Deck 16: The Death Penalty

Question 1

A proponent of the death penalty who demands that the offender get the death penalty, because offenders should be punished in a manner that is commensurate with the severity of the crime that they have committed, is using which key argument for the use of the death penalty?

A) Specific deterrence
B) General deterrence
C) Retribution
D) Arbitrariness

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The majority of executions, since the reestablishment of the death penalty, have been __________ defendants.

A) Caucasian American
B) African American
C) Latino American
D) American Indian

Answer 2

A

Question 3

This term is used to describe the harmful effects of death row conditions, including exposure to extended periods of solitary confinement and mental anxiety that are experienced while waiting for one's ultimate demise.

A) Death row phenomenon
B) Brutalization syndrome
C) Death row syndrome
D) Brutalization phenomenon

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which Supreme Court case ended the moratorium on the death penalty?

A) Furman v. Georgia (1972)
B) Coker v. Georgia (1977)
C) Powell v. Alabama (1932)
D) Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Question 5

Nearly __________ of offenders on death row do not have a high school education.

A) all
B) one quarter
C) three quarters
D) half

Question 6

The costs associated with the death penalty tend to largely be due to the legal fees as well as the cost of the execution.

Question 7

Which state does not have one of the largest death row populations?

A) California
B) Virginia
C) Florida
D) Texas

Question 8

Of the various execution methods, this one typically takes the longest time to cause death.

A) Lethal injection
B) The gas chamber
C) Electrocution
D) Hanging

Question 9

Which Supreme Court decision found that the commission of a rape-alone-was not sufficient grounds for the death penalty?

A) Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988)
B) Coker v. Georgia (1977)
C) Ford v. Wainwright (1986)
D) Trop v. Dulles (1958)

Question 10

Cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited by the __________ Amendment to the Constitution.

A) Eighth
B) First
C) Fourteenth
D) Fifth

Question 11

Currently, the majority of states (with the death penalty) and the federal government authorize __________ as the sole method of execution.

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

Question 12

The Supreme Court case __________ held that it is unconstitutional to execute defendants with mental retardation.

A) Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
B) Furman v. Georgia (1972)
C) Roper v. Simmons (2005)
D) Trop v. Dulles (1958)

Question 13

This phrase from the Supreme Court decision, __________, was that there existed "evolving standards of decency that marked the progress of a maturing society."

A) Furman v. Georgia (1972)
B) Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968)
C) Trop v. Dulles (1958)
D) Roper v. Simmons (2005)

Question 14

Witness accounts of many botched executions over the years have caused __________ to be largely replaced with a different method of execution.

A) the gas chamber
B) electrocution
C) lethal injection
D) the firing squad

Question 15

What is the lowest age that the Supreme Court has recently declared a juvenile can be executed?

A) 10 years old
B) 16 years old
C) 12 years old
D) No one who was under the age of 18 when the crime was committed will be executed

Question 16

Which law or Supreme Court ruling first reinstated the death penalty (post Furman) as a possible punishment for federal criminal cases?

A) Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994
B) Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
C) Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
D) Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

Question 17

Who is largely responsible for seeking a death penalty sentence in a court of law?

A) The defense counsel
B) The prosecutor
C) The family of the victim
D) The judge

Question 18

This model for the death penalty suggests that offenders committing a crime should be punished in a manner that is commensurate with the severity of the crime that they have committed.

A) Specific deterrence
B) General deterrence
C) Arbitrariness
D) Retribution

Question 19

Which of the following is not a contemporary method of execution within the United States?

A) Guillotine
B) Electrocution
C) Gas chamber
D) Firing squad

Question 20

Which Supreme Court case resulted in a moratorium on capital punishment in America?

A) Furman v. Georgia (1972)
B) Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
C) Coker v. Georgia (1977)
D) Wilkerson v. Utah (1879)

Question 21

United State Penitentiary (USP) Florence is the physical location of federal death row.

Question 22

Prison environments on death row can take a toll on both inmates and staff.

Question 23

An opponent of the death penalty who argues that life without the possibility of patrol serves the same purpose as the death penalty is using arbitrariness as his or her argument for the abolishment of the death penalty.

Question 24

The execution of women offenders is quite rare.

Question 25

Supporters of the death penalty who content that when murderers are sentenced to death and executed, other would-be murderers will reconsider their acts due to fear of being executed, are arguing for the utility of specific deterrence.

Question 26

There is some evidence that the death penalty may actually increase homicide levels in areas where executions occur.

Question 27

Discuss the arguments for and against the death penalty. Be sure to present the arguments along the three key themes, on which many arguments depend.

Question 28

Discuss the three primary methods of execution and the common problems encountered with each method. Identify which method is primarily used.

Question 29

Identify the U.S. Supreme Court case and explain the reasoning behind their decision to abolish the death penalty in the United States.

Question 30

The United States had a moratorium on executions from 1972 to 1976.

Question 31

Prosecutors are overwhelming Caucasian.