The use of religion in death penalty sentencing trials.

Full Abstract

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testimony about a defendant's religious activities in order to influence capital jurors' sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly influence jurors' decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggravators and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed in the various appeals.

Author information

Author/s: Miller, Monica K (MK); Bornstein, Brian H (BH);

Affiliation: Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Reno, Mailstop 214, Reno, NV 89557, USA. mkmiller(-atsign-)unr.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Law and human behavior (Law Hum Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 30 (issue 6) : pp 675-84

Dates: Created 2006/11/14; Completed 2007/02/13;

PMID: 17051441, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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