Mccleskey V. Kemp Case Study

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Primary Annotated Bibliography McCleskey v Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987) McCleskey v Kemp is a Supreme Court case that highlighted racism in the death penalty process. The petitioner in the case provided a controversial statistical study that correlated racism in death penalty sentencings. The Supreme Court Justices were asked to answer the question of whether or not the statistical study provided could substantiate that the sentence in the case violated the petitioner’s eighth and fourteenth amendment rights. This case will be the main focus of my research paper. This case will provide me the facts and the circumstances surrounding the case. The case will also provide me the Supreme Court Justice’s opinions and the petitioner’s and respondent’s briefs. I will then use the opinions and the briefs to conduct my analysis. Furman v Georgia, 480 U.S. 238 (1972) Furman v Georgia is the first Supreme …show more content…

279 (1987) (Blackmun, J., Dissenting Opinion) This primary source is another dissenting opinion. This dissenting opinion was written by Justice Blackmun. This source includes Justice Blackmun’s analysis of the case and his vote. The analysis of the justice concluded that the petitioner’s rights were violated. He concluded that the petitioner proved his equal protection rights were violated after the presentation of the study and its findings. This opposing opinion will give me another point of view to take into account when I writing my own analysis. McCleskey v Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987) (Stevens, J., Dissenting Opinion) This is another dissenting opinion that was written by Justice Stevens. This primary source includes Justice Stevens’ analysis and vote. Justice Stevens also concluded that the petitioner’s rights were violated. In his analysis he concluded that racial prejudice was very probable in the petitioner’s sentencing process. This is another opposing view that I have to take into account. This source will provide me even more