Is Capital Punishment An Effective And Humane Deterrent

Capital punishment in America developed as a result of the influence of the British when they settled in America. They brought with them the laws that include capital punishment. The earliest form of death penalty ever recorded was that of Captain Georg Kendall in the year 1608 in Jamestown Colony, Virginia. Kendall’s execution was attributed to his being a spy of Spain. Captain Georg Kendall was a member of the first council that was appointed in Jamestown in Virginia colony. In that year, he was executed by a firing squad making him the first person to have ever been sentenced to death in the United states.

The idea of capital punishment deterring crime is difficult to determine; some could rationalize that the death penalty should in theory stop potential murders from committing crimes. However, this rationalization has never been concretely proven. The research into capital punishment’s effect on deterrence is immense; however, the majority of research on this issue has differential findings. Although some research suggests conclusively that capital punishment deters crime, others found that it fails to do this. Understanding deterrence, the death penalty, and the results of

The Death Penalty in America has been a talked about issue for some time now. Americans have their own opinions on the death penalty. Some people feel it is too harsh of a punishment, some believe if you take a life you should lose your life. I myself do not believe in the death penalty. To me it goes totally against what Americas was built on God. Even though over the last fifteen years or so we have slowly drifted away from “In God We Trust”. Looking at the death penalty in a whole it was never something that the United States came up with. It was adopted from Britain. (Bohm, 1999)The first ever recorded death penalty in United States history was that of Captain George Kendall in 1608. He was executed for being a spy. The death of Captain Kendall started a chain of other colonies jumping on board for the death penalty. In some colonies they were sentencing people to death for petty crimes, such as steeling, or trading with Indians. Over the years after the death penalty would be reformed and revamped numerous of times. Until it was only used when murder or treason occurred. Matter of fact Pennsylvania was the first state

Those that are for the death penalty claim that it will serve as a deterrent and is the only way for retribution against murderers. Both issues are highly debatable and have even been a subject of criticism. Punishment as a deterrence has been used for ages. This concept does work, however it should not be applied to all criminals, in my opinion. Some pro capital punishment individuals claim that it is an efficient deterrence against criminals. In an article “Death penalty is a deterrence”, the authors claim that by practicing the death penalty, violent crimes will decrease.”violent crime has declined eleven percent, with murder showing the largest decline at even more than twenty two percent. We believe that this has occurred in part because of the strong signal that the death penalty sent to violent criminals and murders.” These statistics taken from this article may be inaccurate and should be closely examined.

The death penalty is a legal punishment practiced worldwide, which includes execution being the punishment, mandated to someone convicted of a crime. The death penalty has existed since 1700 B.C. when the Code of Hammurabi was a legal document in ancient Babylonia. Ever since the Code of Hammurabi many countries have adopted this punishment including the United States. When European settlers came to America, Americans obtained the death penalty. During the establishment of the Constitution, framers continued the custom which led to the eighth amendment. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb… nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” (Constitution 1).

“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?” In 1607 the British left the United Kingdom to the new world now known as the United States. When the British went to the United States they brought over the death penalty with them. When the British came to the United States there had been some spies that followed them from the European countries. They ended up finding a guy named Kendall who was a spy from spain. The first execution occurred in Virginia where they executed Kendall. After the first execution, it became a regular thing in the new world. People were executed for stealing grapes, trading with the Indians and killing chickens.

The first death sentence that was historically recorded occurred in the 16th Century BC in Egypt. A man was accused of doing illegal magic, and after the accusation was made the man was ordered to take his own life (Reggio). Capital punishment originated from people committing “terrible” crimes years ago, that people might find minor today. A few crimes that were so “terrible’ and could result in execution in the early America’s were; denying the “true God”, stealing grapes, and trading with Indians (Death Penalty Information Center). Throughout years of crimes being committed it is not as common for people to be executed anymore. Today in the United States most inmates that are on death row have committed crimes such as; raping children and murder. Of the 32 states that legalize

The practice of capital punishment was brought to America by the British and was first recorded being used in 1608 for the execution of Captain George Kendall of Jamestown in Virginia. Nearly a century and a half later, people started to consider a reform on capital punishment. Thomas Jefferson proposed Americas first bill to reform Virginia’s death penalty but was overruled by a vote. This bill was to make the death penalty use in cases of murder and treason. In 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to vow to carry out the executions in a prison out of the public eye. Twelve years later, Michigan abolished capital punishment for all crimes except treason. It wasn’t too long after that Rhode Island and Wisconsin got rid of it all together.

The death penalty, as we know it today, didn’t exist in the United States until 1976. However, the American penal system has incorporated capital punishment since the earliest settlements were founded in the early 1600’s. The first recorded execution in the United States occurred in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia when Captain George Kendall was executed just one year after the Jamestown settlement had been established after he had been convicted of being a spy for Spain (Part I: History of the Death Penalty). Over the next 250 years, several states moved toward abolishing capital punishment altogether. While there has been serious push towards ending capital punishment, more than half of state governments within the United States cling onto their right to execute criminals who perform truly heinous crimes.

The death penalty in America was influenced mostly by Great Britain more than any other country ("Part I."). Starting when the European settlers came to the new world they brought the practice of capital

The question of the death penalty has been subject to heated debate on if it serves in deterring criminal activities. Through exploration into findings of several studies, it would be possible to validate whether capital punishment has a deterrent effect on crimes. Various studies are explored with the objective of understanding which side of the debate is stronger. The findings of this study will be important in informing relevant personnel on whether to continue using the penalty or not. The structure of the paper is as follows: Introduction section s, Literature review section, hypothesis statement, definition of terms and references.

The origination of the death penalty in America stems mainly from the influence of Britain. Capital punishment was a common exercise

Capital Punishment has been a part of the United States since 1622. In fact, at this point in time, there were no arguments over whether killing a person was immoral or unfair. Killing a person for committing murder or other serious crimes was simply required by law. Over the course of the next five centuries however, an

One may argue that the death penalty is a beneficial way to lower the crime rate and prevent future fraud. However, deterrence does not reduce criminality whatsoever. Those who truly believe that deterrence defends the execution of a human life have not actually proved that the death penalty is truly a deterrent. Most individuals who commit murders do not even expect to get caught at the time due to their anger and passion during the killing. As difficult as it may be, imagine yourself in the moment of committing a crime. Do you immediately say to yourself, “I must weigh my differences, will I get on death row or spend the rest of my life in prison?” No. It is a psychological, passionate, impulsive action of which there is zero time to think about the consequences that may arise

Since the foundation of our nation the Death Penalty has been a way to punish prisoners that have committed heinous crimes, however since the turn of the 20th century the practice of Capital Punishment has been questioned on its usage in America and the world as a whole. The Death Penalty is used in America to punish criminals who have committed murders, or taken the life of an innocent person, and while the death penalty seems like it is doing justice to those who have killed others it is actually being used improperly in most situations, while also hindering our economy and is a means of ending more lives than necessary. The Death Penalty can be a valid source of punishment for criminals in the US however due to the misuse of this power by the government it is a huge detriment to our nation and the people that inhabit it. Because of the fact that Capital Punishment is used unfairly, and ineffectively in our nation it is an obsolete form of punishment and should have no place in the United States justice department.