Scott Thomas Erskine v. California
AdministrativeLaw DueProcess Punishment Securities Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Does California's death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED IL Does California’s death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by failing to meaningfully narrow the class of death-eligible murders? Il. Does California’s death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without unanimously finding beyond a reasonable doubt (1) the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances, (2) that aggravating circumstances outweigh mitigating circumstances, and (8) that the aggravating circumstances are so substantial that they warrant death instead of life, violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory maximum penalty for a crime must be found by a unanimous jury beyond a reasonable doubt. i