Definition
The US Supreme Court ruled in Lockett v. Ohio (1978) that in the case of a defendant facing the death penalty, one is allowed to present any aspect of character or record or any circumstance related to the offense that could create a basis for a lesser sentence than the death penalty. The 8th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution required, in all but the rarest capital cases, that the triers of fact be allowed to consider a number of mitigating factors, both statutory and nonstatutory, before imposing the death penalty. The Court held that the Ohio statute did not permit the type of individualized consideration of mitigating factors required by the Constitution. Despite this decision in favor of presenting mitigating factors, certain arguments have not been allowed to be presented by the defendant. Specifically, issues related to the morality of the death penalty and issues related to the execution process have not been allowed in any court.
Historical Background
Sandra...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences and Readings
Cunningham, M. D., & Goldstein, A. M. (2003). Sentencing determinations in death penalty cases. In A. Goldstein (Ed.), Handbook of psychology (Vol. 11). Forensic psychology. Hoboken: Wiley.
Denney, R. L. (2005). Criminal responsibility and other criminal forensic issues. In G. Larrabee (Ed.), Forensic neuropsychology: A scientific approach. New York: Oxford University Press.
Heilbronner, R. L., & Waller, D. (2008). Neuropsychological consultation in the sentencing phase of capital Cases. In R. Denney & J. Sullivan (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychology in the criminal forensic setting. New York: Guilford Press.
Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978).
Reynolds, C., Price, J. R., & Niland, J. (2003). Applications of neuropsychology in capital felony (death penalty) defense. Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 3, 89–123.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Heilbronner, R.L. (2018). Lockett v. Ohio (1978). In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1003
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1003
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57110-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences