Capital Punishment In The Legal System

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

More than two centuries ago, the death penalty was commonplace in the United States, but today it is becoming increasingly rare. In the article “Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?”, Diann Rust-Tierney argues that it should be abolished, and Joshua Marquis argues that it should not be abolished. Although the death penalty is prone to error and discrimination, the death penalty should not be abolished because several studies show that the death penalty has a clear deterrent effect, and we need capital punishment for those certain cases in which a killer is beyond redemption.

In 2015, over one thousand six hundred and thirty-four people were executed through the death penalty, and eighty-nine percent of them occurred in just three countries alone. The United States is one of these countries, with thirty-two states who allow capital punishment, primarily by lethal injections. Although many people believe that the death penalty is a deserving punishment for criminals, capital punishment is inhumane because it makes us as a society commit the same violent acts we hold criminals accountable for.

Execution of innocent prisoners, does not produce an overall net intrinsic value compared to alternative punishments. According to statistical data collected, as of October 2015, a total of 156 people have been exonerated while on death row- since 1973. A total of 1,414 people have been executed since that time, meaning one out of ten people on death row are innocent. (“Exoneration of Innocent Men and Women”) This data brings forth the scenario of innocent victims being killed, by flaws in the criminal justice system. Murder of an innocent individual is not morally justifiable, because it would fail

Today in the United States some would agree that society is overwhelmed with high crime rates and overcrowded prison systems that are full of repeat offenders. The idea of capital punishment could be the solution to some of those problems. Over the years capital punishment has been discussed among political figures in the United States but there has been no clear and permanent decision. Capital punishment here in the United States is a controversial issue some people would argue that it is wrong and inhumane. The United States does not violate its Constitution with the use of capital punishment with the participation of a physician it is ethical and the Bible supports capital punishment.

    There has been about 15,760 executions in the United States since 1700, (http://time.com/deathpenalty/), but that is counting all types of executions, for example: burning, firing squad, hanging, gas, electrocution, injection, and others. Now looking from when the capital punishment was approved in 1976 (Death penalty Information Center), only 1,448 executions have been made. The capital punishment was made for “retribution, theory which demand for ‘tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye’ … if the criminal snatches liberty, peace, and lives… [they] should also be deprived of all these,” (http://listovative.com). It was also made to help have a more pure society, by placing fear, “best method to prevent

Furthermore, execution is very expensive than imprisoning a criminal for life in prison which can affect taxpayer because the government takes the money to use it for the death penalty. The expenses are on the lawyer's fees, extended trials, judicial proceedings and expert witnesses which the cost ends up being high. But the prices of having a criminal in jail for life can be more affordable for the government without touching the money from taxpayers. As

In 2012, there was a total of 2,228,424 incarcerated inmates residing in state and federal prisons. 3,108 of them were on death row, not including the 39 the were executed that year (prisonstudies.org).Putting those who have committed abhorrent crimes to death has been happening since the beginning of civilization, but it is time we put an end to this useless waste of time, money, and space in prisons.

The primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to protect society. All features of the system; detaining delinquents, trials, and punishments all have costs. Reduction in any part of the criminal justice system can potentially result in a harmful society. The question most asked about the death penalty is, “Why should honest, hardworking taxpayers, have to pay for murderers for the rest of their life instead of executing them?” Actually the death penalty is the most expensive part off the system. According to Dr. Ernest Gross, a Creighton University economics professor, who conducted a study in August 2016, the death penalty cost an average 23.2 million more per year than alternative sentences (Gross). The study found that states with the death penalty spend about 3.54% of overall state budgets on court, corrections and other criminal justice functions associated with the death penalty, while states without the death penalty spend about 2.93% on those functions (Gross). The death penalty is more expensive than life without parole because the constitution requires an extensive and complex judicial process for capital crimes. This is to ensure that innocent men and women are not executed for crimes they did not

Death Penalty Information Center, “The report concluded that state and county charges for the defense, prosecution, and courts would be about $1.8 million per case through trial, initial state appeal, and appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.” This was the estimation of how much they would have spent if the death penalty were to be reinstated. Abolishing capital punishment will save taxpayers a lot of money because it would cut the costs significantly on how much money is needed each year in order to prosecute defendants.

Death Penalty also known as capital punishment is the harshest sentence that a criminal can receive from the court system for carrying out killings therefore one February 17, 2005 at 6 pm Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for the murder of his three children after serving twelve years in prison (Black 's Law Dictionary Free 2nd Ed. and The Law Dictionary, n.d). He was convicted mainly on assumptions made by professional fire scientists claiming he left his three daughters in the house to burn during the 1991 deadly house fire. Many fire chiefs have stated the fire was accidental, and others say it was set on fire but no one really knows what had taken place. The wife and mother of his three daughters left to pay bills and buy Christmas presents. As the fire began, Mr. Willingham was woken up by his screaming daughters. He said the house was filled with smoke, and he ran out the main door the struggling to get back in the burning house. Neighbors noticed that he wasn’t trying with his heart to save his kids, instead he saved his car before his own children. Evidence and the minor burns on his body have been proven he wasn’t giving his life to save his children (Mills & Possley, 2004). Since capital punishment was established it has been modified into different ways of executing. The method of the death penalty was passed down to

As we near the culmination of the twentieth century, capital punishment is in decline. Once a near universal practice, the death penalty has been abolished in 101 countries, as of July 2015(Amnesty International, 2015) and executions have become less common amongst industrialised democracies. Some nations keep capital statutes for instances of exceptional crimes such as treason, but parts of the former Soviet Union, Japan and the United States of America (USA) still administer death sentences for ‘ordinary’ crimes of violence.

After reading about the death penalty in our criminal justice book , it was interesting to find out that the death penalty was brought over to America by the English settlers. I do understand that the death penalty is a controversial topic that will never end. In the next few paragraphs, I will discuss the death penalty and my opinion on this topic.

Capital punishment has been used in almost every part of the world, but in the last decades many have stopped using it. Usage of capital punishment is set in four categories set down below:

Capital punishment has been around for many years as a way of executing criminals. Despite what most believe, capital punishment is not functional in the American society. Defenders of the death penalty often claim that the execution of criminals will teach others not to do bad, initially decreasing crime rates. Unfortunately, statistics prove that thought to be wrong. Capital punishment also has great flaws. For example, many innocent people have been put to death because of capital punishment. There also is no consistency. Two of the same crimes can be convicted in two different states and the consequences with be different for both offenders. The death penalty shows to be