The death penalty also known as capital punishment is an execution in which the person who committed the offence is put to death by the state. It was first practiced in Jamestown colony, 1608. The person was hanged for spying for the Spanish government and was the 1st person sentenced to death in America. Since then, it has been a form to punish the criminals for committing such heinous crimes and putting end to violence and crime rates. Despite how people agree that the death penalty is justifiable, however; it still violates the international human rights laws. These laws were created to protect the lives of all human beings including the criminals, who some might agree they do not deserve to live. Even though some might say that the …show more content…
Justice can be interpreted in many ways such as being able fair or wanting someone to suffer for what they did. However, death is not always the solution to every problem which involves a murder. In the United States alone there are thirty- five states that still have the death penalty while only fifteen states have repealed it. “In the United States, about 13,000 people have been legally executed since colonial times”. How does America respond to this?
The United States is supposed to represent freedom, liberty, and peace. However, the death penalty contradicts everything the founding fathers built America on. Everyone is entailed to life even though they commit terrible crimes. Technology advancements are rapidly growing which is supposed to allow less pain in time of execution. So far in 2011 there have been eight executions and three more executions are going to be taken place on March 10, 29 and 31. Many people are killed by lethal injections, electrocutions, gas chamber, hanging, or a firing squad. These killing methods are both immoral and unconstitutional because they are killing the people like animals. This is an endless vicious cycle of murder and revenge that continues because the people have a desire to get revenge on the people who killed their loved one. Even thought that loved one will never return and enjoy life before it was quickly taken away. In the United States there are about 3,230 Death Row inmates
that offenders will not commit these crimes again. The United States should use the death penalty because it is economical and continues to be a deterrent for potential offenders.
I think that the Death penalty would be justifiable if it fit the crime, depending on the type/types of crimes committed, how severe it was, and the history of the offender. I don’t necessarily think it’s cruel and unusual punishment if there is no suffering or pain involved. According to the text (“Conditions must not involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain; nor may they be grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime warranting (Cripe C, 2012) imprisonment”) (p.g.287 Cripe, Pearlman, Kosiak) So if the Person does not undergo pain or suffering, and it is equal to or fits the crimes that were committed then it’s not considered “cruel and unusual punishment”.
The following description of Evans's electrocution was sworn to and verified by Russell F. Canan on June 22, 1983:
Out of the 50 states, 26 of them have had at least one death row execution. American people (approximately 65%) say that they are still strong supporters in the Death Penalty. That is over half of the American population, for the Death Penalty. One may argue that it is a horrible way of giving people what they deserve; however, those people may not see the mistakes these people have made, making them not agree with this act. As this may be a contradiction, capital punishments is one of the life learning punishments known. It is legal in many states, but that doesn’t make it fair to all because its blameful, the cost is outrageous, and it’s time that needs to be spent helping, instead of killing.
The United States of America’s capital punishment process is very flawed. Humans are imperfect and are always making mistakes, how do we justify being the group of people having the power to condemn someone to death when there have been times that our human judgments were flawed and immoral. This is probably the scariest part of our system and one of the most motiving causes for being against the death penalty. The death penalty alone imposes an irrevocable sentence. Once an inmate is executed, nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake
The majority of the United States’ perspective and value of capital punishment is to punish and kill prisoners, but with that system nothing is accomplished. Plus, there is no evidence that the death penalty reduces crime. In fact, most people on Death Row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their
Even after these devastating facts, the death penalty still isn’t being put down in the United States. Thirty two of the fifty states in America allow for capital punishment. Lethal injections are the number one way to execute a criminal in America, and there are many other methods offered in select states. Texas, a state that strongly supports capital punishment, was the first state to carry out lethal injections on December 7, 1982 for the execution of Charles Brooks. Texas is also the first in the number of executions in the United States. If Texas made the death penalty illegal, the number of executions in the United States would decrease dramatically. Electrocution, lethal gas, a firing squad and even hangings still occur in the United States and are secondary options for many criminals in the country.
The question of unusual and cruel punishment is one that is undeniably at the forefront of the debate relating to the death penalty and whether or not, as well as how, it should be administered. Unusual and cruel punishment is prohibited under U.S, Const. Amend. VIII. As such, in the administration of the death penalty, there must be no element of cruelty or unusual punishment.
The death penalty had consistently been one of the United States’ most divided and controversial issues since the the sixteen hundreds. In 2015, twenty-eight people were executed in the United States. The use of the death penalty should be abolished. The death penalty in the United States is too expensive, inconsistent in rulings, and its popularity has declined in recent years. The death penalty is too final of a punishment for the United States to be using.
The United States is a country whose ideals is founded on protecting the rights of its citizens, making sure each action they take will benefit its people without compromising the liberties America had fought to earn. However, once those liberties are compromised, this may lead to protests and violence which in turn may cause large rates of incarceration and possibly death. The issue of capital punishment has existed since the 18th century BC, and it is an issue that will continue until justice and individual liberties find a common ground that they share. With a growing debate over universally banning capital punishment in the states, as shown by 61% of voters in a 2010 poll, or forcing all states to conform to using the death penalty, the
Cruel and Unusual Punishment, according to merriam-webster.com, is a punishment that is very harsh and too severe for the crime. The Eighth Amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing or inflicting cruel and unusual punishment, stating that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted." This meaning, the punishment should not be too severe. There are nineteen states without the death penalty, while thirty-one that still have it including California, Florida, and Texas. There have been cases, in these states, in which the criminal sentenced death suffered once administered the most common protocol to date used on death row which was lethal injection. One man, Charles
The complaints that were brought up were that confinement in cells in the isolation unit of the Farm amounts to cruel and unusual punishment as prohibited by the eighth amendment. They were also denied adequate medical attention, and that penitentiary authorities have failed to take adequate steps to protect inmates from assaults by other inmates. They also say that the Farm is depriving them of their fourteenth amendment rights. The court defines cruel and unusual punishment as such: a flexible and expanding one, and that punishment or system of punishment is unconstitutional if it offends concepts of decency and human dignity and precepts of civilization which Americans profess to possess, or if it is disproportionate to the offense, or if it violates fundamental standards of good conscience and fairness. They needed to show that the prison authorities had “abandoned elemental concepts of decency by permitting conditions to prevail of a shocking and debased
In America many people believed that death penalty was the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the guarantees of due process of law and of equal protection under the law. Now, we believe that the state should not give itself the right to kill human beings – especially when it kills with happiness and with ceremony, in the name of the law or in the name of its people, and now we could vote if there could be death penalty.
The death penalty is faulty in its age and obsolete in its usage, and frankly should be put out of its misery. Capital punishment began its time in the Middle Ages, as people were executed for simply thinking differently from the rest of society. Even now, as we look back on history we find their ways of execution purely barbaric and malicious in all its forms. However, we continue to practice these forms of butchery; the traditional method of execution, hanging, is still an option available in certain states. In addition, couple of states also still allow firing squads, and the electrocution chairs has been readily used throughout the last century. The United States stands as one of the few developed nations with a death penalty still in place. There’s a reason most of the European countries have banned the usage of death as punishment, it’s cruel, unusual and barbaric! Is that the image the U.S. wants to portray the alling regions, one of intolerance and unforgiveness? The United States surpasses those barbaric ways, with its exceedingly advanced ways and state-of-the-art technology, yet it’s one of the only countries left of the Western world that still has
The cruel and unusual punishment provision is that the law must treat all criminals with dignity even the most despicable ones. Any sentence that is taking lives instead of rehabilitating is "cruel" and "unusual" and infringes the decency of society. The corrections system helps rehabilitate inmates through individual or group counseling about the cause of incarceration. They train them with suitable skills programs, such as how to prepare a job application and to interviews, and the importance of maintaining a steady employment to support family responsibilities. They help the inmates through educational programs to achieve a higher education while in prison and to succeed economically and live a healthier lifestyle outside of prison. The corrections system hopes with new skills incorporated; they will be able to be more productive. Keeping them engaged with medical and psychiatric treatment will keep them mentally stable for their reentry into the community.