NCJ Number
110705
Journal
Arizona Law Review Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: (1987) Pages: 307-322
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
In Lockhart v. McCree (1986), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected one of the last broad-based challenges to the death penalty when it ruled that the Constitution does not prohibit States from removing for cause, prior to the guilt phase of a bifurcated capital trial, those prospective jurors whose opposition to capital punishment would prevent or substantially impair the performance of their duty during the sentencing phase of the trial.
Abstract
In a 5-3 vote, the Court rejected McCree's contention, affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, that the process of death qualification deprives defendants of their 6th and 14th amendment rights to an impartial jury selected from a fair cross-section of the community. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based its upholding of McCree's claim on social science studies which show that death qualification results in a 'somewhat more conviction prone' jury, which impinges on a defendant's interest in having a completely fair determination of guilt or innocence. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, subordinated this defendant interest to the state's interest in having a single jury that can impartially apply the facts to the case during the guilt and penalty phases of a capital trial. By reaffirming the state's interest in having a unitary jury system for all capital cases, the 'Lockhart' Court has rejected the defendant's right to be tried by a jury capable of rendering a completely fair determination of guilt or innocence. 117 footnotes.