Deck 13: Legal Issues in Corrections and the Death Penalty

Question 1

A correctional facility is found to be exploiting its prisoners for menial labor without pay. When someone petitions the court, the court rules it is permissible based on the Thirteenth Amendment. This court decision is most indicative of the ______ period.

A) hands-off
B) prisoners' rights
C) deference
D) rule-of-law

Answer 1

A

Question 2

When did the prisoners' rights period begin?

A) mid-1800s
B) late 1800s
C) early 1900s
D) mid-1900s

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A correctional facility was found to be holding disciplinary hearings for inmates that refused to give inmates written summaries of their accusations or to confront their accusers. When petitioned, the court rules that the facility is refusing inmates' due process. The court's ruling is most indicative of the ______ period.

A) hands-off
B) prisoners' rights
C) deference
D) rule-of-law

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Due to protections of inmate privacy, correctional authorities have not been able to stop the growing problem of ______ by inmates.

A) threatening communications
B) tax fraud
C) drug trafficking
D) possession of pornographic materials

Question 5

In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that inmates are entitled to some but not all due process rights?

A) Turner v. Safley
B) Wolff v. McDonnell
C) Sandin v. Conner
D) Kansas v. Hendricks

Question 6

Compared to 1966, today public opinion on the death penalty is that ______.

A) more Americans are in favor than against it
B) more Americans are against it than in favor
C) Americans are overwhelmingly opposed
D) Americans are overwhelmingly in favor

Question 7

Support for the death penalty peaked in the ______.

A) 1930s
B) 1950s
C) 1970s
D) 1990s

Question 8

The use of the death penalty was temporarily halted but began again in the ______.

A) 1960s
B) 1970s
C) 1980s
D) 1990s

Question 9

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

A) a small minority
B) about a quarter
C) around half
D) about three-quarters

Question 10

If a person is sentenced to death, the average time lapse between conviction and execution is ______.

A) 18 months
B) 3 years
C) 8 years
D) 15 years

Question 11

______ offenders are overrepresented on death row by a margin of 3 to 1 in comparison to their proportion of the U.S. population

A) White
B) Black
C) Hispanic
D) Asian

Question 12

Which demographic category is most underrepresented on death row?

A) Black
B) White
C) male
D) female

Question 13

______ of people who have been executed in the United States are female.

A) A small minority
B) About a quarter
C) Around a third
D) Half

Question 14

The Justice for All Act granted federal inmates the right to ______.

A) certain due process rights if disciplinary hearings would lose "good time"
B) file lawsuits in federal court in cases in which their safety was ignored
C) sue state officials in federal courts regarding the legality of their confinement
D) petition a federal court for DNA testing to support a claim of innocence

Question 15

In Cooper v. Pate, the Supreme Court ruled that state prison inmates could sue state officials in federal courts.

Question 16

The Fourth Amendment bans cruel and unusual punishment.

Question 17

Inmates' right to privacy is the most controversial issue in corrections.

Question 18

The death penalty resumed in the 1970s after a brief hiatus.

Question 19

What were the two main reasons behind the hands-off doctrine?

Question 20

Identify the four amendments to the Constitution that relate to the rights of inmates and evaluate their importance.

Question 21

An inmate is attempting to provide deliberate indifference. What must this inmate prove in order to prevail?

Question 22

An inmate was assaulted by a fellow inmate while officers stood by and did nothing. What must the assaulted inmate show in order for liability to attach to prison officials for this assault?

Question 23

Explain the so-called brutalizing effect. Why is it counterintuitive?

Question 24

Compare and contrast the prisoners' rights period and the deference period.

Question 25

Discuss the case of Furman v. Georgia (1972), the first case to legally challenge the death penalty. What were the circumstances of the case? Evaluate the effects of the Court's ruling for the future use of the death penalty.

Question 26

You are researching historical trends in the death penalty and investigating its use with Black and White offenders. What trends would you expect to discover over time? How has the Supreme Court responded to this issue?

Question 27

Compare and contrast the cases of Ford v. Wainwright (1986) and Atkins v. Virginia (2002). What did the Court rule? How did these decisions relate to each other?

Question 28

Describe the reasoning behind the fact that offenders with mental illness may be executed but offenders with mental disability may not. Do you see this trend continuing in the United States? Why or why not?