McCleskey v. Kemp addressed the constitutionality of applying what punishment?

• A. Death Penalty
• B. Life Imprisonment Without Parole
• C. Imprisonment for 5 Years
• D. Fines

Answer: (A)

Capital punishment is the focus here. McCleskey v. Kemp asks whether applying the death penalty in Georgia violates the Constitution given troubling statistical evidence of racial disparities in who receives it. The key point the Court made is that statistical patterns of discrimination, by themselves, do not automatically make the death penalty unconstitutional. To challenge a specific death sentence, a defendant must show discriminatory intent in the decision-making process or a systemic bias that directly affected the individual case. So the case centers on the constitutionality of the death penalty as the punishment in question, not on other penalties like life imprisonment without parole or fines.