Capital Punishment Around the World: Does it Protect Us From Potential Criminals?

In the perils of what is a prosperous and incredible journey for the development and advancements of the human race, we are pushed back by the evil actions of some individuals who believe their objections to society outweigh the necessary benevolence. Stretching to the early years of Ancient China, highly regarded to be far surpassing the standards of the era, The Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties all demonstrated the need for a death penalty to expunge the evil from their land. Established in the Roman 12 Tablets, contested as one of the greatest pieces of law from its time, validated the death penalty on the concept that a nation needed to be pure and as humanely guided as possible. The concept of capital punishment, although highly

“Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect,” stated John F. Kennedy at Berlin on June 26th, 1963. Kennedy is most certainly correct in this subject because no government is ever “perfect.” There is always room for improvement in government and sometimes there are instances in which a law needs to be changed or repealed. Almost everyday, it seems, that there are outrageous crimes being committed and the criminals are being jailed rightfully so. Sometimes, a judge would decide that that criminal should receive the death penalty or capital punishment. Capital punishment has evolved over centuries from the ancient method of “an eye for an eye”, to beheadings, lynchings, electric chairs, etc. While most of

Capital punishment or death penalty is usually imposed on persons who committed heinous crimes and are those that endanger the safety of the society. Some countries and societies implement capital punishment while others do not. There are various reasons for this policy of countries, including the social view on the

Capital punishment, or death penalty, has been here for thousands of years around the world. Capital punishment is when a criminal or offender is convicted of a heinous crime and is then sentenced to death. Ancient Greece was one of the first civilizations to start using capital punishment, followed by the Romans and religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The death penalty was used on anyone who committed crimes such as female adultery, violence against a King, religious deviance, counterfeiting, and murder.

Over the course of human history the earliest known concept of capital punishment has been around since the 18th Century BCE, where the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for twenty five different crimes (Reggio, 2015). From the 18th Century until now there have been many other societies that have used capital punishment for various crimes, such as the Hittite Code, Draconian Code of Athens, and also Roman law. Those different cultures used different methods for execution and followed different rules for people of different race, religion, creed, social status, etc. As history progressed, capital punishment itself has gone through many changes; the ways of execution have evolved from brutal and torturous methods such as burning at the stake, burying alive, bludgeoning to death, impalement,

The question of capital punishment has been stirring heated debate in regards to whether it indeed does or doesn’t deter crimes. It is important before venturing deeper to understand what death penalty/capital punishment is. Capital punishment refers to a legal course of action where the state puts one to death as a punishment for a crime. The decree by the judiciary for a

The death penalty, which can also be referred as capital punishment, has been around for centuries and can even be traced back to the eighteenth century B.C. There is still many complications regarding the death penalty. Some religious beliefs interfere with it and this is why the death penalty is a big issue. The death penalty was first used in America by colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, when they killed Captain George Kendall for being a spy. Ever since then, the death penalty has continued to cause conflict in the judicial system. There are many types of executions used around the world, some can be described as harsh. Many countries have used the death penalty but now some countries are against it. Everyone has a different way of viewing something, the death penalty included.

Capital punishment has always been a major controversy ever since the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, became extremely popular as a use of “punishment” for ones illegal actions. The death penalty was first established during 1834 for crimes committed such as “idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, manslaughter, poisoning, bestiality, sodomy, adultery, man stealing, and false witness in case rebellion” (Bohm).

This paper examines the topic of capital punishment as a relevant public policy that is related to criminal justice. The history, justification and evidence for the policy, factors that have influenced the policy, competing positions and stakeholders, negative consequences of the policy, and evidence based changes to the current policy, will all be discussed. Relevant examples will be provided within each appropriate section. A comprehensive approach will be used to identify all key elements in regards to capital punishment. Finally, a concluding paragraph will summarize all salient information and takeaways from this topic.

Through human history Individuals have been condemning offenders of the governed to death. Heinous misconducts ranging from but not limited to stealing, murdering, raping, and treason were reason enough for an individual to be put to death. Found in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon the death penalty dates as far back as the eighteenth century B.C.. King Hammurabi coined and believed in the phrase “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Under the laws of the twelve tablets, Romans carried out capital punishment by means of crucifying, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, or impaling a criminal. In the tenth century A.D Hanging, cooked alive, beheading, and boiling became popular forms of capital punishment. European settlers traveling

Capital punishment has been around since the 5th century B.C., even existing in Ancient Rome’s laws. In the early days, the death penalty was used all around the world, in places such as Rome, Athens, Babylon, and Britain. Methods of execution included hanging, drowning, burning, beating, and beheading. Crueler methods included crucifixion, boiling, impalement, and

Execution has been a popular way to deal with crime almost since the beginning of time. Most countries carried out death sentences through disturbing ways such as crucifixion, disembowelment, beheading, burying alive, burning, drowning, or being thrown into a den of wild animals (Godlman 15). The first written law concerning execution was established in the eighteenth century by the Cod of King Hammurabi of Babylon which justified executions for more than twenty different misdemeanors. And in the 17th century execution was declared the only available punishment for any crime. It was not a popular concept to think badly of executions, it was a social norm. In fact,

According to a study, “Opponents of the death penalty believe that no one deserves to be executed. Again, it's an honorable position, but a difficult one to defend politically in a country where the death penalty is popular”. Though used in history before, it was not until now that the death penalty was seen as controversial and in today’s society; has created so many different disputes. So much controversy over this topic has been created even though only one third of the many countries in the world has legally allowed the death penalty. Some example of countries and states that legally have the death penalty would include, the United States, Iran, Kentucky, California, Missouri, and Japan. However, many countries stand by the idea that the death penalty is a type of cruel and unusual punishment. Some of these countries argue that the death penalty is an act against God, in a religious view on the subject. Other simply do not have the funds and cannot keep up with the amount of money that capital punishment requires. Over the years so many countries have abolished the death penalty and through that other countries are either in motion of removing the death penalty from their laws or have not sentenced an inmate to their death in many years. The movement to get rid of the death penalty is slowly making its way around the

As common knowledge, the word “punishment” is usually used to describe something that is a painful consequence or outcome based on one’s actions and/or poor decision-making. In the criminal justice system, “punishment’ is a sanction that is opposed on offenders for committing a criminal offense (Banks, 2013). Thus, the utilization of capital punishment is not new when it comes to the element of punishment. Capital punishment can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece. For example, Socrates was tried and executed for corrupting the minds of Athenian youth (Ristroph, 2009,

The earliest historical record of the death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment goes back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon listed 25 crimes which were punishable by death. Since then, the uses of the death penalty have prevailed throughout the ages in laws and justice systems of different civilizations. For instance, the Draconian Code of Athens punishes all crimes with the death penalty. During those times, the death penalty involved suffering a gruesome death such as being burnt alive, impaling, crucifixion and stoning (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).