Should The United States Use Capital Punishment?

As far back as one can look into human civilization, justice for a murder victim has always been by taking the life of the killer. In today’s society capital punishment is needed to defend it from further harm, bring justice and/or vengeance to the victims of the loved ones, and encourage psychological deterrence. As of today, there are thirty-two states which offer the only just punishment for a crime without parallel and eighteen states having abolished the death penalty.

More than two centuries ago, the death penalty was commonplace in the United States, but today it is becoming increasingly rare. In the article “Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?”, Diann Rust-Tierney argues that it should be abolished, and Joshua Marquis argues that it should not be abolished. Although the death penalty is prone to error and discrimination, the death penalty should not be abolished because several studies show that the death penalty has a clear deterrent effect, and we need capital punishment for those certain cases in which a killer is beyond redemption.

The death penalty or capital punishment has been part of our humanity for years and years. Existed since ancient times, according to people a person who has committed an atrocious act, was sentence to death penalty or capital punishment. The death penalty begins back in the 18th century B.C. in the code of king Hammaurabi of Baylon; who was accused of committing 25 crimes. In years past, the punishments where more crucial then today, the execution procedures had no boundaries, forms of killing where endless. Drowning, whacking, “damnatio ad Bestia” which was death cause by a wild animal, dismemberment: dividing the body into quarter-usually with an ax, throwing then off a high place, impalement: one of the most

The Death Penalty, or capital punishment is nothing new in the world. SInce the dawn of civilization people were sentenced to death for sometimes even the most minor of crimes, such a theft. As the world has changed in the last few thousand years, so have attitudes toward the Death Penalty,yet it is still a punishment that is carried out throughout the world today. In the United States, as of July of 2015, 31 states in the Union actively carry out the death penalty. Only 19 states have abolished the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without the possibility of parole as the maximum sentence. However, with the declining popularity of the death penalty in the United States and throughout the world, the question that needs to be

Capital punishment was first introduced in the Seventh Century B.C. in the Draconian Law of Athens, which stated the death penalty was the only form of punishment for any and all crimes; death penalty laws were first established in the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Codes of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for twenty five different crimes. Capital punishment was carried out by means of: crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Capital punishment was continued to be seen, spreading to countries such as Britain and in the United States.

“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.

Capital punishment, or death penalty, has been here for thousands of years around the world. Capital punishment is when a criminal or offender is convicted of a heinous crime and is then sentenced to death. Ancient Greece was one of the first civilizations to start using capital punishment, followed by the Romans and religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The death penalty was used on anyone who committed crimes such as female adultery, violence against a King, religious deviance, counterfeiting, and murder.

In 1984, former NFL player Kermit Alexander lost his mother, sister and two nephews due to a gang related shooting on the wrong family. The Alexander's family was not supposed to be targeted, it was a miss communication between the gang members. Alexander was so full of rage that he prowled the streets at night in search of the members that did this to his family, his goal was to give revenge for what they had done. The only reason he did not become a killer himself was because the mayor Tom Bradley made him promise to let it go and let the law handle the situation from there and in 1986 the killer, Cox was found and sentenced to death. Capital Punishment should be allowed because it stops the killer's from being able to kill again, it provides some closure for the families who have lost a loved one, and it is a deterrent showing what will be done to you if you do these heinous crimes.

Should capital punishment be allowed in America? The issue with capital murder is it is killing a human an actual person who at some level has emotions. You must wonder if it is right or wrong to decide why some should die and if you are going to be the one to decide that that person should just be dead rather than living because they are such a threat to society. Capital punishment does not work. There is a wealth of mounting evidence that proves this fact. The death penalty, both in the U.S. and around the world, is discriminatory and is used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities. Since humans are fallible, the risk of executing the innocent can never

The United States has a long history with the death penalty. Every perspective of the death has been argued, from the religious aspect of the government playing “God” to the death penalty being a solid form of crime deterrence and everything in between. This paper will show the death penalty is an outdated form of punishment and an expense that cannot be justified due to the lack of crime deterrence.

The demands of the 21st century contend that our justice system is in need of reform. One of the underlining reasons the death penalty has no future is due to the cost that this correctional theory imposes from start to finish. Currently thirty-one states allow capital punishment for the most heinous crimes (Wikipedia, 2017). Death penalty attitude researcher Phoebe Ellsworth says, Public support for the death penalty went down very rashly between 1950 and 1967 (from 65 percent approving to 45 percent), then reversed direction from 1967 to 1980 (when support rose to 75 percent), and since 1995 has been declining again (down to 64 percent approval in 2007) (Ellsworth, 1994).

Out of all Americans, “more than 60% of them support the death penalty” (Harden 1). Many people in the United States support this decision because they feel like justice needs to be rightfully served to those who committed unforgivable crimes. In some cases, this may seem inhumane but in other cases, it is what is best for the community for the people. The death penalty has been around for many years and it is still a debatable topic for some individuals. The death penalty was created to help, not harm; however, this can be discussed by a broad spectrum of people and it can be easy to see both sides of why it should or should not be around in this day and age. The death penalty is not accepted in every state; however, many should be informed on where it originated and how long it has been around, why it is used, and what people can do to only improve the system.

Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty and that is the legalisation of being able act upon a crime one person makes by sentencing them to death. The death penalty is believed to be originated during the 18th century BC. This showed that you will be given capital punishment for 25 different crimes, including murder. The first ways of capital punishment were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. 10th century AD, hanging came the most popular way for the death penalty. In 16th century AD over 72,000 people were believed to be executed. From 1823 to 1837 the laws changed and over 100 of the 222 crimes that were punishable by capital punishment were eliminated.

Other issues include whether this punishment should be applied to other crimes other than murder such as rape of children. Some believe that capital punishment should not only be used for the murder of another person, but it should be used for major crimes such as rape of children, trafficking, etc. Applying this punishment would be a preventive way to stop crimes such as trafficking, rape, etc., because it would not be worth going against the law and face a serious penalty. Accusing a defendant for a crime that was never committed is another issue whether they should be held accountable for it. Innocent people are caught up in a situation where they are found guilty of committing a crime they’ve never done. First, they are accused of the crime, and then they are serving the time given. There are times where there is misidentification, false information, wrong accusing.

The earliest historical record of the death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment goes back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon listed 25 crimes which were punishable by death. Since then, the uses of the death penalty have prevailed throughout the ages in laws and justice systems of different civilizations. For instance, the Draconian Code of Athens punishes all crimes with the death penalty. During those times, the death penalty involved suffering a gruesome death such as being burnt alive, impaling, crucifixion and stoning (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).