Controlled Substances Act (CSA) - Medical Marijuana ProCon.org

(1) In any hearing held before a jury under this section, the
court shall instruct the jury that in its consideration of whether
the sentence of death is justified it shall not consider the race,
color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or
the victim, and that the jury is not to recommend a sentence of
death unless it has concluded that it would recommend a
sentence of death for the crime in question no matter what the
race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the
defendant, or the victim, may be. The jury shall return to the
court a certificate signed by each juror that consideration of the
race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the
defendant or the victim was not involved in reaching his or her
individual decision, and that the individual juror would have
made the same recommendation regarding a sentence for the
crime in question no matter what the race, color, religious
beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant, or the victim,
may be.
(2) Not later than one year from November 18, 1988, the
Comptroller General shall conduct a study of the various
procedures used by the several States for determining whether
or not to impose the death penalty in particular cases, and shall
report to the Congress on whether or not any or all of the
various procedures create a significant risk that the race of a
defendant, or the race of a victim against whom a crime was
committed, influence the likelihood that defendants in those
States will be sentenced to death. In conducting the study
required by this paragraph, the General Accounting Office shall -
(A) use ordinary methods of statistical analysis, including
methods comparable to those ruled admissible by the
courts in race discrimination cases under title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.);
(B) study only crimes occurring after January 1, 1976; and
(C) determine what, if any, other factors, including any
relation between any aggravating or mitigating factors and
the race of the victim or the defendant, may account for
any evidence that the race of the defendant, or the race of
the victim, influences the likelihood that defendants will be
sentenced to death. In addition, the General Accounting
Office shall examine separately and include in the report,
death penalty cases involving crimes similar to those
covered under this section.