Explain why Texas currently has the highest execution rate in the United States and why the number of executions has been projected to decline in the future
What will be an ideal response?
Answer:
A. Texas has highest execution rate in U.S.
1. increasingly difficult for Texas death row inmates to be granted clemency or stays of execution, even when evidence exists that may suggest their innocence
2. individualistic and traditionalistic political culture
a. makes prosecutors more likely to seek death penalty
b. makes juries more likely to give the death penalty
B. Execution rate is projected to decline
1. U.S. Supreme Court decisions
a. no one who was under 18 when the crime was committed can be executed.
b. cannot execute persons found to be mentally retarded, on the basis that it violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment
2. legislatively mandated sentencing options
a. empowered juries to sentence defendants to life without the possibility of parole
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Decriminalization of currently illegal drugs would more likely be favored by _________ and opposed by
A) libertarians; conservatives. B) communitarians; liberals. C) liberals; libertarians. D) conservatives; liberals. E) libertarians; liberals.
The electoral system used for legislative elections (for the House of Representatives) in the United States is:
A. single-member district plurality. B. two-round system. C. list PR. D. single nontransferable vote.
Third and Fourth parties have never played an important role in Canadian politics
Indicate whether this statement is true or false.
In response to the firestorm that erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, after police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, the Justice Department
A) investigated and exonerated Darren Wilson, but found invidious discrimination in the police department and municipal court, reaching an agreement with city officials to reform the police force. B) reinvestigated officer Darren Wilson and, unlike the grand jury, found him guilty of manslaughter. C) investigated the city of Ferguson, and arrested many policy officers and municipal court officials, citing violations of the Civil War amendments and various federal laws. D) did nothing. E) established a series of required reforms for the police department so that officers, including Darren Wilson, would avoid prosecution for hate crimes.