Learning Objectives

  • Understand the impact of public opinion on the retention or abolition of the death penalty
  • Know the trends in the administration of the death penalty
  • Know the major Supreme Court death penalty cases
  • Be able to discuss the financial cost/benefit ratio of the death penalty
  • Understand the difficulty in determining whether the death penalty is a deterrent
  • Know the arguments relating to racial disparity and the death penalty
  • Know the meaning of the innocence revolution
  • Understand the issues surrounding the use of genetic and neuroimaging technology for determining exoneration and mitigation