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Deterrence and the Death Penalty (2012) / Chapter Skim
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2 Capital Punishment in the Post-Gregg Era
Pages 15-26

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From page 15...
... EXECUTIONS AND DEATH SENTENCES OVER TIME Figure 2-1 shows executions in the United States from 1930 through 2010. As can be seen, executions were more common prior to World War II than in the postwar era.
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From page 16...
... . R02175 Figure 2-1 vectors, editable 350 300 250 200 Number 150 100 50 0 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2009 Year Death Sentences Executions FIGURE 2-2 Annual number of death sentences and executions in the United States from 1976 to 2009.
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From page 17...
... The remaining 11 states experienced changes in death penalty authority from 1976 to 2009: • Two states -- North Carolina and Wyoming -- transitioned in 1977, immediately after the Gregg decision. • Four states -- Kansas, New Hampshire, Oregon, and South Dakota -- transitioned from non–death penalty to death penalty status after 1977.
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From page 18...
... 18 DETERRENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY TABLE 2-1 Legal Status of Execution in the Post-Gregg Era State Legal Authority for Death Penalty 1976-2009 Alabama Yes Alaska No Arizona Yes Arkansas Yes California Yes Colorado Yes Connecticut Yes Delaware Yes Florida Yes Georgia Yes Hawaii No Idaho Yes Illinois Yes Indiana Yes Iowa No Kansas No, 1976-1992; Yes, 1993-2009 Kentucky Yes Louisiana Yes Maine No Maryland Yes Massachusetts No, 1977-1979; Yes, 1980-1983; No, 1984-2009 Michigan No Minnesota No Mississippi Yes Missouri Yes Montana Yes Nebraska Yes Nevada Yes New Hampshire No, 1976-1989; Yes, 1990-2009 New Jersey No, 1976-1981; Yes, 1982-2005; No, 2006-2009 New Mexico Yes, 1976-2007; No, 2008-2009 New York No, 1976-1994; Yes, 1995-2006; No, 2007-2009 North Carolina No, 1976; Yes, 1977-2009 North Dakota No Ohio Yes Oklahoma Yes Oregon No, 1976-1977; Yes, 1978-2009 Pennsylvania Yes Rhode Island Yes, 1976-1983; No, 1984-2009 South Carolina Yes
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From page 19...
... Second, even in most states that authorize the death penalty, capital punishment is only available for the relatively narrow category of "first-degree" murders, typically those committed with "premeditation" or those committed during the course of serious felonies. Finally, even those guilty of first-degree murder can only be sentenced to death if the jury finds one or more specified aggravating circumstances.
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From page 20...
... Most of the studies we reviewed examine the association between capital punishment and the combined number or rate of all types of nonnegligent homicides. Unless the specific context dictates otherwise, we use the term "homicide" in describing the findings from the research.
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From page 21...
... This fact is important for considering the deterrent effect of the death penalty because the longer the delay the more the death penalty resembles a sentence of life without parole, the next most severe sanction to execution. It also complicates the assessment of what features of a capital punishment regime should be tested for an effect on homicide rates: the legal status of capital punishment as a potential sanction, the rate of capital sentences, the rate of executions, or the time to execution.
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From page 22...
... 22 DETERRENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY TABLE 2-2 Number of Death Sentences and Executions by Jurisdiction, 1973-2009 Executions per Death Sentences Executions Death Sentence Federal 65 3 0.0462 Alabama 412 44 0.1068 Arizona 286 23 0.0804 Arkansas 110 27 0.2455 California 927 13 0.0140 Colorado 21 1 0.0476 Connecticut 13 1 0.0769 Delaware 56 14 0.2500 Florida 977 68 0.0696 Georgia 320 46 0.1438 Idaho 42 1 0.0238 Illinois 307 12 0.0391 Indiana 100 20 0.2000 Kansas 12 0 0 Kentucky 81 3 0.0370 Louisiana 238 27 0.1134 Maryland 53 5 0.0943 Massachusetts 4 0 0 Mississippi 190 10 0.0526 Missouri 182 67 0.3681 Montana 15 3 0.2000 Nebraska 32 3 0.0938 Nevada 147 12 0.0816 New Hampshire 1 0 0 New Jersey 52 0 0 New Mexico 28 1 0.0357 New York 10 0 0 North Carolina 528 43 0.0814 Ohio 401 33 0.0823 Oklahoma 350 91 0.2600 Oregon 58 2 0.0345 Pennsylvania 399 3 0.0075 Rhode Island 2 0 0 South Carolina 203 42 0.2069 South Dakota 5 1 0.2000 Tennessee 221 6 0.0271 Texas 1,040 447 0.4298 Utah 27 6 0.2222 Virginia 150 105 0.7000 Washington 38 4 0.1053 Wyoming 12 1 0.0833 TOTAL 8,115 1,188 SOURCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2010, Table 20)
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From page 23...
... Rather, the problem is that the inferences drawn from those data on the impact of the death penalty rest heavily on unsupported assumptions. Although many methodological approaches have been used in the research and analyses, the challenge is to identify credible and informative assumptions that can be combined with the data to draw valid inferences on the deterrent effect of capital sanctions.
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From page 24...
... 24 TABLE 2-3 Death Sentences, Executions, and Homicides by State: 1990-1999 Death Sentences Executions Jurisdiction Death Sentences Executions Homicides per Homicide per Homicide Alabamaa 155 12 3,608 0.0430 0.0033 Arizona 85 19 3,319 0.0256 0.0057 Arkansas 51 21 2,136 0.0239 0.0098 California 334 7 28,781 0.0116 0.0002 Colorado 4 1 1,741 0.0023 0.0006 Connecticut 5 0 1,448 0.0035 0 Delaware 21 10 260 0.0808 0.0385 Floridab 185 22 5,711 0.0324 0.0039 Georgia 88 8 6,159 0.0143 0.0013 Idaho 11 1 319 0.0345 0.0031 Illinois 113 12 10,775 0.0105 0.0011 Indiana 26 5 3,931 0.0066 0.0013 Kansasc 0 0 304 0 0 Kentucky 25 2 2,134 0.0117 0.0009 Louisiana 79 6 6,409 0.0123 0.0009 Maryland 18 3 5,040 0.0036 0.0006 Mississippi 67 0 2,953 0.0227 0 Missouri 83 39 4,320 0.0192 0.009 Montanad 2 2 162 0.0123 0.0123 Nebraska 5 3 491 0.0102 0.0061
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From page 25...
... SOURCES: Data on executions from Espy and Smykla (2004) , data on death sentences from Death Penalty Information Center (2010a)
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From page 26...
... . Death Sentences in the United States from 1977 by State and by Year.
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