the crime.

Question 58

Distinguish between the Furman and the Gregg decisions.

Question 59

Describe three types of clemency.

Question 60

Explain the primary issues related to fairness and the death penalty.

Question 61

Over the centuries, jurisdictions using capital punishment have searched for more humane execution methods. Note the form those attempts have taken and comment on whether it is important to use the most humane method.

Question 62

Can the death penalty still be said to discriminate by race since today, unlike in the past, African-Americans are executed in a proportion that is more consistent with their representation on death row?