masters

= = =Representative Masters (Republican, California)= == = =

= =



- In 2005, there were 16,692 cases of murder and manslaughter nationally. There were 60 executions. - Between 3 and 18 lives would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer. -  Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that the death penalty does not go against the 8th amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment. - 74% of Americans supported the death penalty in May. - 64% of Americans supported the death penalty in October. - American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project o Launched in September 2001 to start a nationwide moratorium on executions o Summer of 2005 – the moratorium project completed its final set of state assessments. - 121 countries around the world have abolished the death penalty. - Today, criminals in 38 US states and those convicted of federal crimes could face the death penalty - Britain  influenced America’s use of the death penalty. - <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">1608 – The first recorded execution (in America) was Captain George Kendall Jamestown, Virginia. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">1612 – Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale made the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Enacted the death penalty for things such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Massachusetts Bay Colony had its first execution in 1630. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">The New York Colony had the Duke's Laws of 1665 <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Offenses such as striking one's mother or father, or denying the "true God," were to be sentenced to the death penalty. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">10th Century A.D., hanging became the usual form of execution in Britain. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">.1700s in Britain – 222 crimes were punished by death. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Stealing, cutting down a tree, robbing a rabbit warren. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Saves innocent lives because it kills the murderers. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">The death penalty is the most effective way to prevent killers from repeating their previous crimes. - Life imprisonment without possibility of parole prevents murderers from committing some crimes but does not prevent them from murdering in prison. o The jails can get crowded. o They can still murder in prison – not helping any situation. - About 5 federal prison officers have been killed since December 1982 o Most of the people that murdered these officers were already in prison for life without parole for murder. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Hill vs. McDonough <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o  <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">June 12, 2006 <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o  <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Said that inmates can challenge lethal injections as a civil rights issue <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o  <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Judges did not rule on whether this way of execution (lethal injections) was considered cruel and unusual punishment. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Abolitionist movements early on in Britain, then spread to America. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Furman v. Georgia <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">1972 <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Furman argued that capital cases resulted in biased and unpredictable sentencing. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Furman was a challenge brought under the Eighth Amendment <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">With this decision, “the Supreme Court set the standard that a punishment would be "cruel and unusual" if it was too severe for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it offended society's sense of justice, or it if was not more effective than a less severe penalty.” <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Witherspoon vs. Illinois <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">1968 <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">The Supreme Court ruled that “a potential juror's mere reservations about the death penalty were insufficient grounds to prevent that person from serving on the jury in a death penalty case. Jurors could be disqualified only if prosecutors could show that the juror's attitude toward capital punishment would prevent him or her from making an impartial decision about the punishment.” <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Trop vs. Dulles <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">The Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment had an "evolving standard of decency that marked the progress of a maturing society." <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Developed to a point that the "standard of decency" should not have the death penalty. <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">- <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">On June 29, 1972, the Supreme Court successfully canceled 40 death penalty acts <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">o <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Altered the sentences of 629 death row inmates around the country and suspended the death penalty because existing acts were not valid anymore. - More victims rights, harsher punishments for certain crimes. - Death penalty is effective - Enforce the existing laws – keep death penalty. - Support the courts having the option of enforcing the death penalty in capital murder cases. - Stopped federal judges from releasing criminals due to the over-crowding of jails - Want to make sure that states make violent felons do time in prison. - The risk of executing the innocent should prevent use of the death penalty. - Question the fairness in the way that the death penalty has been implemented. - DNA testing in death penalty cases - Defendants should have effective use of the counsel. - In death row cases, use post-conviction reviews. - Put rights of families and victims first. - Push for more crime prevention, to stop it before it starts, or before it’s too late.
 * Death Penalty Research**
 * What’s the history of your particular issue?**
 * History of the Death Penalty**
 * How does this issue have an impact on people? The environment? Are there any case studies you could refer to support your ideas?**
 * When did this issue first surface?**
 * What is the Republican Party position on your issue?**
 * - **** We need to think about the victims, almost all stories from the anti-death penalty side are about the murders, but they are the ones that ruined the lives of the victims. **
 * What is the Democratic Party position on your issue?**
 * What current legislation is under consideration in Congress on your issue? Refer to specific bills by name. What is the bill title? Who sponsored it? What is the bill’s purpose?**
 * S. 447
 * Sen. Feingold (WI)
 * “to abolish the death penalty under federal law”
 * Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2007
 * Introduced January 31, 2007
 * Wants to end the death penalty
 * Provides examples such as:
 * Homicide related offenses
 * Non-homicide related offenses
 * Conspiracy
 * Assaulting
 * Mutiny
 * H.R. 2466
 * Rep. Sensenbrenner (WI)
 * “To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent gang crime, and for other purposes.”
 * 2 Co-Sponsors
 * Rep. Chabot (OH)
 * Rep. Forbes (VA)
 * H.R. 851
 * Death penalty reform act of 2007
 * Rep. Smith of Texas, and Rep. Franks of Arizona
 * “To modify the law with respect to the death penalty, and for other purposes.”
 * Bill # H.R. 1914
 * Sponsor: John Carter (Republican, Texas)
 * “To amend title 18, United States Code, to ensure the death penalty for terrorists, and for other purposes.”

"Capital Punishment." __International Information Programs__. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/human_rights/capital_punishment.html>.] "Democratic Party on Crime." __On the Issues__. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Democratic_Party_Crime.htm>.]

__ DPINFO -- Death Penalty Information __. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://www.dpinfo.com/>.]

<span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">"Introduction of the Death Penalty." __Death__ __Penalty Information Center__. 15 Feb. 2008 <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"><http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=15&did=410#TheDeathPenaltyinAm <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">erica>.

__Pro-Death Penalty__. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/>.]

"Republican Party on Crime." __On the Issues__. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Republican_Party_Crime.htm>.]

__ Thomas (Library of Congress) __. 15 Feb. 2008 <[|http://thomas.loc.gov/>.]

<span style="COLOR: rgb(0,51,102)">Walker, Carol. "Death Penalty Remains Subject of Debate in United States." __America.Gov__. 14 <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,51,102)">Dec. 2005. 15 Feb. 2008 <http://www.america.gov/st/washfile- <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,51,102)">english/2005/December/20051202150231bcreklaw0.2723963.html>.

more resources <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,51,102)">
 * crimes eligible for the federal death penalty: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=29&did=192