Capital Punishment Class 1

Administrative Give quiz Return quiz at end

Review Purposes of imprisonment – contradictions Prisons in History Large U.S. prison population which was continuing to grow until recently despite dramatic decreases in crime

Today Purposes of Capital Punishment History of the Death Penalty Courts and Capital Punishment Death Penalty and Deterrence Key Issues from Today’s Class

I. Purposes of Capital Punishment What purposes does the death penalty serve? Are there other ways to accomplish those purposes? Are the alternatives more or less effective than the death penalty?

II. History of the Death Penalty Colonial Period Late 18th century and the 19th century 20th and 21st centuries Executioners

III. Courts and Capital Punishment Cruel and Unusual Punishment Furman v. Georgia (1972) Responses of states

III. Courts and Capital Punishment 1976 cases Coker v. Georgia (1977) More recent cases

IV. The Death Penalty and Deterrence Have already documented numerous convictions of innocent people There have been numerous studies of deterrent effect of capital punishment Results

V. Key Issues from Today’s Class Not clear the death penalty is a good way to achieve the goals set for it Court has never found the death penalty in and of itself to be unconstitutional – cruel and unusual Little good evidence that the death penalty is a significant deterrent but lots of evidence we sometimes convict the wrong people

Next Time Deterrence and Leniency