romikgosai/squad_modified_2 huggingface dataset:
Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, a state prisoner is ordinarily only allowed one suit for habeas corpus in federal court. If the federal courts refuse to issue a writ of habeas corpus, an execution date may be set. In recent times, however, prisoners have postponed execution through a final round of federal litigation using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 — codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1983 — which allows people to bring lawsuits against state actors to protect their federal constitutional and statutory rights.

Q1: In what year was the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act passed?
A1: 1996
Q2: How many habeas corpus suits does the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act normally allow in federal court?
A2: one
Q3: What is the US Code citation for the Civil Rights Act of 1871?
A3: 42 U.S.C. § 1983
Q4: Why does a litigant initiate a lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1871?
A4: to protect their federal constitutional and statutory rights
The moratorium ended on January 17, 1977 with the shooting of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah. The first use of the electric chair after the moratorium was the electrocution of John Spenkelink in Florida on May 25, 1979. The first use of the gas chamber after the moratorium was the gassing of Jesse Bishop in Nevada on October 22, 1979. The first use of the gallows after the moratorium was the hanging of Westley Allan Dodd in Washington on January 5, 1993. The first use of lethal injection was on December 7, 1982, when Charles Brooks, Jr., was executed in Texas.

Q1: Who was executed by firing squad on January 17, 1977?
A1: Gary Gilmore
Q2: In what state was Gary Gilmore executed?
A2: Utah
Q3: On what date was John Spenkelink executed?
A3: May 25, 1979
Q4: In what state did Jesse Bishop's execution occur?
A4: Nevada
Q5: How was Charles Brooks, Jr. executed?
A5: lethal injection
Electrocution was the preferred method of execution during the 20th century. Electric chairs have commonly been nicknamed Old Sparky; however, Alabama's electric chair became known as the "Yellow Mama" due to its unique color. Some, particularly in Florida, were noted for malfunctions, which caused discussion of their cruelty and resulted in a shift to lethal injection as the preferred method of execution. Although lethal injection dominates as a method of execution, some states allow prisoners on death row to choose the method used to execute them.

Q1: What was a common nickname for the electric chair?
A1: Old Sparky
Q2: What color was Alabama's electric chair?
A2: Yellow
Q3: What state notably had electric chair malfunctions?
A3: Florida
Q4: Due to electric chair malfunctions, what method of execution became preferred?
A4: lethal injection
Q5: Prior to the popularity of lethal injection, what was the preferred method of executing criminals in America?
A5: Electrocution
Other states with long histories of no death penalty include Wisconsin (the only state with only one execution), Rhode Island (although later reintroduced, it was unused and abolished again), Maine, North Dakota, Minnesota, West Virginia, Iowa, and Vermont. The District of Columbia has also abolished the death penalty; it was last used in 1957. Oregon abolished the death penalty through an overwhelming majority in a 1964 public referendum but reinstated it in a 1984 joint death penalty/life imprisonment referendum by an even higher margin after a similar 1978 referendum succeeded but was not implemented due to judicial rulings.

Q1: What state has had only a single execution?
A1: Wisconsin
Q2: When was the last person executed in the District of Columbia?
A2: 1957
Q3: When did Oregon reinstate the death penalty?
A3: 1984
Q4: In what year did an Oregon referendum succeed in restoring the death penalty, only to be shot down due to a court ruling?
A4: 1978
Q5: What state notably abolished the death penalty and then reintroduced it, but didn't use it again?
A5: Rhode Island
Within the context of the overall murder rate, the death penalty cannot be said to be widely or routinely used in the United States; in recent years the average has been about one execution for about every 700 murders committed, or 1 execution for about every 325 murder convictions. However, 32 of the 50 states still execute people. Among them, Alabama has the highest per capita rate of death sentences. This is due to judges overriding life imprisonment sentences and imposing the death penalty. No other states allow this.

Q1: In the United States, how many murders are there for each execution?
A1: 700
Q2: How many murder convictions occur in the US per execution?
A2: 325
Q3: How many states in the US have the death penalty?
A3: 32
Q4: What state has the highest rate of death sentences per person?
A4: Alabama
Q5: What does Alabama law allow judges to do that isn't allowed in other states?
A5: overriding life imprisonment sentences and imposing the death penalty
Puerto Rico's constitution expressly forbids capital punishment, stating "The death penalty shall not exist", setting it apart from all U.S. states and territories other than Michigan, which also has a constitutional prohibition (eleven other states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment through statutory law). However, capital punishment is still applicable to offenses committed in Puerto Rico, if they fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, though federal death penalty prosecutions there have generated significant controversy.

Q1: What territory's constitution says "The death penalty shall not exist"?
A1: Puerto Rico's
Q2: What US state prohibits the death penalty in its constitution?
A2: Michigan
Q3: How many US states have passed laws outlawing the death penalty?
A3: eleven
Q4: Under what jurisdiction can capital offenses still be committed in Puerto Rico?
A4: federal
Capital punishment was suspended in the United States from 1972 through 1976 primarily as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. The last pre-Furman execution was that of Luis Monge on June 2, 1967. In this case, the court found that the death penalty was being imposed in an unconstitutional manner, on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court has never ruled the death penalty to be per se unconstitutional.

Q1: In what year was the death penalty suspended in the US?
A1: 1972
Q2: What Supreme Court case resulted in capital punishment being suspended?
A2: Furman v. Georgia
Q3: Who was executed on June 2, 1967?
A3: Luis Monge
Q4: What amendment to the United States Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment?
A4: Eighth
Q5: In what year was the suspension of the death penalty in the United States ended?
A5: 1976
Present-day statutes from across the nation use the same words and phrases, requiring modern executions to take place within a wall or enclosure to exclude public view. Connecticut General Statute § 54–100 requires death sentences to be conducted in an "enclosure" which "shall be so constructed as to exclude public view." Kentucky Revised Statute 431.220 and Missouri Revised Statute § 546.730 contain substantially identical language. New Mexico's former death penalty, since repealed, see N.M. Stat. § 31-14-12, required executions be conducted in a "room or place enclosed from public view." Similarly, a dormant Massachusetts law, see Mass. Gen. Law ch. 279 § 60, required executions to take place "within an enclosure or building." North Carolina General Statute § 15-188 requires death sentences to be executed "within the walls" of the penitentiary, as do Oklahoma Statute Title 22 § 1015 and Montana Code § 46-19-103. Ohio Revised Code § 2949.22 requires that "[t]he enclosure shall exclude public view." Similarly, Tennessee Code § 40-23-116 requires "an enclosure" for "strict seclusion and privacy." United States Code Title 18 § 3596 and the Code of Federal Regulations 28 CFR 26.4 limit the witnesses permitted at federal executions.

Q1: What state's law says that death sentences must take place in an "enclosure"?
A1: Connecticut
Q2: What state's law requires that capital punishment occur "within the walls" of a penitentiary?
A2: North Carolina
Q3: What law has similar language to Missouri Revised Statute § 546.730?
A3: Kentucky Revised Statute 431.220
Q4: Along with United States Code Title 18 § 3596, what federal law limits the people who can witness a federal execution?
A4: Code of Federal Regulations 28 CFR 26.4
Q5: What state's law mandated that executions occur in ""room or place enclosed from public view"?
A5: New Mexico's
In 1976, contemporaneously with Woodson and Roberts, the Court decided Gregg v. Georgia and upheld a procedure in which the trial of capital crimes was bifurcated into guilt-innocence and sentencing phases. At the first proceeding, the jury decides the defendant's guilt; if the defendant is innocent or otherwise not convicted of first-degree murder, the death penalty will not be imposed. At the second hearing, the jury determines whether certain statutory aggravating factors exist, whether any mitigating factors exist, and, in many jurisdictions, weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors in assessing the ultimate penalty – either death or life in prison, either with or without parole.

Q1: In what year was Gregg v. Georgia decided?
A1: 1976
Q2: Along with the guilt-innocence phase, what is the other phase of a death penalty trial under Gregg v. Georgia?
A2: sentencing
Q3: What is the only conviction that can lead to the death penalty?
A3: first-degree murder
Q4: Along with aggravating factors, what other factors are considered at the second hearing?
A4: mitigating
Q5: What is decided at the first proceeding?
A5: the defendant's guilt
Possibly in part due to expedited federal habeas corpus procedures embodied in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the pace of executions picked up, reaching a peak of 98 in 1999 and then they declined gradually to 28 in 2015. Since the death penalty was reauthorized in 1976, 1,411 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states, with most occurring after 1990. Texas has accounted for over one-third of modern executions (although only two death sentences were imposed in Texas during 2015, with the courts preferring to issue sentences of life without parole instead) and over four times as many as Oklahoma, the state with the second-highest number. California has the greatest number of prisoners on death row, has issued the highest number of death sentences but has held relatively few executions.

Q1: How many executions occurred in 1999?
A1: 98
Q2: What was the number of people executed in 2015?
A2: 28
Q3: In what year did the reauthorization of capital punishment occur?
A3: 1976
Q4: How many people have been executed in the United States since 1976?
A4: 1,411
Q5: Which state has the largest number of people awaiting execution?
A5: California
As of November 2008, there is only one person on death row facing capital punishment who has not been convicted of murder. Demarcus Sears remains under a death sentence in Georgia for the crime of "kidnapping with bodily injury." Sears was convicted in 1986 for the kidnapping and bodily injury of victim Gloria Ann Wilbur. Wilbur was kidnapped and beaten in Georgia, raped in Tennessee, and murdered in Kentucky. Sears was never charged with the murder of Wilbur in Kentucky, but was sentenced to death by a jury in Georgia for "kidnapping with bodily injury."

Q1: In November 2008, who was on death penalty without a murder conviction?
A1: Demarcus Sears
Q2: Who did Demarcus Sears kidnap?
A2: Gloria Ann Wilbur
Q3: In what state was Gloria Ann Wilbur murdered?
A3: Kentucky
Q4: In what year was Demarcus Sears convicted of kidnapping?
A4: 1986
Q5: A jury in what state sentenced Demarcus Sears to death?
A5: Georgia
At times when a death sentence is affirmed on direct review, it is considered final. Yet, supplemental methods to attack the judgment, though less familiar than a typical appeal, do remain. These supplemental remedies are considered collateral review, that is, an avenue for upsetting judgments that have become otherwise final. Where the prisoner received his death sentence in a state-level trial, as is usually the case, the first step in collateral review is state collateral review. (If the case is a federal death penalty case, it proceeds immediately from direct review to federal habeas corpus.) Although all states have some type of collateral review, the process varies widely from state to state. Generally, the purpose of these collateral proceedings is to permit the prisoner to challenge his sentence on grounds that could not have been raised reasonably at trial or on direct review. Most often these are claims, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, which requires the court to consider new evidence outside the original trial record, something courts may not do in an ordinary appeal. State collateral review, though an important step in that it helps define the scope of subsequent review through federal habeas corpus, is rarely successful in and of itself. Only around 6 percent of death sentences are overturned on state collateral review. In 2010, the death sentences of 53 inmates were overturned as a result of legal appeals or high court reversals.

Q1: When a prisoner is given a death sentence in a state, what is the first step of collateral review?
A1: state collateral review
Q2: About what percentage of capital convictions are overturned due to state collateral review?
A2: 6
Q3: In 2010, how many death sentences were overturned due to reversals from courts or appeals?
A3: 53
Q4: What is an example of an issue that is raised in collateral review?
A4: ineffective assistance of counsel
Traditionally, Section 1983 was of limited use for a state prisoner under sentence of death because the Supreme Court has held that habeas corpus, not Section 1983, is the only vehicle by which a state prisoner can challenge his judgment of death. In the 2006 Hill v. McDonough case, however, the United States Supreme Court approved the use of Section 1983 as a vehicle for challenging a state's method of execution as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The theory is that a prisoner bringing such a challenge is not attacking directly his judgment of death, but rather the means by which that the judgment will be carried out. Therefore, the Supreme Court held in the Hill case that a prisoner can use Section 1983 rather than habeas corpus to bring the lawsuit. Yet, as Clarence Hill's own case shows, lower federal courts have often refused to hear suits challenging methods of execution on the ground that the prisoner brought the claim too late and only for the purposes of delay. Further, the Court's decision in Baze v. Rees, upholding a lethal injection method used by many states, has drastically narrowed the opportunity for relief through Section 1983.

Q1: In what case did the Supreme Court allow Section 1983 to be used to challenge a method of execution?
A1: Hill v. McDonough
Q2: In what year was Hill v. McDonough decided?
A2: 2006
Q3: What amendment of the Constitution does cruel and unusual punishment violate?
A3: Eighth
Q4: What case notably upheld the use of a method of lethal injection?
A4: Baze v. Rees
Q5: Along with Section 1983, through what means can a convict on death row challenge his execution?
A5: habeas corpus
The largest single execution in United States history was the hanging of 38 American Indians convicted of murder and rape during the Dakota War of 1862. They were executed simultaneously on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota. A single blow from an axe cut the rope that held the large four-sided platform, and the prisoners (except for one whose rope had broken and who had to be re-hanged) fell to their deaths. The second-largest mass execution was also a hanging: the execution of 13 African-American soldiers for taking part in the Houston Riot of 1917. The largest non-military mass execution occurred in one of the original thirteen colonies in 1723, when 26 convicted pirates were hanged in Newport, Rhode Island by order of the Admiralty Court.

Q1: How many people were killed in the largest mass execution in US history?
A1: 38
Q2: On what date did the largest mass execution in American history take place?
A2: December 26, 1862
Q3: In what state did the largest American mass execution occur?
A3: Minnesota
Q4: What was the ethnicity of the people executed in the second-largest mass execution in US history?
A4: African-American
Q5: In what year did the Admiralty Court hang 26 pirates in Newport, Rhode Island?
A5: 1723
After a death sentence is affirmed in state collateral review, the prisoner may file for federal habeas corpus, which is a unique type of lawsuit that can be brought in federal courts. Federal habeas corpus is a species of collateral review, and it is the only way that state prisoners may attack a death sentence in federal court (other than petitions for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court after both direct review and state collateral review). The scope of federal habeas corpus is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which restricted significantly its previous scope. The purpose of federal habeas corpus is to ensure that state courts, through the process of direct review and state collateral review, have done at least a reasonable job in protecting the prisoner's federal constitutional rights. Prisoners may also use federal habeas corpus suits to bring forth new evidence that they are innocent of the crime, though to be a valid defense at this late stage in the process, evidence of innocence must be truly compelling.

Q1: What act restricted the scope of federal habeas corpus?
A1: the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
Q2: How may state prisoners seek to have a death sentence overturned in federal court?
A2: Federal habeas corpus
Q3: In what courts can federal habeas corpus suits be brought?
A3: federal
Q4: If prisoners use federal habeas corpus to present evidence that they're innocent, what must the evidence be?
A4: truly compelling
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.

Q1: Along with New Jersey, what state commuted all life sentences when bills to repeal the death penalty were passed?
A1: Illinois
Q2: The governor of what state commuted four death sentences in January 2015?
A2: Maryland
Q3: Who was governor of Maryland in January 2015?
A3: Martin O'Malley
Q4: In what state's supreme court was State v. Santiago decided?
A4: Connecticut
Q5: How many people had their sentences commuted by State v. Santiago?
A5: 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.

Q1: In what court was Bigby v. Dretke decided?
A1: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Q2: What court heard the case Penry v. Lynaugh?
A2: United States Supreme Court
Q3: What amendment to the Constitution did Penry v. Lynaugh address?
A3: Eighth
Q4: What sentencing factors did Bigby v. Dretke consider?
A4: 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.

Q1: In what year was Tony Chebatoris killed?
A1: 1938
Q2: When was Michigan's fourth Constitution ratified?
A2: 1963
Q3: In what city was Tony Chebatoris executed?
A3: Milan
Q4: In what year was there a failed Michigan constitutional amendment to allow the death penalty?
A4: 2004
Q5: What article of the fourth Michigan Constitution forbids laws allowing capital punishment?
A5: 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.

Q1: Under what federal statute are offenses punished by lethal injection?
A1: Drug Kingpin Act of 1988
Q2: According to what law are federal prisoners executed according to the procedures in place in the state in which they were convicted?
A2: Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
Q3: In what month and year was Juan Garza executed?
A3: June 2001
Q4: Who was executed by the federal government on March 18, 2003?
A4: Louis Jones, Jr.
Q5: In what state is the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute?
A5: 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.

Q1: In what year did the American Law Institute create a death penalty framework for the Model Penal Code?
A1: 1962
Q2: In what year did the American Law Institute change their mind about their contribution on the death penalty to the Model Penal Code?
A2: 2009
Q3: What goal did the ALI's study say could not be reconciled with the goal of individualized execution decisions?
A3: systemic fairness for minorities