Is Capital Punishment A Cruel And Unusual Fate?

The death penalty is a cruel, ineffective and a morally confusing method used to punish a criminal. For many years the death sentence has been a controversial topic. Many agree that it is wrong and unconstitutional, however, others disagree and say that it is well deserved and that one who kills should, themselves, be killed as well. I stand firm in my belief, opposing the death sentence, for many reasons and research and studies done also support my idea.

Capital punishment is a legal authorization to kill someone for a crime they have committed. The death penalty has been the highest form of criminal punishment in the American judicial system since the 13 colonies. It has taken the form of hanging, stoning, drowning, burning, beheading, gassing, electrocution, and injection. The taking of a man 's life as penance for criminal behavior is wrong. The moral injustice of murder, the cruelty of execution, and the death of innocent men are all concerns that make the death penalty wrong. Our society has taught children that violence is not the answer and yet our highest form of punishment is executing someone which does not solve anything, nor does it fix a problem. The United States should abolish the death penalty due to execution of innocent people, excessive cost and it is against the US constitution.

That question is a debate that has been occuring for years. The supreme court has previously ruled that the dealth penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment there for it is not violating the eighth amendment in any way. Despite how the supreme court has ruled the death penalty, there is still many arguments till this day on whether or not it should fall under cruel and unusual punishment. In 1972, the case Furman V. Georgia was brought in front of the supreme court to rule whether or not they believed the dealth penality was cruel and unusual. This case almost ruled out the death penalty, but that didn't last very long. In 1976, the case Gregg V. Georgia came in front of the Supreme Court and the earlier decision was changed because a majority vote believed that the dealth penalty was not cruel and unusual. Eventually four principals were established to decided whether or not punishment was cruel and unusual. The four questions were, is it degrading to human dignity? Is it arbitary? Is it rejected throughout society? Is it unnecessary? Which many states ended up believing that the death penalty were along the lines of those four principals. Clayton Lockett might be a tragic example of the death penalty going bad. He was getting injected, but the injection didn't kill him up until an hour after it was injected. He had to sit there and suffer and many would of

The death penalty till this day remains to be a very controversial topic. Some people may argue that it should be considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment; others may rebuttal in saying that the death penalty is capital punishment. When visiting the idea of placing someone to death one must bear in mind the possibility of condemning an innocent person through such torture, the brutalizing effect on society it may leave, and the serious psychological trauma that a defendants family and friends may face. Is this really what the justice system is willing to place on the line in order to gain a form of so called justice. I mean reasonably speaking what will anyone gain from such an action. It definitely will not bring the harm to be undone. As stated in the encyclopedia under the theory of judicial torture “ the use of torture was confined to capital crimes, for which the death penalty or mutilation could apply” (PIHLAJAM, 2004). Looking at how the death penalty is conducted people should not be treated like animals, given a due time to be put down. No human being deserves such treatment whether or not his or her offense was so horrific and traumatic. Is that not the lesson being taught to society when the criminal is captured? Yet, the law as a jury of peers, men just like the accused, may cast the same sin upon him. Why should this action be considered in any way to be fair or believed to be capital punishment?

For centuries capital punishment has been used to “punish” criminals for a severe enough crime that they committed. It dates back to hundreds of years ago and has been enacted in many different countries, some that still have it today. Death penalty/capital punishment is the punishment of death an offender receives after having a court hearing and being convicted of a crime (ProCon.org, 2008). Once someone receives a death penalty sentence, they go on death row awaiting their execution. For a very long time, the controversy regarding whether or not the death penalty is ethical or just has been a topic of debate. I believe that the

The death penalty is a punishment given to people who commit heinous crimes. Since 1976, there have been over 1,390 executions. But does that make the death penalty, necessarily, a correct and justifiable form of punishment? “The death penalty is our harshest punishment,” states Ernest van den Haag, author of “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense.” Van den Haag, in his article, argues how the death penalty is effective and should be used. However, Jack Greenberg, James P. Gray, and Jeffery Reiman, all concur that the death penalty should not be used as a punishment for criminals. Jack Greenberg, author of “Against the American System of Capital Punishment,” argues how the death penalty is an

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

Capital punishment is defined as the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. There are many arguments that are for and against the death penalty. Majority of these arguments contain broad categories ranging from morality to attorney quality. Although most would support that capital punishment is the closest penalty for murder it is still used unequally across the prison populations. Capital punishment is a practice that the judicial system should abolish for the future generations.

Capital punishment, or the death penalty are one of the more cruel punishments debating which form is used. Deciding whether it is fair or not is up to each individual, the person who is being punished took another persons life, sometime multiple people so isnt it fair? Thats a debatable question under certain circumstances. 59% of people say yes it is fair, 41% say it is not “some people are just truly evil and don't deserve to live anymore("Is the death penalty"). Only one out of every 300 murders result in the death penalty. most people say they will risk it and live for free for the rest of their lives. If the death penalty was used more

     Capital punishment should be viewed as the stripping away of humanity from a person. The death penalty itself should be "executed" because of racial inequities, the concept of murder, the possibility of error, lack of deterrence, the cost, and an overwhelmed legal system. "The goal of capital punishment is revenge" (Introduction 1). Capital punishment is simply an outlet for the bloodlust of the American people (Introduction 1).

John Jones, a black man, shot and killed a white store owner during a robbery. He was convicted in a Georgia court and sentenced to death. His lawyers appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court. They argue that statistics in Georgia indicate that killers of whites are 11 times more likely to get the death penalty than killers of blacks. Further, the lawyers claim that since some convicted murderers don’t murderers don’t suffer the death penalty, his client is receiving unequal treatment. Also, the death penalty is imposed and carried out in such an arbitrary fashion that it violates the 8th and 14th Amendment. Finally, they argue that the death penalty is “cruel” punishment because it doesn’t allow for the possibility of reversing an error or

When considering whether Capital Punishment constitutional, it’s important to evaluate if it considered as cruel and unusual punishment. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury….” (U.S. Const. amend. V). It can be safely assumed that the founding fathers accepted capital punishment and is not considered cruel and unusual punishment. (Davenport, 2012, p. 360). However, I will be detailing common law defenses for the Death Penalty that challenge being cruel and unusual punishment.

So, a man has murdered someone and it’s up to you and your pals of the jury to decide his fate. Will you send him to the electric chair, maybe even give him a shot of euthanasia? Or will you send him off to jail for some time, let him learn a lesson and reunite with society? Well, would you? Something neat about the death penalty is that there’s actually only 5 different types of execution, Lethal Injection, Electrocution, Lethal Gas, Firing Squad, and Hanging. What is death penalty you may ask? Well, death penalty is when you do something so, HORRIBLY BAD, that you get killed as a punishment, but Death penalty is horrible because there are too many innocents convicted, it can be considered a cruel and unusual punishment, and it has not been proven to deter

Death is a scary thought. Capital punishment, or 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 thing, and they mainly executed people by firing squad or hangings. "In 1972 the supreme ruled that 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 a lot 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 has been terminated by many countries, but there are a few that still practice capital punishment. There are many different ways of executing this punishment such as injection, electrocution, and lethal gas. Are these cruel punishments what people consider serving justice or is it imperative to their own definition of justice. Cardinal Roger Mahony, a archbishop and chairman of the U.S Bishops Domestic Policy Committee,says “It is time to abandon the death penalty - not just because of what it does to those who are executed, but because of how it diminishes all of