Death+penalty_home

The Death Penalty


 * The Death Penalty in Massachusetts **

There have been executions in Massachusetts in the past pursuant to judicial death sentences. However, the death penalty is no longer valid in Massachusetts. Click on the links below and answer the questions which follow to learn more about how and why these changes occurred.

[|Timeline of the history of the death penalty in Massachusetts]

1. When did the first execution take place in Massachusetts? 2. How was the execution carried out? 3. When was the last execution in Massachusetts and how was it carried out? 4. How many executions were carried out for convictions for practicing witchcraft? 5. How was the punishment for murder in the first degree changed in 1951? 6. Why did the Supreme Court rule that Georgia's death penalty was cruel and unusual in __Furman v. Georgia__? 7. How did the Supreme Court interpret Georgia's revised capital murder statute in __Gregg v. Georgia__?

Summary of the Death Penalty in Massachusetts

1. What Massachusetts statute provides for the imposition of punishment by death? 2. What Supreme Judicial Court decision ruled the death penalty unconstitutional? 3. According to the SJC in __Colon-Cruz__, in 1982 Massachusetts voters approved an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution. What did the Amendment provide? 4. What statute did the Court in __Colon-Cruz__ consider? 5. Why did the Court in __Colon-Cruz__ declare the 1982 statute unconstitutional? 6. Who wrote the majority, concurring and dissenting opinions in __Colon-Cruz__? 7. Why were the dissenting opinions written in __Colon-Cruz__? 8. In //Watson//, what article to the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution did the Supreme Judicial Court consider? 9. What Constitutional Amendment is referred to by the Court in __Watson__//?// 10. Why does the Court in __Watson__ declare that the "death penalty is offensive to contemporary standards of decency"? 11. Why does the Court in __Watson__ declare that the "death penalty is arbitrarily inflicted"?


 * The Death Penalty in other states **

__ U.S. Supreme Court __

The death penalty is a very controversial topic throughout the nation and has led the United States Supreme Court to issue several important decisions on the topic. A quick summary of two of these important cases appears below.

[|Furman v. Georgia]

1. What was the issue before the Court? 2. What did the Court decide about the death penalty? 3. Which Justices found the death penalty to be unconstitutional in all instances? 4. What did the concurring opinions focus on? 5. How did states respond to the decision? 6. When was the case decided?

[|Gregg v. Georgia]

1. What was the issue before the Court? 2. What did the Court decide about the death penalty? 3. Why was the revised Georgia statute found to be constitutional? 4. When was the case decided? 5. Which Justices voted against the majority decision? 6. What other state's death penalty statutes were considered in similar cases?

__ Other states __

[|State by state comparison]

1. How many states impose the death penalty? 2. How many states do not have a death penalty? 3. What are the methods of execution in AZ, CA, FL, NH and OK?

[|Connecticut case]

1. Who was sentenced to death on October 5, 2010 and who made the decision to impose the death sentence? 2. According to the article, what percentage of Americans favor life imprisonment without the possibility of parole over the death penalty? 3. According to the article, how many death sentences were given in Texas in 2009?

The following websites were used in this scavenger hunt: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state_by_state http://www.nodp.org/ma/s1.html http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/death.html http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1971/1971_69_5003/ http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1975/1975_74_6257 http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/death-penalty-in-states/page.do?id=1101153 http://www.thenation.com/article/156405/voting-death-penalty
 * Credits **