Death Penalty: Cruel And Unusual Punishment

While execution methods have changed throughout the years each means of elimination has proved to be some form of violence. Some examples include a firing squad in which the criminal was shot to death, electric chair in which the criminal is shocked to death, public hanging where the criminal’s neck is snapped or choked to death, and most commonly used now, lethal injection, which administers a three drug system supposedly similar to putting down an old dog. It has been thought that lethal injection would surpass the eighth amendment because many thought the drugs were unable to harm those who would be effected. However, in Oklahoma there was Layton Lockett’s botched execution, in which he woke up and suffered in immense pain until he finally died. This occurred because of multiple reasons, the first being the use of a new drug and the second, was that the drug had being administered by someone with no medical training. Shortly after this occurred there were 21 individuals who filed civil rights cases arguing that lethal injections were a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, because the execution was only seen as an accident, lethal injection was not considered cruel because it could not prove that the action caused serious illness or needless suffering. The death penalty is inconsistent and unreliable both physically and within processes. Executions

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.

Although the Texas Criminal Justice System gives punishments that are deemed fit to the gravity of the crime, the death penalty is still too harsh of a crime. Prisoners are stripped off their Eighth Amendment rights when they go through the execution, which is an inhumane, cruel and unusual punishment. This can be examined through the methods that the criminal and justice systems and the method of execution.

The 8th amendment of the United States Constitution states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Specifically, the idea of cruel and unusual punishment has been a topic of dispute since its inception. Although the United States practiced execution as a punishment beforehand, “the Supreme Court did not address the death penalty issue until 1972.” It is often debated how we are to define cruel and unusual because of the vague nature of the terms. Because it is thought that the terms were kept vague in order to keep up with new forms of cruel and unusual punishment that would come into being after the constitution was written, the standards for determining what is cruel and unusual has been set by “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” meaning that it changes depending on what our society deems decent or indecent at the time. The problem is that our society has always been split on this issue. Whether it involves the death penalty or the quality of prisoner confinement, some hold the opinion that these people deserve to be treated as less than human because of the crimes they have committed. Others vehemently disagree saying that everyone, no matter what they’ve done, deserves to be treated as humanely as possible. Those of this opinion are generally opposed to the death penalty. For future interpretation of this facet of our constitution, the cruel and

The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime. 
A big part of abolitionist’s argument is that the death penalty is not humane. They pull in Amendment 8, “…nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” What the victim went though was indeed “cruel and unusual punishments’.” The murderers’ death is not cruel. The people will demand justice for what he or she has done (Bidinotto 19). Hanging and the electric chair are topics more reasonable to argue, but now because of lethal injection capital punishment has become more humane. The death penalty is not barbaric, the pain and agony that the victim went through is barbaric. Abolitionists were very upset in 1996 when rapist and murderer John Albert Taylor was executed by firing squad; they said his death was barbaric (Feder 32). Charla King, the poor 11-year-old girl he raped and strangled with a telephone cord, her death was barbaric! It makes no sense to think that John

2014 was the worst year in the 37th year history of the lethal injection. That year four executions were reported as problematic. For example on the evening of July 23, 2014, Joseph Rudolph Wood III was killed at the Florence State Penitentiary in Arizona. Wood was first convicted in 1989. He awaited the day of his execution for over 15 years. The day finally came. The execution of Wood began at exactly 1:52 MST. His death was supposed to be fast, painless, and most importantly, instantaneous. This did not actually happen that day. What was supposed to be a ten minute procedure, lasted over two whole excruciating, agonizing, two hour, of his life. The “deadly” drug cocktail that was injected into his body that

The argument for unusual and cruel punishment in the context of execution by lethal injection is that the person suffers pain in the process of being killed. This stems, for example, from the fact that an inmate that is being

On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett was strapped to a gurney in front of a selected audience and injected with a cocktail of midazolam, a paralytic, and potassium chloride (McBride and Murphy). Despite the combination of toxic drugs administered, two of which were specifically designated to sedate and paralyze him (PLoS), Lockett began writhing in pain ten minutes into his execution and suffered for thirty minutes before he was finally declared dead (McBride and Murphy). Lethal injection has been the preferred tool for execution here in the United States, where more than half of the states uphold the death penalty (“Lethal Injection”). It is intended to be quick and painless, hence ‘humane’, however in the case of Clayton Lockett that is evidently

The eighth amendment states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. (The Bill of Rights). Although excessive bails and excessive fines are a problem, the focus for this paper is going to be centered on cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. For years, many inmates and other people in society have been victims of cruel and unusual punishment. Extreme cases have included hangings, cadena temporal, being burned alive, public dissection, and today the focus is on lethal injections and quick ways to put people in their deathbeds. Although there is a desirability to steer the chances of crimes, among other factors, I believe that the death penalty, lethal injections, and other forms of perishment are inhumane and therefore contradict the eighth amendment.

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.

Cruel and unusual? This is one of the main questions debated when dealing with capital punishment. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been used for centuries as a means to discipline those who have committed heinous crimes. As time has progressed, so have the methods of executions including hanging, firing squads, electric chair, lethal gas, and lethal injection. The question that continues to arise surrounds the idea that these methods are being perceived more and more as cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is cruel and unusual, costly, does not deter crime rates and should be ruled unconstitutional in all states.

An Impassioned Debate: An overview of the death penalty in America depicts the facts about the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment is the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments (Masci 1). There are two significant cases that have inflamed the debate over the capital punishment, The Baze v. Reese case, and the Kennedy v. Louisiana case. The first case reveals the strong debate that the execution by lethal injection is inhuman and in violation of the eight amendment. The second case inflamed the

Since the very beginning of the growth of the thirteen colonies, to the end product being the United States of America, 15,760 citizens have been executed. Throughout the time span, their methods of executions have gotten more sophisticated, for the good and unfortunately, the bad. The first methods of executions include, but are not limited to: burning on the stake, hangings, or being shot down by a firing squad. The more sophisticated methods include; death by gas in a chamber, electrocution by the electric chair, lethal injections and other methods. All these methods do what they are designed to do, but some have a unreasonably high botch rates,

The death penalty is the punishment by lethal injection for committing serious criminal offenses. There are 32 states, including California, which has the death penalty and 18 states where the death penalty is illegal. The jury convicts when the death penalty is going to be used. The New York Times board, 19 expertise journalists, wrote an editorial titled “The Humane Death Penalty Charade”, discussing that people should be against capital punishment because it is torture and unhuman. In the beginning, it was about how every individual that is executed by lethal injection suffer massively. People like Charles Warner and Clayton Lockett were two of the many people who passed their last few minutes slowly suffering. Next, there are many people who are either for or against capital punishment, but the reasons either side give are the most commonly heard. For example, people who are in favor of capital punishment claim that executing a murderer is a method to make sure that they will never kill or hurt anyone else. On the other hand, people who are against capital punishment say that murdering a person is a crime, no matter who does it. As a final point, the opinion of Alex Kozinski, a federal appellate judge in California, towards the death penalty. The editorial board’s rhetoric was not successful because it omitted lots of key points to make the reader change their opinion about capital punishment.

In 1879, the United States Supreme Court ruled, by a vote of 9-0, that execution by firing squad was not cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. This began a long debate on whether or not a government reserves the right to punish those who have taken a life by taking their lives. There are many reasons as to why someone would be against capital punishment: it is not our right as humans to play God, it is against the constitution, the threat of capital punishment is not a valid deterrent, it is morally corrupt to take a life. All of these points are valid, and they represent the mindset of millions of Americans; however, capital punishment is a valuable asset to be reserved for only “the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers” (Alice).