Would you be able to serve on a jury and sentence the defendant to the death penalty?

Answer 1

Not unless i had seen the defendant do the crime.Its the only way i could be absolutely sure.

edit...no changed my mind.I could'nt do it at all.(see how useless i would be on jury service)

Answer 2

A person who does not support the death penalty will routinely be prevented from serving on a jury if the death penalty is a possible sentence. So called "death qualified" jurors must not have reservations about the death penalty, other than that the person condemned must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

You don't have to condone brutal crimes or want the criminals who commit them to avoid a harsh punishment to ask whether the death penalty prevents or even reduces crime and whether it risks killing innocent people. More and more Americans are asking these questions and are being excluded from death penalty case juries.

124 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides and isn’t a guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that don’t.

We have a good alternative. Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people.

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Answer 3

A jury does not sentence anyone. They only serve to weigh up the evidence put before them and then have to decided whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. It is the Judge that sentences the defendant once he has been passed the juries verdict.
I have never served on a jury, but yeah, I could.
My 22 yr. old on has been summonded for jury service in January/08 ...We suspect it is a murder case.

Answer 4

sturdy question. what's incredibly exciting approximately that's that folk with reservations with regard to the death penalty could be thrown off a jury panel. Prosecutors in death penalty circumstances could be sure they have have jurors who do not oppose the death penalty and have no reservations approximately it. The proper court docket has ruled that that's constitutional. In a June 2007 determination, it held that different than a juror who had expressed merely doubts, yet not uniform opposition, to implementing the death penalty, is constitutional. you do not would desire to sympathize with criminals or want them to steer away from a poor punishment to ask if the death penalty prevents or maybe reduces crime and to think of with regard to the hazards of executing harmless people. yet while prosecutors have faith which you're worried approximately those issues, that's of their capacity to maintain you off a jury. (This additionally can tilt the jury against the protection interior the guilt section as properly by means of fact the sentencing section.)

Answer 5

a jury cant sentence any to death. only a Governor of a state can do that.( did u know the death penalty is not abolished Ireland)

Answer 6

I think death for a guilty offender is an easy out.
I would much rather see a prisoner earning his/her keep with a life time of hard labour.

Answer 7

If the defendant was definitely guilty and deserved it then yes.

Answer 8

yes

Answer 9

if it was someone with a big red nose yes