NCJ Number
107718
Journal
North Carolina Law Review Volume: 64 Issue: 5 Dated: (June 1986) Pages: 941-992
Date Published
1986
Length
52 pages
Annotation
In 37 States, capital sentencing statutes contains lists of aggravating circumstances that, if present, elevate the offense above the norm for other first degree murders.
Abstract
Under these statutes, a sentencer must determine that at least one of these circumstances applies before the death penalty may be imposed. These 'especially heinous' aggravating circumstances are examined in the light of the 8th amendment guided discretion and the 14th amendment's due process vagueness doctrines, which require that State legislatures channel a sentencer's discretion to avoid the arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory imposition of capital punishment. A State-by-State analysis of appellate decisions applying the heinous circumstance requirement is presented that indicates that courts' overbroad and inconsistent application of this doctrine undermines the constitutional mandate that a legislature guide and limit the sentencer's discretion in capital cases. Because unbridled discretion increases the likelihood of arbitrariness, caprice, and discrimination in the sentencing process, the especially heinous aggravating circumstance should be eliminated from consideration in capital sentencing. 362 footnotes.