Deck 8: The Color of Death: Race and the Death Penalty

Question 1

__________ directly addressed the issue of victim-based racial discrimination in the application of the death penalty.

A)McCleskey v.Kemp (1987)
B)Gregg v.Georgia (1976)
C)Tison v.Arizona (1987)
D)Roberts v.Louisiana (1976)

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The __________ prohibits the destruction of DNA evidence in federal criminal cases while a defendant remains incarcerated.

A)Justice for All Act
B)Racial Justice Act
C)Innocence Protection Act
D)Death Penalty Reform Act

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In Gregg v.Georgia court noted that public opinion and ______ _______ were in favor of the death penalty.

A)federal judges
B)police officers
C)the president
D)state legislators

Answer 3

state legislators

Question 4

Cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited by the __________ Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

A)Fourth
B)Sixth
C)Fifth
D)Eighth

Question 5

__________ banned executing those with intellectual disabilities.

A)Furman v.Georgia (1972)
B)Coker v.Georgia (1977)
C)Roper v.Simmons (2005)
D)Atkins v.Virginia (2002)

Question 6

In ____ the Court took up the issue of lethal injection,ruling that Kentucky's 3-drug protocol for administering lethal injection did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment under the 8^th Amendment.

A)2001
B)2005
C)2008
D)2010

Question 7

The U.S.House of Representatives responded to McCleskey v.Kemp by adding the __________ to the Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994.

A)Justice for All Act
B)Racial Justice Act
C)Innocence Protection Act
D)Death Penalty Reform Act

Question 8

Researchers have raised questions about poll results concerning support for the death penalty,suggesting that such support is not absolute but depends on such things as the circumstances of the case,the character of the defendant,or:

A)the alternative punishments that are available
B)the educational background of the victim
C)the time of year the crime occurred
D)the location of the crime

Question 9

In ____ the Court ruled that the execution of someone who is intellectually disabled is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

A)2002
B)2005
C)1990
D)1996

Question 10

__________ affirmed the use of guided discretion in death penalty statutes.

A)McCleskey v.Kemp (1987)
B)Gregg v.Georgia (1976)
C)Tison v.Arizona (1987)
D)Roberts v.Louisiana (1976)

Question 11

The death penalty may be used for an offender convicted of felony murder if the person:

A)was present at the time of the crime and shows no remorse
B)played a major role in the crime and displayed "reckless indifference to the value of human life.
C)pulled the trigger
D)knew about the crime before it was committed and didn't tell anyone

Question 12

The U.S.Supreme Court condemned "arbitrary and wanton jury discretion" in:

A)Furman v.Georgia (1972)
B)Coker v.Georgia (1977)
C)Roper v.Simmons (2005)
D)Atkins v.Virginia (2002)

Question 13

The collective cases of the Martinsville Seven are especially noteworthy because they were the first cases in which the defendants:

A)were prohibited from introducing empirical evidence of racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty.
B)introduced empirical evidence of the possibility that racial discrimination existed in the administration of the death penalty.
C)explicitly argued that the death penalty was administered in a racially discriminatory manner.
D)successfully appealed their convictions by demonstrating racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty.

Question 14

In_____ the Supreme Court banned execution of those who were under age 18 at the time of their crime.

A)1972
B)1977
C)2005
D)2002

Question 15

In 2003,the governor of __________ commuted the sentences of all of the state's death row inmates to life in prison because of his concerns for systemic error.

A)Kentucky
B)Virginia
C)Illinois
D)Missouri

Question 16

In 2005 the Court ruled ___ that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were younger than 18 when their crimes were committed.

A)5-4
B)9-0
C)8-1
D)1-8

Question 17

In____ the Supreme Court banned imposing the death penalty on a defendant convicted of rape.

A)Furman v.Georgia (1972)
B)Coker v.Georgia (1977)
C)Roper v.Simmons (2005)
D)Atkins v.Virginia (2002)

Question 18

The __________ provides funding to states to help defray the costs of post-conviction DNA testing.

A)Justice for All Act
B)Racial Justice Act
C)Innocence Protection Act
D)Death Penalty Reform Act

Question 19

As a result of __________,the death penalty statutes in 39 states were invalidated.

A)Furman v.Georgia (1972)
B)Coker v.Georgia (1977)
C)Gregg v.Georgia (1976)
D)Roberts v.Louisiana (1976)

Question 20

Although the exoneration of death row inmates and subsequent decisions to impose a moratorium on executions,led to a decline in support,in October 2009,__ percent of Americans still reported that they favored the death penalty for people convicted of murder.

A)45
B)55
C)75
D)65

Question 21

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments."

Question 22

Cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited by the __________ Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

Question 23

A 2007 public opinion poll found that 70 percent of whites and __ percent of African Americans expressed support for the death penalty.

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

Question 24

In the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v.Georgia ____ of the five justices in the majority mentioned the problem of racial discrimination in the application of the death penalty.

A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4

Question 25

There is extensive evidence that those who murder whites,and particularly African Americans who murder whites,are sentenced to death and executed at disproportionately high rates.

Question 26

____________of racial discrimination in the capital sentencing process has been used to mount constitutional challenges to the imposition of the death penalty.

A)Faulty evidence
B)Public opinion
C)Anecdotal evidence
D)Empirical evidence

Question 27

Recent public opinion polls reveal that most Americans believe that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder.

Question 28

Studies of the use of capital punishment for the crime of rape reveal overt and pervasive discrimination against African Americans in the pre-Furman era.

Question 29

Justice Thurgood Marshall suggested that public opinion data demonstrating widespread support for the death penalty should be given little weight in determining whether capital punishment is consistent with "evolving standards of decency."

Question 30

Coker v.Georgia (1977)banned imposing the death penalty on a defendant convicted of __________.

Question 31

Fifty-nine percent of whites and __ percent of African Americans stated that they believed the death penalty was applied fairly.

A)15
B)32
C)40
D)70

Question 32

Most guided-discretion statutes require a __________ trial in which the jury first decides guilt or innocence,then decides whether to impose the death penalty.

Question 33

Numerous studies clearly indicate that African Americans have been sentenced to death and executed "in numbers far out of proportion to their numbers in the population."

Question 34

In 2003,the governor of __________ commuted the sentences of all of the state's death row inmates to life in prison because of his concerns for systemic error.

Question 35

Bowers found that about ______ of survey respondents,along with 80 percent of jurors in capital cases,agreed that "the death penalty is too arbitrary because some people are executed and others are sent to prison for the very same crimes."

A)half
B)a quarter
C)three quarters
D)90 percent

Question 36

There is little evidence of geographic variation in support for the death penalty.

Question 37

The federal government did not revise its death penalty statutes in the wake of Furman until the Death Penalty Act of 1994.

Question 38

All five justices in the majority in the Furman decision mentioned the problem of racial discrimination in the application of the death penalty.

Question 39

Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was the first federal offender after 1963 to be put to death.

Question 40

Gregg v.Georgia (1976)established the use of __________ discretion in death penalty statutes.

Question 41

McCleskey v.Kemp (1987)considered whether _______ evidence was sufficient to demonstrate the presence of racial discrimination in the application of the death penalty.

Question 42

The Innocence Protection Act provides funding to states to help defray the costs of post-conviction __________.

Question 43

The U.S.House of Representatives responded to McCleskey v.Kemp by adding the __________ Act to the Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994.

Question 44

In Furman v.Georgia (1972),the U.S.Supreme Court condemned "arbitrary and wanton jury __________."