romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
In New Jersey and Illinois, all death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole when the death penalty repeal bills were signed into law. In Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley commuted the state's four remaining death sentences to life in prison without parole in January 2015. While the bill repealing capital punishment in Connecticut was not retroactive, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in 2015 in State v. Santiago that the legislature's decision to prospectively abolish capital punishment rendered it an offense to "evolving standards of decency," thus commuting the sentences of the 11 men remaining on death row to life in prison without parole. New Mexico may yet execute two condemned inmates sentenced prior to abolition, and Nebraska has ten death row inmates who may still be executed despite abolition.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with New Jersey, what state commuted all life sentences when bills to repeal the death penalty were passed?
A: Illinois', '
Q: The governor of what state commuted four death sentences in January 2015?
A: Maryland', "
Q: Who was governor of Maryland in January 2015?
A: Martin O'Malley", "
Q: In what state's supreme court was State v. Santiago decided?
A: Connecticut", '
Q: How many people had their sentences commuted by State v. Santiago?
A: 11']
The United States Supreme Court in Penry v. Lynaugh and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Bigby v. Dretke have been clear in their decisions that jury instructions in death penalty cases that do not ask about mitigating factors regarding the defendant's mental health violate the defendant's Eighth Amendment rights, saying that the jury is to be instructed to consider mitigating factors when answering unrelated questions. This ruling suggests that specific explanations to the jury are necessary to weigh mitigating factors.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what court was Bigby v. Dretke decided?
A: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit', '
Q: What court heard the case Penry v. Lynaugh?
A: United States Supreme Court', '
Q: What amendment to the Constitution did Penry v. Lynaugh address?
A: Eighth', '
Q: What sentencing factors did Bigby v. Dretke consider?
A: mitigating']
Several states have never had capital punishment, the first being Michigan, which abolished it shortly after entering the Union. (However, the United States government executed Tony Chebatoris at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan in 1938.) Article 4, Section 46 of Michigan's fourth Constitution (ratified in 1963; effective in 1964) prohibits any law providing for the penalty of death. Attempts to change the provision have failed. In 2004, a constitutional amendment proposed to allow capital punishment in some circumstances failed to make it on the November ballot after a resolution failed in the legislature and a public initiative failed to gather enough signatures.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year was Tony Chebatoris killed?
A: 1938', "
Q: When was Michigan's fourth Constitution ratified?
A: 1963", '
Q: In what city was Tony Chebatoris executed?
A: Milan', '
Q: In what year was there a failed Michigan constitutional amendment to allow the death penalty?
A: 2004', '
Q: What article of the fourth Michigan Constitution forbids laws allowing capital punishment?
A: 4']
The method of execution of federal prisoners for offenses under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is that of the state in which the conviction took place. If the state has no death penalty, the judge must choose a state with the death penalty for carrying out the execution. For offenses under the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988, the method of execution is lethal injection. The Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana is currently the home of the only death chamber for federal death penalty recipients in the United States, where inmates are put to death by lethal injection. The complex has so far been the only location used for federal executions post-Gregg. Timothy McVeigh and Juan Garza were put to death in June 2001, and Louis Jones, Jr. was put to death on March 18, 2003.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Under what federal statute are offenses punished by lethal injection?
A: Drug Kingpin Act of 1988', '
Q: According to what law are federal prisoners executed according to the procedures in place in the state in which they were convicted?
A: Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994', '
Q: In what month and year was Juan Garza executed?
A: June 2001', '
Q: Who was executed by the federal government on March 18, 2003?
A: Louis Jones, Jr.', '
Q: In what state is the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute?
A: Indiana']
In October 2009, the American Law Institute voted to disavow the framework for capital punishment that it had created in 1962, as part of the Model Penal Code, "in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment." A study commissioned by the institute had said that experience had proved that the goal of individualized decisions about who should be executed and the goal of systemic fairness for minorities and others could not be reconciled.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year did the American Law Institute create a death penalty framework for the Model Penal Code?
A: 1962', '
Q: In what year did the American Law Institute change their mind about their contribution on the death penalty to the Model Penal Code?
A: 2009', "
Q: What goal did the ALI's study say could not be reconciled with the goal of individualized execution decisions?
A: systemic fairness for minorities"]
In 1977, the Supreme Court's Coker v. Georgia decision barred the death penalty for rape of an adult woman, and implied that the death penalty was inappropriate for any offense against another person other than murder. Prior to the decision, the death penalty for rape of an adult had been gradually phased out in the United States, and at the time of the decision, the State of Georgia and the U.S. Federal government were the only two jurisdictions to still retain the death penalty for that offense. However, three states maintained the death penalty for child rape, as the Coker decision only imposed a ban on executions for the rape of an adult woman. In 2008, the Kennedy v. Louisiana decision barred the death penalty for child rape. The result of these two decisions means that the death penalty in the United States is largely restricted to cases where the defendant took the life of another human being. The current federal kidnapping statute, however, may be exempt because the death penalty applies if the victim dies in the perpetrator's custody, not necessarily by his hand, thus stipulating a resulting death, which was the wording of the objection. In addition, the Federal government retains the death penalty for non-murder offenses that are considered crimes against the state, including treason, espionage, and crimes under military jurisdiction.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year was Coker v. Georgia decided?
A: 1977', '
Q: For what offense did Coker v. Georgia forbid the death penalty?
A: rape of an adult woman', '
Q: Along with Georgia, what American jurisdiction allowed people to be executed for the rape of an adult prior to Coker?
A: U.S. Federal government', '
Q: What ruling forbid the government from executing child rapists?
A: Kennedy v. Louisiana', '
Q: Prior to Kennedy v. Louisiana, how many states criminalized child rape?
A: three']
Four states in the modern era, Nebraska in 2008, New York and Kansas in 2004, and Massachusetts in 1984, had their statutes ruled unconstitutional by state courts. The death rows of New York and Massachusetts were disestablished, and attempts to restore the death penalty were unsuccessful. Kansas successfully appealed State v. Kleypas, the Kansas Supreme Court decision that declared the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional, to the United States Supreme Court. Nebraska's death penalty statute was rendered ineffective on February 8, 2008 when the required method, electrocution, was ruled unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. In 2009, Nebraska enacted a bill that changed its method of execution to lethal injection.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: In what year was Nebraska's death penalty statute ruled unconstitutional by a state court?
A: 2008", "
Q: What state's court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 1984?
A: Massachusetts", '
Q: In what case did the Kansas Supreme Court rule that the death penalty is unconstitutional in Kansas?
A: State v. Kleypas', '
Q: What method of execution did the Nebraska Supreme Court rule unconstitutional?
A: electrocution', '
Q: After electrocution was outlawed, how were Nebraska death row inmates executed?
A: lethal injection']
In the 2010s, American jurisdictions have experienced a shortage of lethal injection drugs, due to anti-death penalty advocacy and low production volume. Hospira, the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, stopped making the drug in 2011. The European Union has outlawed the export of any product that could be used in an execution; this has prevented executioners from using EU-manufactured anesthetics like propofol which are needed for general medical purposes. Another alternative, pentobarbital, is also only manufactured in the European Union, which has caused the Danish producer to restrict distribution to U.S. government customers.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What death penalty drug ceased to be manufactured in 2011?
A: sodium thiopental', '
Q: Up until 2011, who manufactured sodium thiopental?
A: Hospira', '
Q: What is the nationality of the company that makes pentobarbital?
A: Danish', '
Q: Along with anti-death penalty advocacy, why has there been a shortage in drugs for lethal injections in the United States?
A: low production volume', '
Q: The EU outlawed the export of products that could be used in what activity?
A: execution']
As noted in the introduction to this article, the American public has maintained its position of support for capital punishment for murder. However, when given a choice between the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole, support has traditionally been significantly lower than polling which has only mentioned the death penalty as a punishment. In 2010, for instance, one poll showed 49 percent favoring the death penalty and 46 percent favoring life imprisonment while in another 61% said they preferred another punishment to the death penalty. The highest level of support for the death penalty recorded overall was 80 percent in 1994 (16 percent opposed), and the lowest recorded was 42 percent in 1966 (47 percent opposed). On the question of the death penalty vs. life without parole, the strongest preference for the death penalty was 61 percent in 1997 (29 percent favoring life), and the lowest preference for the death penalty was 47 percent in 2006 (48 percent favoring life).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year did the most polled American support capital punishment?
A: 1994', '
Q: What percentage of polled Americans opposed the death penalty in 1966?
A: 47', '
Q: In a 1977 poll, what percentage of respondents preferred life imprisonment to the death penalty?
A: 29', '
Q: In a 2006 poll, what percentage of polled Americans preferred the death penalty to life without parole?
A: 47']
Other capital crimes include: the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, espionage, terrorism, certain violations of the Geneva Conventions that result in the death of one or more persons, and treason at the federal level; aggravated rape in Louisiana, Florida, and Oklahoma; extortionate kidnapping in Oklahoma; aggravated kidnapping in Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and South Carolina; aircraft hijacking in Alabama and Mississippi; assault by an escaping capital felon in Colorado; armed robbery in Georgia; drug trafficking resulting in a person's death in Florida; train wrecking which leads to a person's death, and perjury which leads to a person's death in California, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is a notable capital crime in Louisiana?
A: aggravated rape', '
Q: In what state is extortionate kidnapping a capital offense?
A: Oklahoma', '
Q: Along with Alabama, where is hijacking an aircraft a death penalty offense?
A: Mississippi', '
Q: In what state is armed robbery a capital crime?
A: Georgia', '
Q: In what states is perjury leading to death a capital offense?
A: California, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska']
In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court struck down the impositions of the death penalty in each of the consolidated cases as unconstitutional. The five justices in the majority did not produce a common opinion or rationale for their decision, however, and agreed only on a short statement announcing the result. The narrowest opinions, those of Byron White and Potter Stewart, expressed generalized concerns about the inconsistent application of the death penalty across a variety of cases but did not exclude the possibility of a constitutional death penalty law. Stewart and William O. Douglas worried explicitly about racial discrimination in enforcement of the death penalty. Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr. expressed the opinion that the death penalty was proscribed absolutely by the Eighth Amendment as "cruel and unusual" punishment.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with Marshall, who believed that the Eighth Amendment forbade the death penalty?
A: William J. Brennan, Jr.', '
Q: Along with Stewart, what Supreme Court justice was concerned about racial disparity in death penalty enforcement?
A: William O. Douglas', '
Q: Aside from Stewart, what justice believed that the death penalty could be constitutional?
A: Byron White']
In total, 156 prisoners have been either acquitted, or received pardons or commutations on the basis of possible innocence, between 1973 to 2015. Death penalty opponents often argue that this statistic shows how perilously close states have come to undertaking wrongful executions; proponents point out that the statistic refers only to those exonerated in law, and that the truly innocent may be a smaller number. Statistics likely understate the actual problem of wrongful convictions because once an execution has occurred there is often insufficient motivation and finance to keep a case open, and it becomes unlikely at that point that the miscarriage of justice will ever be exposed.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Between 1973 and 2015, how amny prisoners were acquitted or received pardons or commutations of their death sentences due to possible innocence?
A: 156']
The death penalty is sought and applied more often in some jurisdictions, not only between states but within states. A 2004 Cornell University study showed that while 2.5 percent of murderers convicted nationwide were sentenced to the death penalty, in Nevada 6 percent were given the death penalty. Texas gave 2 percent of murderers a death sentence, less than the national average. Texas, however, executed 40 percent of those sentenced, which was about four times higher than the national average. California had executed only 1 percent of those sentenced.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What percentage of murderers in the United States are given a death sentence?
A: 2.5', '
Q: How many murderers in Nevada were given a capital sentence?
A: 6', '
Q: What state notably executes 40% of those given the death penalty?
A: Texas', '
Q: How much higher is the rate of execution in Texas versus the national average?
A: four times', '
Q: What percentage of murderers in California are given the death penalty and subsequently executed?
A: 1']
Congress acted defiantly toward the Supreme Court by passing the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988 and the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 that made roughly fifty crimes punishable by death, including crimes that do not always involve the death of someone. Such non-death capital offenses include treason, espionage (spying for another country), and high-level drug trafficking. Since no one has yet been sentenced to death for such non-death capital offenses, the Supreme Court has not ruled on their constitutionality.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Under the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988 and Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, about how many crimes were punishable by death?
A: fifty', '
Q: What body passed the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988?
A: Congress', '
Q: What is another term for the act of spying for another country?
A: espionage', '
Q: Along with treason and espionage, what non-death offense is still a federal capital crime?
A: high-level drug trafficking']
Executions resumed on January 17, 1977, when Gary Gilmore went before a firing squad in Utah. But the pace was quite slow due to the use of litigation tactics which involved filing repeated writs of habeas corpus, which succeeded for many in delaying their actual execution for many years. Although hundreds of individuals were sentenced to death in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s, only ten people besides Gilmore (who had waived all of his appeal rights) were actually executed prior to 1984.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who was executed on January 17, 1977?
A: Gary Gilmore', '
Q: By what method was Gary Gilmore executed?
A: firing squad', '
Q: Aside from Gary Gilmore, how many people were executed in the United States between January 17, 1977 and 1984?
A: ten', '
Q: What tactic did inmates on death row use to delay their executions?
A: filing repeated writs of habeas corpus']
After the September 2011 execution of Troy Davis, believed by many to be innocent, Richard Dieter, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said this case was a clear wake-up call to politicians across the United States. He said: "They weren't expecting such passion from people in opposition to the death penalty. There's a widely held perception that all Americans are united in favor of executions, but this message came across loud and clear that many people are not happy with it." Brian Evans of Amnesty International, which led the campaign to spare Davis's life, said that there was a groundswell in America of people "who are tired of a justice system that is inhumane and inflexible and allows executions where there is clear doubts about guilt". He predicted the debate would now be conducted with renewed energy.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what month and year was Troy Davis executed?
A: September 2011', '
Q: Who was the Death Penalty Information Center director?
A: Richard Dieter', '
Q: What organization did Brian Evans work for?
A: Amnesty International']
Various methods have been used in the history of the American colonies and the United States but only five methods are currently used. Historically, burning, crushing, breaking on wheel, and bludgeoning were used for a small number of executions, while hanging was the most common method. The last person burned at the stake was a black slave in South Carolina in August 1825. The last person to be hanged in chains was a murderer named John Marshall in West Virginia on April 4, 1913. Although beheading was a legal method in Utah from 1851 to 1888, it was never used.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many execution methods are currently used in the United States?
A: five', '
Q: What was the most common historical method of execution in the United States?
A: hanging', '
Q: In what state did the last burning at the stake take place in the US?
A: South Carolina', '
Q: Who was the last person hanged in chains in the Untied States?
A: John Marshall', '
Q: When was execution by beheading ended in Utah?
A: 1888']
African Americans made up 41 percent of death row inmates while making up only 12.6 percent of the general population. (They have made up 34 percent of those actually executed since 1976.) However, that number is lower than that of prison inmates, which is 47 percent. According to the US Department of Justice, African Americans accounted for 52.5% of homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, with whites 45.3% and Native Americans and Asians 2.2%. This means African Americans are less likely to be executed on a per capita basis. However, according to a 2003 Amnesty International report, blacks and whites were the victims of murder in almost equal numbers, yet 80 percent of the people executed since 1977 were convicted of murders involving white victims. 13.5% of death row inmates are of Hispanic or Latino descent, while they make up 17.4% of the general population.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What percentage of American death row prisoners are African American?
A: 41', '
Q: What percentage of people executed in the United States since 1976 have been African American?
A: 34', '
Q: What percentage of American prison inmates are African American?
A: 47', '
Q: What percentage of homicides were committed by Asians between 1980 and 2008?
A: 2.2%', '
Q: What percentage of the American population is Hispanic?
A: 17.4%']
The legal administration of the death penalty in the United States is complex. Typically, it involves four critical steps: (1) sentencing, (2) direct review, (3) state collateral review, and (4) federal habeas corpus. Recently, a narrow and final fifth level of process – (5) the Section 1983 challenge – has become increasingly important. (Clemency or pardon, through which the Governor or President of the jurisdiction can unilaterally reduce or abrogate a death sentence, is an executive rather than judicial process.) The number of new death sentences handed down peaked in 1995–1996 (309). There were 73 new death sentences handed down in 2014, the lowest number since 1973 (44).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In the United States, how many important steps are usually present in the administration of capital punishment?
A: four', '
Q: Along with the President, what officeholder can issue pardons?
A: Governor', '
Q: How many death sentences were issued in the period 1995-1996?
A: 309', '
Q: How many capital sentences were given in 1973?
A: 44', '
Q: In what year were there 73 death penalty convictions?
A: 2014']
All of the executions which have taken place since the 1936 hanging of Bethea in Owensboro have been conducted within a wall or enclosure. For example, Fred Adams was legally hanged in Kennett, Missouri, on April 2, 1937, within a 10-foot (3 m) wooden stockade. Roscoe "Red" Jackson was hanged within a stockade in Galena, Missouri, on May 26, 1937. Two Kentucky hangings were conducted after Galena in which numerous persons were present within a wooden stockade, that of John "Peter" Montjoy in Covington, Kentucky on December 17, 1937, and that of Harold Van Venison in Covington on June 3, 1938. An estimated 400 witnesses were present for the hanging of Lee Simpson in Ryegate, Montana, on December 30, 1939. The execution of Timothy McVeigh on June 11, 2001 was witnessed by some 300 people, some by closed-circuit television.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: On what date was Fred Adams hanged?
A: April 2, 1937', '
Q: Where was Bethea hanged?
A: Owensboro', "
Q: What was Roscoe Jackson's nickname?
A: Red", '
Q: In what state did the hanging of Adams take place?
A: Missouri', "
Q: How many people witnessed Timothy McVeigh's execution?
A: 300"]