Chapter 27: Capital Punishment Pt. 2

Question 1

Executions over the years: increased from the _____s through the _____s; dropped in the _____s until the ______s; increasing again until the ______s

Answer 1

1910s
1930s
1940s
1970s
1990s

Question 2

In both 2011 and 2012, there were ___ executions in the U.S.

Answer 2

43

Question 3

What are the major cases/rules on the death penalty (in the U.S.)?

Answer 3

(1) Furman vs. Georgia

2) Gregg vs Georgia (1976); Woodson vs North Carolina (1976); Roberts vs Lousiana (1976

Question 4

What happened in the Furman vs. Georgia case?

Answer 4

rules that the death penalty was “cruel and unusual punishment” under the 8th and 14th Amendment

the court objected to this

Question 5

What was the result of the Furman vs. Georgia case

Answer 5

voided the laws about the death penalty in 39 states and the District of Columbia

Question 6

What happened in the Gregg vs Georgia (1976); Woodson vs North Carolina (1976); Roberts vs Lousiana (1976) case?

Answer 6

struck down the constitutionality of mandatory death penalties

Question 7

Which states have the highest execution rates (around 2010)?

Answer 7

(1) Texas
(2) Oklahoma
(3) Arizona
(4) Mississippi
(5) Florida & Ohio
(6) South Dakota
(7) Delaware & Idaho

Question 8

What are the top 5 states for executions in the Post-Furman era?

Answer 8

(1) Texas
(2) Virginia
(3) Oklahoma
(4) Florida
(5) Missouri

Question 9

What is the largest numbers of death row inmates per state?

Answer 9

(1) California
(2) Florida
(3) Texas
(4) Pennsylvania

Question 10

99% of persons executed in the U.S. form 1976 to 2012 were ____

Answer 10

men

Question 11

35% of persons executed in the post-Furnman era were _____ and 7% were _______

Answer 11

black

Hispanic

Question 12

56% of those executed in 2012 had been under a death sentence for at least ___ years

Answer 12

15

Question 13

What are the primary methods for U.S. execution?

Answer 13

lethal injection, electrocution, and gas chamber

Question 14

What is the difference between retentionist and abolitionist?

Answer 14

Retentionists- large group of people/organization that want to retain capital punishment

Abolitionists- large group of people/organization that want to abolish capital punishment

Question 15

What are the type of issues that retentionist and abolitionists disagree on?

Answer 15

(1) Moral Issue
(2) Protection of Society
(3) Economic Costs
(4) Marginal Deterrence
(5) The Nature of Homicide
(6) Discriminatory Application
(7) Possibility of Error
(8) The Brutalization Effect

Question 16

What is the moral stance of retentionist and abolitionists when it comes to the death penalty?

Answer 16

Retentionists- moral obligation of society to execute murderers; this also protects other prisoners and prison guards

Abolitionists- it hypocritical to murder murderers

Question 17

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the protection of society when it comes to the death penalty?

Answer 17

Retentionists- pubic safety is not guaranteed by imprisonment

Abolitionists- maximum security prisons protect society from murderers

Question 18

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the economic costs of the death penalty?

Answer 18

Retentionists- why pay all the money for life imprisonment

Abolitionists- it costs more to execute someone

Question 19

There is little to no evidence of _______ _________ when it comes to the death penalty.

Answer 19

marginal deterrence

Question 20

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the marginal deterrence of the death penalty?

Answer 20

Retentionists- argue you cannot compare state;s because they differ on other characteristics that affect murder rates

Abolitionists- use the fact that, states with the death penalty often have a slightly higher murder rate than other states in their vicinity that don’t have the death penalty

Question 21

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the nature of homicide in relation to the death penalty?

Answer 21

Retentionists- argue that 95% of homicides are impulsive and spontaneous acts, because capital punishment is deterring the planned and calculated murders

Abolitionists- capital punishment is not going to be a deterrent and should therefore be abolished

Question 22

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the discriminatory application of the death penalty?

Answer 22

Retentionists- attributed disparities to outside factors other than overt racial biases

Abolitionists- wide disparity is due to racial discrimination against black offenders

Question 23

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the possibility of error in the death penalty process?

Answer 23

Retentionists- the risks are extremely rare

Abolitionists-the risks are too high

Question 24

What is the stance of retentionist and abolitionists on the brutalization effect?

Answer 24

Retentionists- focus on the pre‐execution leveling of homicides as supporting evidence

Abolitionists- focus on the post-execution increase in homicides as evidence

Question 25

What is the Brutalization Effect?

Answer 25

suggests that homicides increase after state‐sponsored executions because these state executions serve to brutalize or cheapen human life

Question 26

There is no conclusive evidence to support either position __________ or __________.

Answer 26

retentionists

abolitionists

Question 27

What are some things that research still does not know about the capital punishment?

Answer 27

(1) whether capital punishment is a better marginal deterrent than life imprisonment
(2) whether most homicides are impulsive and/or spontaneous acts because the threat of the death penalty is deterring the more rational/planned killings
(3) whether post‐execution brutalization effects are cancelled out by pre‐execution deterrent effects

Question 28

Someone’s position about the death penalty ultimate winds down to what?

Answer 28

whether or not someone believes the state has the power to take someones life