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The sentencing phase of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has come to a dramatic conclusion. After just a day and a half of deliberation the jury voted to put Tsarnaev to death on 6 of the 17 eligible counts. An appeal is automatic but some families directly impacted still feel relieved by the sentence. Listen to learn more about the sentence and the response to it.
Story Length: 3:57
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AIR DATE: 05/16/2015
March 12, 2015
3:47
The trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has begun despite multiple attempts by his defense team to get the trial moved out of Boston. A pool of nearly 1,400 Bostonians has been whittled down to a group of 21 jurors and alternates but the question still remains - is it possible for Tsarnaev to get his sixth amendment constitutional right to a fair jury trial of his peers in a city so negatively impacted by his actions? Listen to learn more about the process of jury selection and the issue of bias.
Read MoreJanuary 14, 2015
5:19
The highest level of punishment for committing crimes in the United States is death. Since 1976, lethal injection, or death by poison, has been the most common way the death penalty is enforced. In recent years it has become more difficult for prison systems to get access to these lethal poisons. States are trying new drug formulas that are not always successful. Listen to learn why pharmaceutical companies are refusing to sell drugs to prisons and how this is affecting the implementation of the death penalty.
NOTE: THERE IS A DISTURBING DESCRIPTION OF A LETHAL INJECTION EXECUTION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY
Read MoreFebruary 4, 2014
2:25
The 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing suspect could face the federal death penalty. Some victims of the bombings actively argue for capital punishment. The majority of residents in Massachusetts, where the bombing happened, do not support the penalty and it is not legal for state crimes. Listen to this story to learn what the bomber's fate might be. And then listen to this story about how a federal death penalty law trumps a state law that prevents it.
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