Deck 12: The Death Penalty

Question 1

Most appellate cases claim that the death penalty violates which Amendment?

A) The First Amendment
B) The Fourth Amendment
C) The Eighth Amendment
D) The Fourteenth Amendment

Answer 1

The Eighth Amendment

Question 2

In __________, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty is cruel and unusual when imposed in an arbitrary manner, with many justice's opinions focused on standard-less capital sentencing discretion.

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Kennedy v. Louisiana
D) Trop v. Dulles

Answer 2

Furman v. Georgia

Question 3

Which of the following is not one of the new procedures in Georgia's death penalty cases that the Supreme Court approved in Gregg v. Georgia?

A) A bifurcated trial
B) Guilt and sentence determined at the same stage
C) Juries weighing mitigating and aggravating circumstances
D) Automatic review or appeal

Answer 3

Guilt and sentence determined at the same stage

Question 4

In __________ (a rape case), the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty can only be valid in cases that result in the death of a victim.

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Kennedy v. Louisiana
D) Trop v. Dulles

Question 5

Which standard must be used when determining whether a specific action violates the Eighth Amendment?

A) Non-interference
B) Shocked the conscience
C) Evolving standards of decency
D) Unduly hazardous

Question 6

What did the Supreme Court rule on in Batson v. Kentucky?

A) Discrimination against the mentally impaired in peremptory strikes
B) Discrimination against the mentally impaired in the sentencing of the death penalty
C) Racial discrimination in peremptory strikes
D) Racial discrimination in the sentencing of the death penalty

Question 7

In __________, the Supreme Court ruled that a petitioner must prove the decisionmakers in his/her case acted with discriminatory purpose.

A) Trop v. Dulles
B) McCleskey v. Kemp
C) Batson v. Kentucky
D) Atkins v. Virginia

Question 8

Which of the following Supreme Court cases ruled that the death penalty was considered cruel and unusual punishment for the mentally impaired?

A) Trop v. Dulles
B) McCleskey v. Kemp
C) Batson v. Kentucky
D) Atkins v. Virginia

Question 9

When did the Supreme Court last directly address judicial hanging?

A) 1878
B) 1896
C) 1908
D) 1927

Question 10

A prisoner is entitled to an execution free of which of the following?

A) Physical suffering
B) An audience of more than 10 people
C) Lingering punishment
D) Unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain

Question 11

What was Congress' goal in passing the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA)?

A) To provide an appeal process to sentences of the death penalty
B) To limit the period for filing a federal habeas corpus petition
C) To ensure prisoners have the right to legal counsel while on death row
D) All of the above

Question 12

How did the AEDPA affect the district courts?

A) Limited their discretion
B) Prevented courts from the use of a "stay and abeyance"
C) Took all power away from the courts
D) Eliminated habeas corpus filings

Question 13

When is a stay and abeyance appropriate for a district court to use?

A) It is never appropriate for a district court to use
B) There are unexhausted claims that are plainly meritless
C) There is a delay, intentional or not.
D) There is good cause for the petitioner's failure to exhaust his claims

Question 14

In response to the Furman decision, the majority of states enacted modified death penalty statutes.

Question 15

Gregg v. Georgia ruled the death penalty is not cruel and unusual, but states are free to adopt standards higher than the federal standard and end capital punishment at a state level.

Question 16

The Supreme Court held that a statute that provided too limited a range of mitigating circumstances is constitutional.

Question 17

The Eighth Amendment bars the imposition of the death penalty for the rape of a child.

Question 18

Trop v. Dulles established the "evolving standard of decency" standard.

Question 19

In death penalty cases, the Supreme Court has held that the Eighth Amendment does not require that a jury be instructed as to the consequences of their failure to agree.

Question 20

In death penalty cases, victim impact statements are not acceptable.

Question 21

The AEDPA limits the filing period to two years.

Question 22

Rhines v. Weber held stay and abeyance should be available only in limited circumstances.

Question 23

18 U.S.C. § 3599-which provides counsel for indigent defendants-does not provide a state prisoner a right to suspension of his federal habeas proceedings when he is adjudged incompetent.

Question 24

Capital punishment is unconstitutional.

Question 25

For each of the following scenarios, use case law to explain whether the situations are reasonable to end in the death penalty:
● The prosecution uses peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors based on their ambivalence or opposition to the death penalty.
● A person is charged with the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old.
● A prisoner has an IQ of 71 and has committed a murder in a state that requires an IQ of 70 or below to be determined as mentally impaired.

Question 26

Summarize the importance of Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia.

Question 27

How has the Court's use of the "evolving standards of decency" standard affected capital punishment in the U.S.?