Death Penalty Quiz

"None of this critical information was presented at Luis Mata's sentencing hearing. Quite frankly, after reviewing these materials, I am shocked and upset that this information had not been presented. ... Had I known this information, I would not have requested or pursued a death sentence."

-- Michael Donovan, prosecuting attorney, after reviewing evaluations and evidence concerning the defendant's mental health and childhood brain injuries, The Arizona Republic, February 2001. (Mata was executed by the State of Arizona in August 1996).

Death Penalty Quiz

Death Penalty Quiz

True or False?

The death penalty saves taxpayers money because it is cheaper to execute someone than to keep them in prison for the rest of their life.
Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, more black people have been executed than white people.
After the Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976, the first person to be executed was Gary Gilmore. He was executed in Utah by a firing squad.
Since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States, between 5 and 10 people have been released from death row because they were innocent.
In most states with the death penalty you can be executed even if you suffer from mental retardation.
If you commit a crime in certain states, like Massachusetts or Wisconsin, you cannot receive the death penalty.
Hanging has not been used as a method of execution in the United States for over 30 years.
In a recent poll of United States police chiefs only 1% named increased use of the death penalty as the best way to reduce violent crime.
No woman has been executed in the United States for over 25 years.
The Supreme Court has said that defendants who were 16 or 17 years old at the time of their crime can receive the death penalty.

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The information for this quiz was provided by the Death Penalty Information Center

New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty
PO Box 8552 Santa Fe NM 87504 (505) 986-9536 info@nmrepeal.org