The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury here. The bias created by death qualifying a jury here and here. The State of Massachusetts Report of the Governor’s Council here and here. There are an infinite number of arguments both for and against capital punishment. Morality, religion and vengeance can all be used to argue either for… Continue reading
Posts Tagged → Death-qualified jury
Capital Punishment VII
The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury here. The bias created by death qualifying a jury here and here. The State of Massachusetts Report of the Governor’s Council here. The problem with the Council’s recommendation, absent a shadow jury, is that if the first jury finds the defendant guilty, then the second jury basically… Continue reading
Capital Punishment VI
The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury here. The bias created by death qualifying a jury here and here. The State of Massachusetts tackled the issue of death qualification. According to the Report of the Governor’s Council, Governor Romney stressed two main issues: first, “capital punishment should be limited to a narrowly… Continue reading
Capital Punishment V
The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury here. The bias created by death qualifying a jury here. Regardless of how a juror is excused, the fact still remains, at least in theory, no individual will ever sit on a capital jury while being honest about his or her conviction against… Continue reading
Capital Punishment IV
The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury here. “The division is not between rich and poor, highbrow and lowbrow, Christians and atheists: it is between those who have charity and those who have not. . . . The test of one’s humanity is whether one is able to accept… Continue reading
Capital Punishment III
The history of Capital Punishment here and here. The process of death qualifying a jury requires further inquiry than empanelling a non-death qualified jury. The prospective jurors are questioned at voir dire regarding their specific opinion and outlook on capital punishment. Those who state they could not, because of their abhorrence to the death penalty,… Continue reading
Capital Punishment II – History
This post is lengthy but it reviews the history of capital punishment in the US. All of the following 8 posts on the next 8 Sundays will deal with the heart of the matter: the bias created in selecting a capital jury. In 1968, the Court, in Witherspoon v. Illinois,8 looked at an Illinois statute which… Continue reading