The Supreme Court has banned the execution of the insane. However, the Supreme Court allowed Arkansas officials to force a convicted murderer to take drugs to make him sane enough to be executed, in Singleton v. Norris (2003). The Supreme Court also held that an inmate who becomes mentally ill while in prison could not be executed, in Ford v. Wainwright (1986). Using the Eighth Amendment's "cruel
and unusual" standard, how can you reconcile the decisions in the Arkansas case and in the Ford v. Wainwright case? In one situation, an insane person can be medicated and then put to death, while in the other situation, a person who becomes insane cannot. Beyond the Eighth Amendment, do you think there are any ethical issues raised by the Arkansas case?
What will be an ideal response?
This is a very difficult set of cases. The cruel and unusual standard of the Eighth Amendment has prohibited executing mentally retarded individuals, but the mentally ill can be executed in certain cases. Under the Eighth Amendment, the punishment must be related to the crime. When it comes to the mentally ill or the retarded, the courts have had a difficult time determining if they merit capital punishment. Mentally retarded persons can be said to be suffering from an organic mental IQ that cannot be changed, so capital punishment is considered cruel and unusual for them. On the other hand, if people suffer from mental incapacity related to insanity, they can be executed in some cases, as long as they can appreciate what is happening to them. Many would argue that there are ethical issues raised when you medicate mentally diseased persons just to create a sufficient awareness of their surroundings, such that they can feel and understand they are being put to death. There are so many possible distinctions and arguments to be made on this topic that it should be a fruitful one for any student. The key here is to assess whether the student can articulate an ethical dilemma raised by capital punishment, as well as apply the standard of cruel and unusual punishment incorporated in the Eighth Amendment, in the answer.
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The U.S. Attorney General must take into custody and detain during removal proceedings any alien who has committed certain detailed criminal offenses according to:
a. the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. b. the Immigration Act. c. a recent presidential Executive Order. d. the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Martinez-Fuerte.
Some believe that plea bargaining is unethical because it results in longer sentences than would have been obtained at trial
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Assign each student to complete research on the different acts that exist regarding missing persons. They include: the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (1968), the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (1980), the Missing Children Act (1982), the Missing Children's Assistance Act (1984), the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (1988), the National Child Search Assistance Act (1990), the
International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act, and the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. What will be an ideal response?
When an offender has social bonds that may be used to restrain them, Felson refers to them as __________
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).