Deck 16: The Death Penalty

Question 1

A life sentence with the additional condition that the person never be allowed parole is called ______.

A) life without parole
B) the death penalty
C) brutalizing effect
D) none of these

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In 1966, ______ people were against the death penalty and ______ were in favor of it.

A) 40%; 60%
B) 47%; 42%
C) 50%; 50%
D) 75%; 25%

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The most controversial subject in corrections is ______.

A) racial disparities
B) the death penalty
C) gun control
D) sex offenders

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Compared to 1966, today ______ Americans are in favor of the death penalty.

A) more
B) fewer
C) the same percentage of
D) the same number of

Question 5

Support for the death penalty peaked in ______.

A) 1965
B) 1976
C) 1983
D) 1994

Question 6

Who is most likely to support the death penalty?

A) a conservative white man who votes Republican
B) a conservative white woman who votes Republican
C) a black liberal woman who votes Democratic
D) a black liberal man who votes Democratic

Question 7

Who is least likely to support the death penalty?

A) a conservative white man who votes Republican
B) a conservative white woman who votes Republican
C) a black liberal woman who votes Democratic
D) a black liberal man who votes Democratic

Question 8

In what year did the use of the death penalty begin again?

A) 1965
B) 1976
C) 1983
D) 1994

Question 9

In 2016, there were ______ executions in the United States.

A) 20
B) 38
C) 71
D) 98

Question 10

Since the resumption of the death penalty, which year had the greatest number of executions?

A) 1971
B) 1984
C) 1991
D) 1999

Question 11

Since the resumption of the death penalty, the most common method of execution has been ______.

A) hanging
B) the gas chamber
C) electrocution
D) lethal injection

Question 12

Which of the following is a form of execution?

A) hanging
B) electrocution
C) gas chamber
D) all of these

Question 13

Historically, which of the following has been the most common form of execution in the United States?

A) lethal injection
B) firing squad
C) hanging
D) gas chamber

Question 14

Which of the following execution methods injects the condemned person with drugs that ultimately end in death?

A) lethal injection
B) gas chamber
C) hanging
D) electrocution

Question 15

Which case was the first to successfully challenge the use of the death penalty?

A) Woodson v. North Carolina
B) Furman v. Georgia
C) Coker v. Georgia
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 16

In ______, the Supreme Court rejected the statute that mandated that all persons convicted of first-degree murder should receive the death penalty as excessive and unduly rigid.

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Woodson v. North Carolina
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 17

In ______, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the use of a bifurcated hearing.

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Woodson v. North Carolina
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 18

In which court case did the Supreme Court rule that the use of the death penalty for rape was unconstitutional?

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Woodson v. North Carolina
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 19

In a survey of criminologists, Radelet and Lacock found that ______ agreed that the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder.

A) 39.4%
B) 48.6%
C) 64.1%
D) 88.2%

Question 20

Since the death penalty was reinstituted, ______ of the people sentenced to death have actually been executed.

A) 15%
B) 30%
C) 45%
D) 60%

Question 21

A massive review of the research on the deterrent effect of the death penalty, sponsored by the National Academy of Science, concluded that ______.

A) the death penalty is an effective deterrent to murder
B) the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to murder
C) the deterrent effect is impacted by a number of variables
D) the research is not informative enough to draw a conclusion

Question 22

What percentage of murder cases are tried as capital cases?

A) 2-6%
B) 5-10%
C) 2-7%
D) 10-15%

Question 23

If a person is sentenced to death, what is the average time lapse between conviction and execution, according to 2010 data?

A) 5½ years
B) 14½ years
C) 20½ years
D) 25½ years

Question 24

The assumption that, rather than deterring homicides, homicides actually increase following executions is called the ______.

A) brutalizing effect
B) death penalty
C) deterrent effect
D) none of these

Question 25

Compared to a life without parole case, a death penalty case is ______.

A) more expensive
B) less expensive
C) approximately the same cost
D) impossible to analyze

Question 26

Blacks are overrepresented on death row by a margin of ______.

A) 2 to 1
B) 3 to 1
C) 4 to 1
D) 5 to 1

Question 27

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice found that U.S. Attorneys were more likely to recommend the death penalty in cases involving ______ defendants.

A) black
B) Hispanic
C) white
D) Native American

Question 28

A major source of information on the death penalty in the United States is the ______.

A) Innocence Project
B) Death Penalty Information Center
C) American Civil Liberties Union
D) Bureau of Justice Statistics

Question 29

Until the mid-20th century, ______ could receive the death penalty for the attempted rape of a white woman.

A) a Hispanic man
B) a Caucasian man
C) an African American man
D) a Pacific Islander man

Question 30

What percentage of African American defendants are more likely than white defendants to receive the death penalty?

A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 100%

Question 31

______ increases the likelihood that a crime will be eligible for the death penalty.

A) Premeditation
B) Spontaneity
C) The age of the victim
D) The attitude of the defendant

Question 32

According to the ______, paternalistic attitudes about women that prevail in our society account for the fact that women are less likely to be executed.

A) chivalry hypothesis
B) liberal feminist perspective
C) Supreme Court
D) National Organization for Women

Question 33

What percentage of female offenders have been executed in the United States?

A) 2%
B) 5%
C) 7%
D) 9%

Question 34

How many women have been executed since 1976?

A) 5
B) 28
C) 9
D) 13

Question 35

Females who defy traditional gender roles by not enacting a feminine identity invite the wrath of the male-dominated criminal justice system, according to the ______ hypothesis.

A) evil women
B) chivalry
C) female offender
D) mad women

Question 36

Sub-average mental functioning is defined as an IQ below ______.

A) 60
B) 70
C) 80
D) 90

Question 37

Which Supreme Court case held that the imposition of the death penalty on a mentally retarded defendant is not per se a violation of the Eighth Amendment?

A) Atkins v. Virginia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Penry v. Lynaugh

Question 38

Which Supreme Court case held that the imposition of the death penalty on a mentally retarded defendant is a violation of the Eighth Amendment?

A) Atkins v. Virginia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Penry v. Lynaugh

Question 39

Mental retardation is characterized by ______.

A) significantly sub-average intellectual functioning
B) concurrent and related limitations in two or more adaptive skill areas
C) manifestation before the age of 18
D) all of these

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT an issue the courts have had to resolve with both mental deficiency and illness?

A) Is the person competent to stand trial?
B) Did the condition become prevalent before the age of 18?
C) Did this person at the time of the crime have the requisite ability to form mens rea?
D) Does the person's mental condition warrant a more lenient sentence than would normally attach to this crime?

Question 41

______ is a lifelong condition of impaired or incomplete mental development.

A) Mental illness
B) Mental disability
C) Insanity
D) Madness

Question 42

Which court case ruled that it is constitutionally impermissible to hold a defendant in custody indefinitely based on his or her incompetence to stand trial?

A) Ford v. Wainwright
B) Jackson v. Indiana
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Panetti v. Quarterman

Question 43

Which country has the highest rate of executions each year?

A) United States
B) China
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Russia

Question 44

What are the two types of death sentences in China?

A) instant and delayed
B) instant and automatic
C) immediate and delayed
D) automatic and delayed

Question 45

According to the Northwestern Law Center for International Human Rights, ______ of organ transplants that originate in China come from executed prisoners.

A) 24%
B) 36%
C) 48%
D) 65%

Question 46

In Saudi Arabia, qisas crimes are crimes against ______.

A) the state
B) God
C) individuals
D) society

Question 47

In what country can a person be executed for adultery?

A) China
B) Nigeria
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Laos

Question 48

A problem with relying on DNA to demonstrate innocence is that ______.

A) it is not universally admissible in court
B) it is not always supported by science
C) it can be falsified and fabricated
D) all of these

Question 49

______ signed the Justice for All Act, which granted federal inmates the right to petition a federal court for DNA testing to support a claim of innocence.

A) President Clinton
B) President Reagan
C) President Obama
D) President

Question 50

The death penalty is not the most controversial issue in corrections.

Question 51

Life without the possibility of parole is provided as an alternative to a death sentence.

Question 52

Public support for the death penalty is a major factor in its retention in the United States.

Question 53

Historically, there has only been one method used for execution.

Question 54

A majority (over 50%) of the states have a death penalty statute.

Question 55

Electrocution is the most common form of execution.

Question 56

The electric chair was originally introduced as a more humane method of execution than hanging.

Question 57

All states currently have the death penalty.

Question 58

On average, there are about 100 executions a year in the United States.

Question 59

The death penalty resumed in 1976 after a brief hiatus.

Question 60

Woodson v. North Carolina was the first case to successfully challenge the use of the death penalty.

Question 61

Research has conclusively demonstrated that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder.

Question 62

Some criminologists argue that capital punishment has a brutalizing effect rather than a deterrent effect.

Question 63

Over 75% of offenders who are sentenced to death have been executed in a timely manner.

Question 64

Life without parole is more expensive than the cost of a capital case (from arrest to execution).

Question 65

A major concern is whether the death penalty is applied in a racially discriminatory fashion.

Question 66

Between 1930 and 1980, 53% of persons executed were black.

Question 67

Women account for about 15% of executions.

Question 68

Ethel Spinelli was the first woman to be executed at the San Quentin prison gas chamber.

Question 69

The imposition of the death penalty on a mentally retarded defendant has always been a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Question 70

Mental illness and mental disability are two different conditions.

Question 71

China has the highest number of executions per year.

Question 72

A number of police labs have been accused and found guilty of falsifying and fabricating DNA evidence.

Question 73

The CT scan is the workhorse of neuroimaging used to assess the functioning of a person's brain while engaged in some task.

Question 74

Genomic and brain sciences over the past 3 decades have revolutionized death penalty discourse in the United States.

Question 75

Explain what it means when an offender is sentenced to life without parole.

Question 76

What is lethal injection? Do you believe it is "cruel and unusual punishment"? Why or why not?

Question 77

Discuss electrocution as a means of execution. Do you believe it is "cruel and unusual punishment"? Why or why not?

Question 78

Discuss what the so-called brutalizing effect is.

Question 79

Discuss the case of Ethel Spinelli and its significance.

Question 80

Explain what the Innocence Project is and discuss its significance.