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Psych and Law Final Exam
The Death Penalty
18
Psychology
Undergraduate 3
12/17/2013

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Cards

Term
Background of the death penalty
Definition
• Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 after a short period of suspension. Guidelines were created and approved.
• Where? 32 states, federal government, and military use
• Eligible cases? Aggravated murder.
Term
CA and the death penalty
Definition
• Not a top contender in executions (Texas is the highest)
• Has some of the largest number of death row inmates
Term
Key processes in death penalty trials: jury selection
Definition
• "Death Qualified" jury (not opposed to the use of the death sentence)
• "Excludables" or "Automatic Death Penalty" jurors
Term
Key processes in death penalty trials: two-phase trial
Definition
• Phase I: Guilt phase
• Phase II: Sentencing phase
Term

Sentencing phase of death penalty trials

(What it is, what factors to consider, and what is necessary to sentence to death)

Definition

• "Should the defendant be killed in the execution chamber?"

• Everyone has to agree on at least one aggravating factor in order to sentence to death

Factors to consider:

• Aggravating

• Mitigating

Term
Aggravating factors
Definition
• Facts that argue for death
• i.e. How many times you stabbed them; premeditation
Term
Mitigating factors
Definition
• Factors that argue for a sentence less than death
• i.e. childhood, mental illness
Term
Research on a death qualified jury: demographic difference
Definition
• Male
• White
• Moderately educated
• Politically conservative
• Middle class
• Catholic/Protestant
Term
Research on a death qualified jury: dispositional difference
Definition
• Authoritarian
• Have internal locus of control
• Low in need for cognition
Term
Research on a death qualified jury: attitudinal differences
Definition
• Weight aggravating circumstances more heavily than mitigating circumstances
• Evaluate ambiguous expert testimony positively
• Susceptible to pre-trial publicity and victim statements
Term
Research on a death qualified jury: process effects
Definition
• Assume the system expects conviction and death sentence
Term
Differences in death qualified juries
Definition
More likely to find defendant guilty and apply death penalty
Term
Research on Phase II of a death penalty trial
Definition
• Jurors often misunderstand instructions
(Ex. Believe if there's one aggravating factor, they have to apply the death penalty; think that no death sentence means they'll be eligible for parole)
• Racial disparities (African Americans make 41% of the population on death row) (Race-of-victim effect)
Term
Race-of-victim effect
Definition
Stereotypic characteristics play a role in African Americans being sentenced to death
Term
Eberhardt et al. study on stereotypical racial characteristics and the death penalty
Definition
• Procedure: 44 death-eligible cases; task is to determine how "stereotypically black" characteristics of defendants are (lips, nose, skin tone, hair texture)
• Analysis: correlate stereotypical ratings with death sentence outcomes
• Results: Stereotypical black defendants have a higher % of death sentences with white victims; no significant difference in black victims
Term
Impact of research on the death penalty
Definition

Supreme Court cases

• Lockhart v. McCree (Research on death qualified jury perceived as valid but dismissed)

• McCleskey v. Kemp (Did not accept reserch on racial disparities in capital trials)

Term
Amendments and the death penalty
Definition
• 8th: Prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment"
• 14th: Guarantee of "equal protection" under the law
Term
How many innocent people have been released from death row
Definition
Over 140
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