The Death Penalty and the Eighth Amendment

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The Death Penalty and theEighth Amendment
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Admin

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Admin

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• Why you shouldnt do it . . .
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• Format

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Eighth Amendment

• Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment
• evolving standards of decency that mark the
  progress of a maturing society

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Modern History of Death Penalty

• Furman v. Georgia (1972)
• Responses
• Death penalty for everyone!
• Rejected by Supreme Court in Woodson v. N.C.
  (1976))
• Aggravating and mitigating factors
• Accepted by the Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia
  (1976))

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Death Penalty Today

• 37 states, the federal government, and the U.S.
  military have capital statutes
• Number of inmates on death row 3,350
• 393 death row inmates in Texas
• 660 in California, but CA is slow to carry out
  sentences
• Lethal injection available everywhere except
  Nebraska (electrocution)

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Public Opinion(All May 2006, Gallup)

• Are your for or against DP?
• 65 For
• 28 Against
• Which is better penalty, DP or LWOP?
• 47 DP
• 48 LWOP
• Is DP imposed fairly?
• 60 Fairly
• 35 Unfairly

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8th Amendment

• Is death penalty per se cruel and unusual?
• Only Justices Marshall and Brennan have advocated
  this position
• Is death penalty as applied cruel and unusual?
• Method of execution
• Proportionality with crime (Coker v. Georgia
  (1977))
• Certain classes of defendants

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Classes of Defendants

• Mentally ill (Ford v. Wainwright (1986))
• Mentally retarded (Atkins v. Virginia (2002))
• Juveniles (Roper v. Simmons (2005))

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Close-up on Roper

• Simmons 17 at time of crime
• 1989, Supreme Court held that 16-18 year olds
  could be executed
• What changed?

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Justice Kennedys Opinion

• What evidence is there that standards of decency
  now prohibit execution of 16- and 17-year olds?
• Steady (though slow) trend toward abolition
• 5 states abolished juvenile dp after 1989
• Even in states that allow it, juvenile dp rare
• U.S. only country that still had juvenile dp (not
  controlling, but telling)

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Justice Kennedys Opinion

• DP reserved for most serious crimes, most
  culpable defendants
• Why are juveniles less culpable than adults?
• Less mature, more given to impulsive behavior
• More susceptible to bad influences
• Character of juveniles not yet fixed (hope for
  rehabilitation)
• Purpose of dp retribution and deterrence