Prepared by carey michael mccleskey this long awaited book is a modern and more comprehensive revision of the now classic a partial account of the mccleskey family in georgia 1962. Courtney kemp agboh runs power, with 50 cents input the. In a writ of habeas corpus, mccleskey argued that a statistical study proved that the imposition of the death penalty in georgia depended to some extent on the race of the victim and the accused. A multimedia judicial archive of the supreme court of the united states.
Death penalty cases presents significant verbatim excerpts of deathpenalty decisions from the united states supreme court. Hodges 2015 part viii maintaining race, class, and gender hierarchies. Courtney kemp writer, editor self employed linkedin. Petitioner mccleskey, an africanamerican man, was convicted of armed robbery and murder in georgia. Natural resource council you should know the various opinions, dissents and concurrences in the cases that have multiple opinions. The superior court of fulton county denied mccleskeys extraordinary motion for a new trial. Kemp 1987 was a 54 us supreme court decision that upheld a death sentence for warren mccleskey, rejecting the claim that statistical evidence of racial bias in sentencing could prove an individuals death sentence unconstitutional.
Mccleskey media strategies 3736 eubank blvd ne suite b3 albuquerque, nm 87111 phone. For those men who have received a death penalty sentence, appealing the sentence based on gender discrimination and succeeding is highly unlikely. One of societys most basic tasks is that of protecting the lives of its citize ns, and. Arthur kemp has 40 books on goodreads with 1523 ratings. This date in 1865 was the originally scheduled hanging of indiana proslavery gadfly lambdin p. In a 54 decision, the supreme court, in mccleskey v. Kemp, the case that upheld the death penalty despite undeniable evidence of its racially disparate impact, is indelibly marked by justice william brennans phrase, a fear of too much justice. Powell cast the deciding vote against this argument. It is one thing, the argument goes, for a murderer to bump someone off. Milligan a sentence respited two days prior by president andrew johnson, and then subsequently commuted, for which reason milligan survived to attach his surname to a landmark supreme court decision the following year. Justice clark, writing for the majority in whitus, noted. Mailing address counterpunch po box 228 petrolia, ca 95558 telephone 1707 6293683. Kemp 1987, a challenge to the state of georgias death penalty law, mccleskey, a black man convicted of killing a white victim, claimed that the capital sentencing process was unconstitutional on the basis of the eighth cruel and unusual punishments and fourteenth.
Chief justice warren, writing for the plurality in trop v. The jury recommended the death penalty pursuant to the armed burglarymurder statute and a statute that permits the death penalty for killing of an officer. At the penalty phase of his trial, the jury recommended the death penalty, which the trial court imposed. It also includes a detailed history of the death penalty in the united states. Mccleskey then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the superior court of butts county. Mccleskey, a black man, was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and one count of murder in the superior court of fulton county, georgia, on october 12, 1978. Death penalty cases leading u s supreme court cases on. Ultimately, the mccleskey decision set the stage for more than 20 years of. In the alternative, defendants request discovery and an evidentiary hearing to develop and examine statistical data. Even putting aside questions of methodology, the studies cited by the court offer scant support for a categorical prohibition of the death penalty for murderers under 18. Although the court assumed that the study was valid it denied mccleskey s claim anyway. It also sparked controversy with regard to i the continued use of the evolving standards of decency and national consensus rationales to reinterpret previous rulings, and ii the use of foreign laws and norms. He also examines less prominent, but equally compelling cases, including mccleskey v. Students get free shipping when you rent or buy race, class, and gender in the united states.
Warren mccleskey s death sentence the facts of mccleskey s crimeas well as the facts of the baldus studyare familiar to most readers, so we will be brief. Jul 27, 2014 the character of ghost is an amalgamation of mr. A deathrow inmate named warren mccleskey challenged his death sentence on the grounds that the state of georgia disproportionately sought the death penalty for black individuals. I used to wait for days and hours for answers using traditional legal research tools, but with casetext, i can find my best, most onpoint case in minutes and seconds. Scientific evidence and equal protection of the law angelo. Brennan, writing the lead dissent in mccleskey, provided a spoton response to the. Mar 17, 2014 for those men who have received a death penalty sentence, appealing the sentence based on gender discrimination and succeeding is highly unlikely. The first chapter introduces the topics discussed throughout the book. Statistical evidence showing that one racial group receives a disproportionate amount of death sentences, as opposed to other groups, is not sufficient to challenge a state death penalty statute under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Equal protection under the carceral state aya gruber abstractmccleskey v. Few cases involving the intersection of race, criminal law, and procedure have had the reach and impact of mccleskey v. Kemp 1987, evaluated his claims, ultimately ruling against mccleskey and rejecting the gravity of the implications of the. The tide turns the first blow struck by the new court came in a suit charging racial bias in death penalty sentencing. Why the court refused to accept statistical evidence.
The defendants argument is foreclosed by, inter alia, mccleskey v. This court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari. After this introduction, the remaining eighteen chapters are divided into five parts. At first glance, the death penalty seems cruel, unusual, horrendous, and uncivilized. Kennedy n i978, warren mccleskey, a young black man, was convicted in fulton county, georgia, of robbing a furniture store and killing frank schlatt, a white police officer.
The supreme court of the united states established the standard of proof required to appeal a death penalty sentence based on racial discrimination in mccleskey v. The dangerous intersection of race and capital punishment. Petitioner was charged with burglary and murder of a police officer in the state of georgia. Kemp 1987, a challenge to the state of georgias death penalty law, mccleskey, a black man convicted of killing a white victim, claimed that the capital sentencing process was unconstitutional on the basis of the eighth cruel and unusual punishments and fourteenth equal protection of the laws amendments. Jury deliberation is a topic in which supreme court opinions clash with social psychological theories of group decisionmaking. Kemp 1987, a challenge to the state of georgias death penalty law, mccleskey, a black man convicted of killing a white victim, claimed that the capital sentencing process. Georgia 1977, which invalidated georgias effort to extend eligibility for the death penalty to persons convicted of the crime of rape. That challenge was based on a landmark study of race and capital sentencing in the state of georgia by the late professor david baldus and colleagues. A jury composed of eleven whites and one black sentenced mccleskey to life imprisonment for. In that case, a black male defendant was convicted of. Baldus, the death penalty dialogue between law and social science 9. Pdf the dangerous intersection of race and capital punishment. Kemp, in which an african american man was sentenced to death for killing a white police officer during a robbery. Warren mccleskeys death sentence the facts of mccleskeys crimeas well as the facts of the baldus studyare familiar to most readers, so we will be brief.
Abstractthe litigation campaign that led to mccleskey v. Panel discussion at harvard law school conference on. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover courtneys. Mccleskey, a black man, was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and one count of. The new jim crow study guide contains a biography of michelle alexander, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Simmons is a landmark decision because it bars the use of the death penalty on juveniles in the united states.
Editorial, warren mccleskey is dead, new york times sept. The court said the racially disproportionate impact in the georgia death penalty indicated by a comprehensive scientific study was not enough to overturn the guilty verdict without showing a racially discriminatory. Kemp 2 was whether a complex statistical study which indicated racial considerations entered the capital sentencing process made a prima facie case to hold a capital sentence unconstitutional under the eighth or fourteenth amendment. Casetext is a terrific, userfriendly, wellthoughtout, costeffective, and continuallyevolving legal research platform.
Kemp the baldus study played a major role in the 1987 u. Justice powell, writing for the court, echoed some of. Chapter 10 precedents and legal reasoning reasoning by example ration decidendi versus dicta treatment of precedent precedents and decision making selected references readings. Mccleskey, a black man, was convicted of murdering a police officer in georgia and sentenced to death. The superior court of fulton county denied mccleskey s extraordinary motion for a new trial. The legislative act of utah, passed march 6, 1862, provides that a person convicted of a capital offense shall suffer death by being shot, hanged, or beheaded, as the court may direct, or he shall have his option as to the manner of his execution. The supreme courts decision in mccleskey protected criminal justice laws and policies from being challenged on the basis of racially disparate impact.
Kemp 1987, litigants have successfully challenged particular features of state deathpenalty laws in a number of u. The united states supreme court found the defendants eighth amendment. The defendant, warren mccleskey, appealed his death sentence arguing that the georgia. April 25, 1906 july 24, 1997 was an american judge who served as an associate justice of the united states supreme court from 1956 to 1990. Arthur kemps most popular book is the civil war in france.