Capital Punishment : The Death Penalty

The justice system is filled with opposition. Those who support the use of Supermax, the death penalty and the execution of those who are mentally retarded and juveniles, and those who oppose the above mentioned. The following essay will discuss all mentioned topics.

A study on capital punishment, by professor David C. Baldus, was published in 1983 showing the statistics of racial bias within capital punishment. This study showed that between 1973-1979 killers whose victims were white were eleven times more likely to be put on death row than killers whose victims were black. Many other studies have shown equal numbers when involving the system’s treatment of black and white. Between 1976-1995 245 convicts were executed. 84% of their victims were white, although less than 50% of all murder victims were

America’s criminal justice system is based on equality, integrity, and fairness. All criminals are treated the same, given the same rights, and punished fairly based on their crimes. However, despite that, there are many controversial topics regarding the criminal justice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crime. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow cruel and unusual punishment to be inflicted upon criminals. Although there have been many court cases discussing capital punishment, there is still much confusion regarding whether it violates the 8th amendment or not. Capital punishment is a very significant, and very controversial topic that has been around for a long time; the death penalty is still being argued today, with persuasive arguments on both sides.

According to thirty law enforcement officials, “By pursuing life without parole instead of death sentences, resources now spent on the death penalty prosecutions and appeals could be used to investigate unsolved homicides, modernize crime labs, and expand effective violence prevention programs.” If states replaced the death sentence with life without parole, taxpayers can save money, while also ensuring the public’s

Although the death penalty is legal in some parts of the United States, it has no place in our quest for justice and needs to be abolished. In particular, the death penalty is ineffective because of the time gone to waste from the salaried guardsmen being paid overtime, to the innocents being put on row. Due to the crucial time being lost, the United States is not spending money adequately, resulting in the downfall to debt. Not only is money being lost, but racial bias exhibited during trial is inadmissible and has a huge effect on how people in the society are portrayed, as well as treated. Abolishing the capital punishment will take the United States one step closer in recovering lost money and

Capital punishment began in the mid-twentieth century and was intended for all crimes committed. Capital punishment is still practice in the United States in 38 states but used in today’s intent for more horrific crimes. Fourteen of the states have abolished capital punishment for many reasons from being unlawful to being inhumane.

Throughout the history of the United States, social constructs have “reflected human biases” (Coates). One of the most prominent biases in the death penalty is racial bias. Racial disparities are commonplace in the structure of the death penalty. According to the American Bar Association, 12% of people

Capital punishment has been a part of the U.S criminal justice system for centuries. The death penalty has been the most controversial aspect. The death penalty is legal in 33 states but the rest of the 19 states abolished it. There are over half of Americans that support the death penalty while the rest of them believe that it is unacceptable. People who support the death penalty believe that capital punishment lowers future crime rates, but people who are against it believe that it is a cruel and think innocent people could be mistakenly put to death for something they did not do. Capital punishment should be allowed because it saves lives, decrease the homicide rate, and saves more money for the government.

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is an authorized government practice in which a convicted criminal is put to death intentionally for a crime that a court of law found the perpetrator was guilty of committing. There are numerous debates regarding if the death penalty is a just practice. In the United States, the individual states have the power to decide on the use of the death penalty within their own state judicial court systems. In order to provide justice to the victim’s families and serve as a deterrence to violent crime, even though many believe it is neither civilized or ethical, the death penalty should be mandatory for people who commit first degree murder.

Capital punishment, which is also called the death penalty, is the execution of an offender who is sentenced to death after being convicted of a criminal offense. We mostly hear about capital punishment for someone who is convicted of a murder or of multiple murders.

Race plays such a big role in who is arrested, how police force is used, and also in who gets the death penalty. Statistics show that police and juries favor white criminals over those of color. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “People of color have accounted for a disproportionate 43% of total executions since 1976 and 55% of those currently awaiting execution,” (Race and the Death Penalty). The reason why this is a surprising fact is because the U.S. Census Bureau states only twenty-three percent of America’s population is not white (QuickFacts United States). The races of less than one-quarter of our population make up over half of the population on death row and close to half of the people who have been executed in the past forty-two years. This clearly shows a bias in our justice system. Not only are white criminals favored, white victims are too. The Death Penalty Information Center released that, “Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are white,” (Facts About the Death Penalty). That means someone is more likely to receive a lighter punishment if their victim is a person of color rather than a white person. Furthermore, the ACLU published, “As of October 2002, 12 people have been executed where the defendant was white and the murder

Capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, has been the center of debate for a long time. Capital punishment may be defined as the “[e]xecution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense” (Capital Punishment). Up until 1846, when Michigan became the first to abolish the death sentence, all states allowed legal practice of capital punishment by the government (States). Currently, there 32 states still supporting the death penalty and 18 that oppose (States). This illustrates the struggle experienced by state governments all across America and their progression to a more peaceful resolution. There are varying advantages and potentially severe disadvantages to this type of

Punishment by death dates back in multiple cultures and societies for as long as records have been kept. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), 4th century’s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets through 18th century Babylon, where around 25 crimes preempted punishment by death, included some documented forms of the death penalty. Common methods in these times included crucifixion, beatings, and burning while alive. European influence brought capital punishment to the Americas where the first execution, occurring in the early 1600s, brought death to Captain George Kendall for holding secretive loyalties to Spain according to DPIC. In the late 1700s Cesare Beccaria composed “On Crimes and Punishment” which strengthened the abolitionist movement (DPIC). Since this time, a movement toward tighter death penalty laws took form. Thomas Jefferson proposed a bill that ultimately fell to defeat in Virginia that would have increased the strictness on whom receives the death penalty and what act constitutes the penalty. In present the day United States, 16 states have outlawed capitol punishment and the other states have undergone a process by which the method attempts to be more humane. As society has become more civilized, a realization of the inhumanities has prevailed. Problems with current methods have become apparent and secondary methods do not offer a solution. Capital Punishment should be banned from practice and ruled unconstitutional because the process

Death is a scary thought. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, as we all know is the execution of mass murderers. It is a controversial issue, but is it necessary? Capital punishment all started when the colonists brought it to America from England (Source 5). At that time it was the normal act, and they mainly executed people by firing squad or hangings. "In 1972 the supreme ruled that the death penalty violated guarantees of due process, equal protection and the prohibition of cruel punishment"(source3). Although the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional, each state that felt it was necessary mad new legislation reintroducing capital punishment (Source 3). All of this happening in the 1970’s and 80’s, and it is still in play today. This just shows that the death penalty can live through plenty and will always be around. No matter how many people want it gone each and every state has their own law and each would have to repeal them. The death penalty seems like a ludicrous thing to do, but it is a necessary punishment for some.

The death penalty is also known as capital punishment, a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial ruling that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual enforcement is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. 41 capital offenses punishable by death were listed by The United States federal government. The capital offenses include espionage, treason, murder while transporting explosives, attempted murder of a witness in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise, large scale drug trafficking, and death resulting from aircraft hijacking. However, they mostly consist of various forms of murder such as murder committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting, murder during a kidnapping, murder for hire, and genocide. The time in prison is meant to take the criminal’s freedom to go anywhere he or she may want to go, or whatever he or she chooses to do in the world. Which will cost the criminal to think about the crime and not want to come back. But when the person is put to death, they are taught absolutely nothing because they are no longer alive to learn from it.