Last updated on: 3/6/2019 | Author: ProCon.org

Kent Scheidegger, JD Biography

Title:
Legal Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
Position:
Pro to the question "Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?"
Reasoning:

“The death penalty serves three functions. First, for some crimes any lesser punishment is inadequate as a matter of basic justice…

Second, an executed death sentence absolutely guarantees the killer will never kill again. A life sentence does not. There are many cases of people killed by murderers who were paroled, escaped, killed within prison, or who arranged murders from within the prison…

Third, I believe that an effective, enforced death penalty deters some murders.”

“Spring 2001: Does Capital Punishment Have a Future?,” National Online Youth Summit of the American Bar Association (accessed Aug. 7, 2008)
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
    Experts
Individuals with MDs, JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to death penalty issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to death penalty issues.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Executive Committee member, Criminal Law and Procedure Practice Group, Federalist Society, 1996-present
  • Legal Director, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, Dec. 1986-present
  • Chairman, Federalist Society Criminal Law Practice Group, 2003-2005
  • General Counsel, California Cooler, Inc., 1984-1986
  • Civil Law Practice, Northern California, 1982-1984
  • Nuclear Research Officer, United States Air Force, 1976-1982
Education:
  • JD, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, 1982
  • BS, Physics, New Mexico State University, 1976
Other:

Wrote an amicus curiae brief in the following US Supreme Court cases:

  • Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
  • McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
  • Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
  • Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967 (1994)
  • Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472 (1995)
  • Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651 (1996)
  • Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
  • Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003)
  • Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
  • Cullen v. Pinholster, 131 S. Ct. 1388 (2011)
Quoted in:
  1. Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?
  2. Does a Person's Race Affect the Likelihood of Receiving the Death Penalty?
  3. Does a Person's Income Level Affect the Likelihood of Receiving the Death Penalty?