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Dissertation
The Effect of Intellectual Disability Education on Atkins v. Virginia Mock Jurors’ Sentencing Decisions
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
07/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000007062
Abstract
Introduction: Atkins v. Virginia (2002) held that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to sentence individuals with intellectual disability (ID) to death. Research suggests, however, that judges and jury members rely on their own flawed concepts of ID to make Atkins decisions—potentially reducing the standard’s protection of ID defendants. The current study examined the effect of pretrial ID education on mock jurors’ abilities to identify mild ID and adjust their sentencing decision accordingly.
Method: The study employed a 2x2 between-subjects design with two independent variables: (1) the video type (educational video about ID vs. control video with standard juror orientation information) and (2) the heinousness of the crime featured in the composite case presented to participants (standard homicide vs. heinous homicide). The dependent variable was mock jurors’ decisions as to whether the defendant in the composite case presented sufficient evidence of ID and was therefore ineligible for the death penalty. Only participants who were death-qualified (i.e., expressed that their opinions about the death penalty were not so strong as to influence their vote) were included in analysis (N = 90).
Results: Contrary to expectations, mock jurors who viewed an educational video about mild ID were not significantly more likely to vote for a sentence of life imprisonment rather than a death sentence. The only variable that significantly influenced mock jurors’ votes was their attitude toward the death penalty: Jurors who voted “not ID, eligible for death penalty” rated themselves as more strongly in favor of the death penalty than those who voted “yes ID, ineligible for death penalty.” Notably, this finding is despite all participants supposedly being death-qualified, underscoring the importance of voir dire and jury selection in death penalty cases. Other variables, such as the heinousness of the crime and gender, were unrelated to mock jurors’ votes.
Conclusions: Although the results did not support the study’s hypotheses, they nonetheless highlight the complexity of juror decision-making in Atkins cases and the need for future research on this topic.
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Details
- Title
- The Effect of Intellectual Disability Education on Atkins v. Virginia Mock Jurors’ Sentencing Decisions
- Creators
- Alexa M. Lambros
- Contributors
- David K. Marcus (Chair)Christopher T. Barry (Committee Member)Jessica L. Fales (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 85
- Identifiers
- 99901152214701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation