
Student Discussion: Victim Impact Evidence
Stephen Bright leads Yale Law students through the doctrine of victim impact evidence in capital sentencing, part of his course Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty, and Disadvantage. The session works through specific cases to examine how juries weigh testimony about a victim's character and the harm caused to survivors when deciding between life and death sentences. Bright presses students on the constitutional limits set by the Supreme Court on this kind of evidence and on the practical effect it has on juries already swayed by race and class. The format is a seminar discussion rather than a straight lecture, with students raising objections and Bright pushing back, testing arguments about fairness, prejudice, and the purpose of sentencing hearings. It gives a concrete look at how mitigation and victim impact evidence actually function inside a capital trial, argued through real case law rather than abstract principle.