Keywords
death-qualification statutes, death penalty
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Despite increasing unease with the death penalty in the United States, many states continue to conduct capital trials purged of jurors categorically opposed to the death penalty. Death-qualified juries are of great concern because they are more likely to convict and sentence a defendant to death. An analysis of capital juror disqualification criteria in state statutes reveals states heavily emphasize disqualifying prospective jurors who oppose the death penalty, but devote scarce attention to addressing procedures for disqualifying prospective jurors with pro-prosecution and pro-death biases. Roughly half of the states where capital punishment remains legal do not have statutes specifically addressing capital jurors’ disqualification criteria; the half that do have statutes with provisions that are woefully inadequate. This article concludes by proposing an exploratory statute designed to increase fairness in current capital juror disqualification practices.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.21428/b6e95092.0afc2c9c
Recommended Citation
Updegrove, Alexander H. and delCarmen, Rolando v.
(2017)
"An Analysis of State Statutes On Capital Juror Disqualification and a Proposal for an Exploratory Statute,"
Journal of Criminal Justice and Law: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21428/b6e95092.0afc2c9c
Available at:
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/jcjl/vol1/iss1/1