Deck 9: Sentencing, Appeals, and the Death Penalty

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a judicial sentencing option?

A) a combination sentence of, for example, imprisonment, probation, and a fine
B) suspension of the entire sentence
C) any imaginable sentence
D) a sentence of time served

Answer 1

any imaginable sentence

Question 2

In sentencing, what is "dead time"?

A) jail time not deducted from the sentence
B) the time between sentencing and execution
C) the time between conviction and sentencing
D) the time of execution

Answer 2

jail time not deducted from the sentence

Question 3

What is believed to be the longest prison sentence in the United States?

A) 100 years
B) 500 years
C) 5,000 years
D) 10,000 years

Answer 3

10,000 years

Question 4

A 2011 Gallup poll found that ________ of the American public do not believe that the death penalty is applied fairly.

A) 10%
B) 26%
C) 41%
D) 63%

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT true regarding crime victims' rights in the United States today?

A) Only four states have laws that protect the basic rights of crime victims in the criminal justice system.
B) States have enacted more than 30,000 crime-victim-related statutes.
C) At least 32 state victims' rights constitutional amendments have been passed.
D) The federal government has passed legislation providing basic rights and services to federal crime victims.

Question 6

Which of the following is the landmark case in which the Supreme Court set aside death sentences for the first time in its history?

A) Roper v. Simmons
B) Powell v. Alabama
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 7

Which of the following is the landmark case in which the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty by approving guided-discretion statutes?

A) Roper v. Simmons
B) Powell v. Alabama
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 8

According to your textbook, since 1977, approximately what percentage of the victims of those who have been executed were white?

A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 95%

Question 9

As of May 8, 2013, how many jurisdictions in the United States have capital punishment statutes?

A) 19
B) 26
C) 34
D) 49

Question 10

Which of the following descriptions about a Supreme Court death penalty case is FALSE?

A) In Ford v. Wainwright, the Court barred states from executing inmates who have developed mental illness while on death row.
B) In Atkins v. Virginia, the Court held that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute the intellectually challenged.
C) In Roper v. Simmons, the Court effectively limited capital punishment to offenders who are 18 years of age or older at the time of their offense.
D) In McCleskey v. Kemp, the Court held that state death penalty statutes are unconstitutional when statistics indicate that they have been applied in racially biased ways.

Question 11

Which of the following states did NOT abolished its death penalty in the period of 2008 through 2013?

A) New Hampshire
B) Maryland
C) Connecticut
D) New Mexico

Question 12

According to your textbook, what is the average length of time between sentencing and execution?

A) nearly 5 years
B) nearly 10 years
C) nearly 15 years
D) nearly 20 years

Question 13

Nationally, between 1973 and 2011, what percentage of initial convictions or sentences in capital cases were overturned on appeal?

A) 4%
B) 17%
C) 36%
D) 59%

Question 14

As of October 1, 2012, approximately how many persons were on death rows in the United States?

A) 1,000
B) 3,000
C) 5,000
D) 7,000

Question 15

Between 1977 and 2013, approximately what percentage of all executions in the United States occurred in the South?

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

Question 16

According to a Gallup poll, what percentage of Americans favored the death penalty at the end of 2012?

A) 47%
B) 63%
C) 74%
D) 88%

Question 17

According to Amnesty International, which of the following countries conducted the fewest executions in 2011?

A) China
B) Iran
C) Saudi Arabia
D) the United States

Question 18

According to a recent public opinion poll, a greater percentage of Americans would trust a jury more than a judge to give a fair sentence.

Question 19

The study of 41 New York state judges presented in your textbook illustrates disparity in sentencing.

Question 20

A too-lenient sentence cannot be overturned on appeal.

Question 21

Capital punishment is the ultimate means of incapacitation.

Question 22

In 1977, the Supreme Court held that rape of an adult female and kidnapping, when the victim was not killed, do not warrant the death penalty; in 2008, the Court ruled that the rape of child, when the victim was not killed, also did not warrant the death penalty.

Question 23

According to your textbook, a majority of all people executed since 1977 have been black.

Question 24

Capital defendants have a dual system of collateral review.

Question 25

Name the five methods of execution currently available in the United States, and the primary method used by all executing jurisdictions.

Question 26

Judge Reynolds is coming up for re-election in his jurisdiction, and he is facing the case of his career. A serial armed robber, "The Pastor"
Raymond Rob, has just been convicted in a jury trial in Reynolds's courtroom. Rob was found guilty on four counts of armed robbery. "The Pastor"
earned his odd title because he always dressed as clergy when entering the banks. The banks were in rural areas and were not equipped with cameras, so all descriptions of "The Pastor"
had been flawed. His modus operandi consisted of passing the teller a note in his Bible and discretely showing the tip of the gun's barrel under his sleeve. He was finally caught after a fourth bank had been hit when Pastor Rob tripped going out the bank's door. A bank security guard apprehended him after the gun fell out.
During the sentencing portion of the case, Pastor Rob's attorney raised several pieces of information about Pastor Rob. He stated that Pastor Rob's mother died during childbirth, and his father died shortly thereafter in a car accident. Pastor Rob was raised in a series of foster homes, never having a family to call his own. At age 21, Pastor Rob left the foster care system and began preaching in a church he established. He helped many poor families through charity events held at the church, and during hard economic times, he just couldn't find additional funds. He started robbing banks in a nearby state where people did not know him. He got his gun from a parishioner who found it in a deceased relative's belongings and gave it to Pastor Rob for safekeeping.
The prosecutor has information about four clearly planned robberies by Pastor Rob, the use of a weapon, the use of clergy clothes and a Bible, and his preying on bank tellers who now distrust the clergy.
Judge Reynolds is also a former foster child, and he has great sympathy for Pastor Rob. He has been advised by the corrections department that prison space is limited and should be reserved for murderers, especially those involving drug trafficking. His jurisdiction uses indeterminate sentencing, and the punishment for armed robbery is a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 20 years. The judge would like you, his trusted law clerk, to provide him some guidance in the sentence he will impose on Pastor Rob by researching the sentences imposed in similar jurisdictions for similar crimes. What information are you likely to find?