NCJ Number
155637
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1995) Pages: 245- 261
Date Published
1995
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The Eighth Amendment tests of societal consensus and proportionality as applied to juvenile capital punishment was examined using a sample of 179 former jurors, who voted on whether to execute the defendant in a hypothetical case.
Abstract
The study was conducted in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area in the mid-Atlantic region. None of the former jurors had served on a capital case. Participants received a booklet-style questionnaire that described a murder of a store clerk in a robbery, as well as the subsequent court proceedings, in which the defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder. The defendant's age (10, 15, 16, or 19) and level of remorse were varied. Results revealed that a large percentage of participants voted to execute the defendant in each case, but the defendant's age and the participant's attitude toward juvenile culpability significantly predicted the likelihood of execution. Tables and 25 references (Author abstract modified)