Twenty years ago, the Supreme Court adopted new statutes with explicit sentencing guidelines for jurors in capital cases in an attempt to remedy arbitrariness in sentencing decisions. Since then the Supreme Court and lower courts have been basing decisions on the assumption that jurors can and do base their penalty decisions on the guidelines provided. Studies of the outcomes of jury decisions in capital cases suggest that impermissible factors (notably race) still influence jury decisions of life or death even under sentencing guidelines approved by the Court. To date, there are very few studies of how death penalty jurors actually arrive at these decisions. This study will illuminate how jurors make decisions by seeking to develop a clearer understanding of the exercise of discretion and of the sources and extent of arbitrariness in capital sentencing decisions. Extensive interviews will be conducted with 120 jurors from 30 capital trials in each of 8 states. Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys in these cases will also be interviewed. The study adopts an integrated theoretical approach which examines what decision models jurors employ, what forms of arbitrariness and/or discrimination occur, and how the two are linked. Several alternative models will be tested. Formal rational algebraic decision models of jury sentencing behavior will be used. Also, theoretical formulations labeled "story" and "matching" decision models will be employed. Finally, labeling and conflict theories will consider the role of social agents as dominant groups in applying the law against subordinate groups. Individual jurors are the primary units of analysis. This study is unique in its interdisciplinary approach and in its linkages between statutory/procedural aspects of the law and the actual decision models jurors adopt. Not only does the research promise to enhance our understanding of the way in which decisionmakers exercise discretion and arrive at legal judgments, but also it will provide information helpful in improving the administration of justice in criminal cases.
