Capital Punishment and
the Judicial Process
Third Edition
2008 Supplement
Randall Coyne
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Lyn Entzeroth
University of Tulsa College of Law
Carolina Academic Press
Durham, North Carolina
Copyright © 2008
Randall Coyne
Lyn Entzeroth
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 978-1-59460-626-7
Carolina Academic Press
700 Kent Street
Durham, NC 27701
Phone 919-489-7486
Fax 919-493-5668
www.cap-press.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 THE GREAT DEBATE OVER CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
F.
Other Issues in the Death Penalty Debate . ................................................ 1
1.
Risk of Executing the Innocent..................................................................... 1
Note on Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163 (2006).............................................. 1
Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163 (2006)............................................................ 1
Note on House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518 (2006). .................................................. 4
House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518 (2006). ................................................................ 4
Note................................................................................................................ 12
CHAPTER 2 PROHIBITION AGAINST CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT
B.
Proportionality as a Limitation on Punishment........................................ 13
Kennedy v. Louisiana, 2008 WL 2511282. ................................................... 13
E.
Modern Methods of Execution. .................................................................. 27
6.
Lethal Injection............................................................................................ 27
Hill v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 573 (2006)...................................................... 27
Baze v. Rees, 128 S.Ct. 1520 (2008).............................................................. 32
Note on Baze v. Rees...................................................................................... 56
F.
Death Penalty Jurisdictions and Racial Characteristics
of Death Row Populations........................................................................... 58
NAACP Legal Defense Fund Statistics. ........................................................ 59
Distribution of Executions Throughout the Country Since 1976 . ................ 60
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CHAPTER 3 EARLY CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO THE DEATH
PENALTY
D.
Summary of the 1976 Supreme Court Cases............................................ 61
Note on Justice John Paul Stevens' Death Penalty Conversion. ................... 61
Baze v. Rees, 128 S.Ct. 1520 (2008)............................................................. 61
CHAPTER 4 RACE, GENDER AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
B.
The Effects of Race. .................................................................................... 67
NAACP Legal Defense Fund Statistics . ...................................................... 67
C.
The Effects of Gender................................................................................. 68
NAACP Legal Defense Fund Statistics. ....................................................... 68
CHAPTER 5 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS ON DEATH ELIGIBILITY
C.
Insanity . ..................................................................................................... 69
Panetti v. Quarterman, 127 S.Ct. 2842 (2007)............................................. 69
CHAPTER 6 SELECTING THE CAPITAL JURY
B.
Death Qualification..................................................................................... 83
Note on Uttecht v. Brown, 127 S.Ct. 2218 (2007)........................................ 83
E.
Race-Based Peremptory Challenges.......................................................... 83
Snyder v. Louisiana, 128 S.Ct. 1203 (2008). ................................................ 84
CHAPTER 8 THE ROLE OF MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES
A.
General Principles of Mitigation. .............................................................. 91
8.
The Requirement that Jurors Give Effect to Mitigating Evidence. ....... 91
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Smith v. Texas, 127 S.Ct. 1686 (2007). ......................................................... 91
Note................................................................................................................ 92
Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman, 127 S.Ct. 1654 (2007)..................................... 93
Note on Brewer v. Quarterman, 127 S.Ct. 1706 (2007)................................ 97
B.
Balancing Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances. .......................... 98
4.
Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Equipoise. ...................... 98
Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163 (2006).......................................................... 98
CHAPTER 9 THE SENTENCING PHASE OF CAPITAL TRIALS
D.
The “Truly Awesome Responsibility” of Capital Jurors. ...................... 107
Note on Ayers v. Belmontes, 549 U.S. 7 (2006). ......................................... 107
E.
Closing Arguments and Fundamental Fairness...................................... 107
Carey v. Musladin, 549 U.S. 70 (2006)....................................................... 107
CHAPTER 12 STAYS OF EXECUTION AND STATE POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
PROCEEDINGS
A.
Stays of Execution...................................................................................... 109
Emmett v. Kelly, 128 S.Ct. 1 (2007). ........................................................... 109
CHAPTER 13 INTRODUCTION TO FEDERAL HABEAS CORPUS REVIEW
A.
Historical Overview. .................................................................................. 111
Note on Availability of Habeas for Guantanamo Detainees........................ 111
C.
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996................. 112
Lawrence v. Florida, 127 S.Ct. 1079 (2007)............................................... 113
Note on Roper v. Weaver, 127 S.Ct. 2022 (2007). ...................................... 118
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D.
Other Limitations on Federal Habeas Review. ...................................... 119
Note on Fry v. Plilier, 127 S.Ct. 2321 (2007). ........................................... 119
CHAPTER 14 STATE BARRIERS TO FEDERAL HABEAS REVIEW
A.
Exhaustion of State Remedies.................................................................. 121
Allen v. Siebert, 128 S.Ct. 2 (2007). ........................................................... 121
I.
Evidentiary Hearing under the AEDPA - Section 2254(e).................... 123
Schriro v. Landrigan, 127 S.Ct. 1933 (2007). ............................................ 123
CHAPTER 15 RETROACTIVITY
Note on Danforth v. Minnesota, 128 S.Ct. 1029 (2008)......................................... 135
Note on Whorton v. Bockting, 127 S.Ct. 1173 (2007). ........................................... 136
CHAPTER 19 INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE DEATH PENALTY
B.
Selected Cases............................................................................................ 137
Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, 548 U.S. 331 (2006)....................................... 137
Medellin v. Texas, 128 S.Ct. 1346 (2008)................................................... 148
Note............................................................................................................. 153
SELECTED STATUTES. ................................................................................................ 155
PART I. FEDERAL HABEAS CORPUS ..................................................................... 155
A.
Federal Habeas Corpus Statutes As Amended By The Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996................................................. 155
B.
Special Habeas Corpus Procedures in Capital Cases............................ 165
C.
Federal Habeas Corpus Statutes Prior to the 1996 Amendments. ....... 169
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PART II. ANTI-DRUG ABUSE ACT OF 1988. ............................................................ 177
PART III. FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY ACT OF 1994. ......................................... 179
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