Examining death qualification

The biasing effects of the death-qualification process are structured into the very nature of the procedure, and may be intensified by variations in the manner in which the process is actually conducted. This article illustrates the process as it unfolds in court, discusses the manner in which its basic features can be exacerbated, and analyzes some of the nonobvious consequences of the process for the participants. It also discusses the treatment afforded some analogous “process effects” in law, and evaluates several proposed remedies to the biasing effects of death qualification.