#DeathPenalty

SCOTUS Sets Lethal Precedent: The Case of Domineque Ray

Caroline Koch

Feb 25, 2019
3 min

SCOTUS Sets Lethal Precedent: The Case of Domineque Ray

Correctional facilities’ attempt to balance security and inmates’ constitutional rights often skews in favor of security. However, in a country that prides itself on religious freedom, Domineque Ray’s religious discrimination within the death chamber raises uncomfortable constitutional questions. In 1994, Ray murdered two brothers, Earnest and Reinhard Mabins. While still undetected for their murders, in 1995, Ray brutally raped and murdered fifteen-year-old Tiffany Harville

Could a Prisoner be “Unhealthy” Enough to Execute?

Kathryn Canning

Feb 11, 2019
3 min

Could a Prisoner be “Unhealthy” Enough to Execute?

There has been a debate on whether a prisoner is “healthy” enough to execute. Consistent with the Eighth Amendment, and this Court’s decisions in Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986), and Panetti v. Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930 (2007), a state may execute a prisoner whose mental disability leaves him without memory of his commission of the capital offense. But, it does not allow a state to execute a prisoner who has lost his cognitive ability to rationally understand the circu

Spencer Griffin

Nov 14, 2018
3 min

Forgiveness for Those Who Forget

The Eighth Amendment reads, “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This seemingly straightforward sentence is being reexamined by the Supreme Court in Madison v. Alabama. The Court is tasked with deciding if the prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishments” includes executing a man who cannot remember committing the crime. The State of Alabama is attempting to execute Vernon Madison, a sixty-seve

Evolving Standards of Decency: Will Kavanaugh Transform the Death Penalty the way Kennedy did?

Lisa Sendrow

Sep 10, 2018
4 min

Evolving Standards of Decency: Will Kavanaugh Transform the Death Penalty the way Kennedy did?

Justice Anthony Kennedy retired from the Supreme Court on July 31, 2018. He was often the swing vote of many of the most ideological decisions, including issues regarding criminal justice and the death penalty. If President Trump’s rhetoric provides any indication, then his nominee Brett Kavanaugh may reject any challenges to capital punishment. Kennedy was often the key vote in slowly limiting death penalty practices. But if Kavanaugh is appointed, will those practices resur

Update: Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence in Buck v. Davis, Finding Ineffective Assistance of C

Kaitlin Bigger

Mar 15, 2017
5 min

Update: Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence in Buck v. Davis, Finding Ineffective Assistance of C

On February 22, 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion vacating and remanding Buck v. Davis. Duane Buck, an African American, was sentenced to death by a Texas jury in 1997 after his defense attorney introduced an expert witness at trial who testified that Buck would be a future danger to society because of his race. In order to sentence a defendant to death in Texas, during the sentencing phase of a capital trial, the jury must

Choosing Capital Punishment: 2016 Referendums and the Death Penalty

Chelsea Jacobi

Nov 26, 2016
4 min

Choosing Capital Punishment: 2016 Referendums and the Death Penalty

As of July 1, 2016, there are 2,905 Americans on death row. Almost one-third of those inmates live in one of these three states: California, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, which featured ballot referendums concerning capital punishment in this past election held November 8, 2016. Approximately 66% of Oklahomans voted to enshrine capital punishment in the Oklahoma Constitution. Meanwhile, 61% of Nebraskans voted to reinstate capital punishment after previously abolishing it in 2015.

Prosecutorial Discretion and Dylann Roof

Matt Goldstein

Nov 17, 2016
5 min

Prosecutorial Discretion and Dylann Roof

The trial of Dylann Roof, the young man that fatally shot nine individuals attending a Bible study meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015, is gradually moving forward. Roof faces thirty-three federal charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, including: nine counts of violating the Hate Crime Act resulting in death; three counts of violating the Hate Crime Act involving an attempt to kill; nine counts of obstruction of e

Kaitlin Bigger

Nov 8, 2016
2 min

"Indefensible": Recent Supreme Court Case Highlights Continued Racial Bias in Death Penalt

Duane Buck was sentenced to death by a jury in 1997 after his own counsel called an expert witness who testified that Mr. Buck would be a future danger to society because he was African American. A finding of future dangerousness is required under Texas law in order to impose a death sentence. Mr. Buck’s brief filed with the Supreme Court asserted that allowing Mr. Buck’s conviction to stand will create the risk of injustice in other cases, and undermine the criminal justic

KNOWLEDGE • PRACTICE • JUSTICE

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