Comm. v. Colon-Cruz, 393 Mass. 150 (1984)

Capital punishment is ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it is not applied fairly, since only defendants who went to trial were eligible, excluding defendants who plead guilty. This ruling applies to punishment in state, not federal, courts.

The purpose of this is to holistically and strategically incorporate your original thoughts, interpretation, and understanding of the course material related to the abolition/prohibition of the death penalty in Massachusetts. Your focus ought remain on the constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. What I am not interested in is a regurgitation of the presented course material.

Questions:

1. Do you believe a sentence to death should be, "[Limited] to a narrowly defined subset of first-degree murders, so that only the "worst of the worst" murders, and murderers, will be eligible for the ultimate punishment"?
2. Do you believe "[the] death penalty should be administered with a strong emphasis on the use of scientific evidence to help establish the defendant's guilt, which will ensure - as much as humanly possible - that no innocent person will ever wrongly be condemned to death"?