Constitutional Law - Eighth Amendment - Capital Punishment - State Death Penalty Statutes - Procedural Safeguards

Authors

Scott T. Redman

Abstract

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Alabama death penalty statute which prohibited a jury instruction of lesser included offenses in a capital case is unconstitutional because it diminishes the reliability of the guilt determination process, leading to an arbitrary and irrational imposition of the death penalty.

Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625 (1980).

First Page

539

Recommended Citation

Scott T. Redman, Constitutional Law - Eighth Amendment - Capital Punishment - State Death Penalty Statutes - Procedural Safeguards, 19 Duq. L. Rev. 539 (1981).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol19/iss3/7