Is the death penalty on the way out? Upfront Nov 21, 2022

Which Amendment to the Constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments”?

• First Amendment

• Third Amendment

• Fifth Amendment

• Eighth Amendment

From 1996 to 2021, the number of new death sentences ___.

• went up slightly

• went up significantly

• went down

• stayed the same

Why did the Supreme Court allow the death penalty to continue in 1976 after halting all executions in 1972?

• Other countries were using the death penalty.

• Some states imposed their own moratoriums on death penalties.

• States agreed to use lethal injection as the method for executions.

• States showed that they had addressed the Court’s concerns about arbitrary and inconsistent use of the death penalty.

What led to the end of execution as a punishment for juvenile offenders?

• a federal law

• a Supreme Court ruling

• an agreement among governors

• an executive order from the president’s office

In the opening section, which phrase means “allowed by the law”?

• “carried out”

• “a broader move”

• “on the books”

• “the practice”

In the first paragraph of the section “ ‘Cruel and Unusual’?,” the author lists a series of questions to explain ___.

• the reasons some people support the death penalty

• the standards courts use for imposing the death penalty

• the main points of debate in relation to the death penalty

• the central ideas the author will discuss in relation to the death penalty

Which word in the section “‘Cruel and Unusual’?” provides a clue to the meaning of the word deterrent, as used in the same section?

• supporters

• stopping

• possibility

• closure

In the last section, “A Turning Point?,” the author mostly presents information about ___.

• the dwindling use of capital punishment

• the use of capital punishment in colonial times

• the fiscal ramifications of using the death penalty

• the current Supreme Court’s majority point of view regarding the death penalty