The Constitutionality Of Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, has been a part of the United State’s justice system for the majority of the country’s existence. Today, 31 out of the 50 states still recognize the death penalty as a viable option when dealing with high profile crimes, most notably murder and sexual assault. While many people argue that the death penalty should be made illegal, there is also widespread support in favor of keeping the death penalty, leaving the nation divided on the issue. Both sides of the argument possess valid evidence that supports their claims, but in the end, the arguments in favor of the death penalty are noticeably stronger. The death penalty is an appropriate sentence that should continue to be allowed in the

This article describes the arguments surrounding the use of the death penalty. The first argument is a counter argument to the notion that the death penalty deters murders. Two former judges from New Hampshire provided statistical data to argue that their state had not executed anyone in seventy-five years and still had the second lowest murder rate in the U.S., while Louisiana with the highest murder rate in the U.S. has executed twenty-eight people since 1975. The second argument is around the economics of capital punishment. It states that justices argue that is more economical to imprison someone for life than it is to execute someone. The legal costs of appeals in death penalty cases exceed the cost of life in

In the article "The Case Against the Death Penalty," which shows up in Crime and Criminals: Opposing Viewpoints, Eric Freedman contends that capital punishment does not discourage fierce crime as well as conflicts with decreasing the crime rate. This essay will analyse Freedman 's article from the perspectives of a working man, a needy individual, and a government official.

A question that has been asked since the foundation of our country was made is, “Can the death penalty be considered Constitutional?” Thomas Jefferson was known to have written letters with the same topic. Now only thirty-one states, along with the federal government, still believe that the death penalty is within the boundaries of the Constitution. Twenty executions of the death penalty occurred last year, 2016, and approximately 1500 have since the 1970s (Pennekamp).

On September 9, 1993 a seventeen year old boy, Christopher Simmons, and his a few of his friends met up to discuss and devise a plan to commit a robbery and maybe even a murder, just for fun. Simmons’ plan was not complicated: find someone to burglarize, tie up the victim and either leave the victim tied to a tree or push them off a bridge. Simmons and his accomplice went through a window that was slightly cracked and proceeded into the bedroom of Mrs. Crook. The two teenagers tried the woman up and loaded her into the back of her minivan. They drove to the state park at the edge of town where they had planned to dispose of the body and that is exactly what they did. The boys were caught later on that month put on trial for murder in

There are about 121 innocent people sitting on death row tonight. A study by the National Academy of Sciences reports that conservatively, 4.1 percent of defendants sentenced to death are indeed innocent. Capital punishment is abolished in many parts of the developed world, but is still carried out daily. In this day and age, its existence may seem questionable. After World War II, crime rates increased in the United States, peaking from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Violent crime nearly quadrupled between 1960 and its peak in 1991. Sure enough, thirty-two states, the federal civilian and military legal systems permit the death penalty. Its application is limited by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution to aggravated murders committed

Additionally, capital punishment and how it is practiced has been greatly shaped by several Supreme Court rulings. In the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia, it was determined that the death penalty sentencing as it was then carried out violated due process rights and was considered cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and in 1976 it was decided that state laws that mandated the death penalty for all first-degree murders were ruled unconstitutional. Perhaps one of the most important court cases regarding capital punishment is the 1976 case of Gregg v. Georgia, which reinstated the death penalty, making it acceptable as long as the sentencing process is reasonable. This Supreme Court ruling also developed an important two-staged process for appropriate death penalty sentencing with the determination of guilt or innocence being decided in the first stage and if found guilty, a second stage follows which involves a kind of mini-trial for sentencing options which weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances of the crime. Executing mentally retarded people was ruled cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional by the Court in 2002, and in 2005 the Court made capital punishment for juvenile offenders illegal. Furthermore, other Supreme Court cases have ruled that capital punishment may only be imposed when it is reasonably

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a form of punishment that has been used as far back as the Colonial Era in America. Although it has been around for the entirety of American history, most of the scrutiny and controversy involving capital punishment arose in the 1972 Supreme Court Case of Furman v. Georgia, in which it was abolished, but quickly returned in 1977. It is evident that many citizens have ambivalent stances on capital punishment; some believing it is necessary form of punishment while others believe that the death penalty is a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Although capital punishment has been used throughout history and is seen by many as a form of justified punishment, there are many reasons in favor of ending the death penalty completely. Capital punishment is an unnecessary evil that should be found unconstitutional because of it is not practical, it is corrupt, and it is unable to deter further homicides from being committed.

There has been much controversy concerning the death penalty both within society and the judicial system. Courts throughout the nation have waivered back and forth on the subject. Several times in various states the death penalty has been abolished, re-instated, and vice-versa. From 1976 to present day the death penalty has been in effect federally, but that does not mean that the law will remain in place for good. There are still several issues concerning the death penalty; such as the method upon which death is inflicted. Other issues include whether or not juveniles and/or mentally handicapped individuals should be considered for the death penalty, and the

In this paper, the authors examine how the death penalty argument has changed in the last 25 years in the United States. They examine six specific issues: deterrence, incapacitation, caprice and bias, cost innocence and retribution; and how public opinion has change regarding these issues. They argue that social science research is changing the way Americans view the death penalty and suggest that Americans are moving toward an eventual abolition of the death penalty.

The constitutionality of the death penalty has been a heated topic of discussion for decades. The history of the death penalty in the United States is extensive; from a suspension to a reinstating and individual statutes throughout the 50 states. One of the most controversial of the Supreme Court cases involving the death penalty is Roper v. Simmons. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the execution of people who were under 18 at the time of their crimes violates the federal constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishments. In making its decision, the Court considered both the emerging national consensus and psychological organizations citing new evidence of delayed brain maturation that impacts culpability (define this

Capital punishment is one of the most popularly debated topics in the nation today. Since colonial times, more than 13,000 people have been legally executed. A large percentage of these executions occurred during the early 1900's. In the 1930's, as many as 150 people were being legally executed every year. However, the number of executions started to decrease as public outrage became apparent. In 1996, thirty-seven states, including New Jersey, legalized the death penalty. Of the other thirteen states, Michigan abolished the death penalty in 1847, Minnesota in 1853, and Alaska and Hawaii never had the death penalty. Today, there are over 2,000 people on "death row." Almost all are very

The United States of America, and nations worldwide mourned the execution of Troy Anthony Davis on September 22 of 2011. He was a convicted felon sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in the state of Georgia. Davis became the face of capital punishment before and after his execution, causing uproar from the public and public figures worldwide. In an interview for CNN, Germany’s junior minister for human rights, Marcus Loening, stated, “There are still serious doubts about his guilt. An execution is irreversible – a judicial error can never be repaired” (Wilkinson). Georgia, along with thirty-two other states, considers capital punishment constitutional. The eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Cornell). Why is it then, that the United States Supreme Court finds capital punishment constitutional? Through an array of research of law and philosophy behind the death penalty, one must keep in mind that these are people’s lives in discussion. The United States holds justice, liberty, and freedom as central to its democracy. However, it practices capital punishment on the same scale as a communist country like China, a broken government country like Iran and an absolute monarchy country like Saudi Arabia. The Death Penalty is the ultimate punishment when seeking justice for a crime so heinous that a life sentence would not

The Capital Punishment is a sure punishment. Sure punishment in the sense that the convicted never commits another crime, namely a homicide, again. People that oppose it support the argument that as human beings we shouldn’t take the responsibility of judging who should and shouldn’t die. That argument is backed by moral reasons, whether they are religious or simply ethical beliefs. Another argument against it is the fact that an offender facing the death penalty does not deter them from following through with the murder. The arguments for the death penalty are expense for an execution is cheaper and occurs nowhere near the frequency of housing an inmate, the convicted is sure to never offend again, and people are

This fierce debate links us back to whether or not the death penalty should be used only for criminals convicted of murder? According to a recent Gallup survey conducted in (Newport,2009), when 65% of Americans continue to support the use of the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, while 31% opposed it. Nevertheless, despite a worldwide decline in the use of the death penalty, and the fact that it is outlawed in the majority of countries across the world, about two-thirds of Americans continue to support its use. (Newport, 2009). This misinterpretation of data conducted in 2009, allows many to believe that there has been no progress in regards to the attitudes society has towards the death penalty. According to Huddar (2011), support for the death penalty in the U.S. is dropping over the years while some people are still for it, an increasing number are strongly against it, now it is used very rarely, only in cases of aggravated murder, rape, or felony. Huddar (2011), also states that the convicted person has to spend the rest of his life in jail, and depending on the rules of the country or