1 / 5

SAGE Lecture Spark March 5, 2019

SAGE Lecture Spark March 5, 2019. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Death Row Inmate with Dementia. The U.S. Supreme Court sent a death-row case back to the lower courts on February 27 th , ruling in favor of Vernon Madison, a death row inmate who claims he can no longer remember his crime.

eve
Download Presentation

SAGE Lecture Spark March 5, 2019

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. SAGE Lecture Spark March 5, 2019

  2. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Death Row Inmate with Dementia • The U.S. Supreme Court sent a death-row case back to the lower courts on February 27th, ruling in favor of Vernon Madison, a death row inmatewho claims he can no longer remember his crime. • Madison was sentenced to death in 1994 for the murder of a police officer. • Madison suffers from vascular dementia, and his attorneys argued that his death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment. • In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the State of Alabama must assess Madison’s competency and ensure that if he is to be executed, that he knows why. • Do you believe that the state of Alabama will be able to prove that Madison is competent?

  3. Key Concepts • How does the Supreme Court’s ruling demonstrate the application of the Eighth Amendment to inmates? • The Eighth Amendment provides protection against cruel and unusual punishment. • According to Justice Elena Kagan, “if a person suffering from any mental disorder — dementia included — is unable to rationally understand why the state wants to execute him, then the Eighth Amendment doesn’t allow the execution.”

  4. Key Concepts • According to the Death Penalty Information Center: • A total of 1,493 of prisoners have been executed since 1976. • Capital punishment is currently legal in 30 states. • Blacks make up 42% of death row prisoners. • As of July 1, 2018, 185 prisoners in Alabama were on death row and the state has executed a total of 64 inmates since 1976.

  5. Assessment • Writing: How prevalent is capital punishment in the United States? • Debate: Vernon Madison should still be executed for the crime he committed. • Poll: Do you believe that executing an individual with dementia is cruel and unusual punishment? • Short Answer: What constitutes cruel and unusual punishment?

More Related