The Death Penalty And Its Effects On Society

It has been said that a human being needs social interaction to survive. From that they created sociology, the study of how humans interact within ones environment and with others. Sociology allows us to understand why people interact he way they do, and how their outside environment can effect that. Sociologist have created four major theoretical perspectives to categorize different forms of social interaction. The death penalty is a huge controversial issue in the United States.

The death penalty was established as a form of punishment as far back as the 1600's. There are many controversial issue's in our world today whether it goes against our civil rights or not. As of today there are thirty-two states who still allow the death penalty and seven states who have completely abolished it ( Norton,W.W.& Company, Inc 115.) Even though the use of the execution has gradually decreased, there have still been many cases in the past years that states have still used it. At one point there was a time the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional, but after a couple years the court allowed states to bring back the death penalty. The courts have struck down many laws where states have tried making it mandatory in

The 1972 case of Furman v Georgia was seen as a complete victory for abolitionists at the time, but proved to be more complicated than it appeared. It said that the death penalty, as it was administered, violated the Eighth Amendments because it was cruel and unusual punishment and violated the Fourteenth Amendment because it did not guarantee equal protection under the law (Costanzo:18). The

Supreme Court cases that have felt the death penalty was unconstitutional include Roberts vs. Louisiana and Furman vs. Georgia. Roberts vs. Louisiana, (1976) was a case that tried Robert, who

The Gregg vs Georgia (1976) case study is important because the state of Georgia was in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that capital punishment (the death penalty) was constitutional so long as the procedures involved in its execution did not oppose the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Gregg vs Georgia which involved a prosecution for a double murder committed in the development of a robbery. The ruling was rejected the legal argument that capital punishment in and of itself establish “cruel and unusual punishment” and thus disregard the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

This paper will discuss the Death Penalty. It analyzes the effectiveness of the death penalty. It covers the history of the death penalty as our nation shifts through various eras in its history, as well as the historical background of the death penalty in New York. It considers all factors such as crime rates, deterrence, the rights of the people, and consequences of the death penalty. Analogies were made of areas all over the country as to what degree the death penalty effects crime all around. It concludes this paper by reflecting on the information provided of the death penalty and provide an alternative to it.

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.

Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty, written by Mark Costanzo, neatly lists reasons for opposition, and abolishment of, the death penalty. Costanzo provides a review of the history of the death penalty, a review of how the death penalty process is working today, questions on whether or not if the death penalty is inhumane and cheaper than life imprisonment. He also questions if the death penalty is fairly applied and the impact, if any, that it has on deterrence. He closely examines the public's support of the death penalty and questions the morality of the death penalty. Finally, Costanzo provides his own resolution and alternative to the death penalty. Each of these items allows the reader an easy, and once again, neat view

While innocent people can sometimes be wrongly executed, we the people have the responsibility to punish those who deserve it and to the degree they deserve it, and in some cases the death penalty should be enforced. The death penalty costs the government less as opposed to life imprisonment without parole. Justice requires punishing the guilty even if only some can be punished and sparing the innocent, even if all are not spared. We reserve the death penalty in the United States for the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers, and the death penalty deters such heinous crimes. The death penalty is currently used by 32 states and the federal government and is illegal in 18 states.

Since ancient times, the death penalty has existed in many forms and was carried out strictly to enforce the laws of society. As society grew more complex, many different factors influenced the development of the death penalty, or capital punishment as it has developed into in the United States. Because of this, controversy about whether or not to have the punishment arose, leading to much debate on the topic. The paper will analyze and observe the Capital Punishment and its influence on the economy of United States. Before proceeding, it is important to note that the definition of the capital punishment: a punishment, enforced on the state and federal levels, in which victims are sentenced to death for committing one or crimes deemed worthy of the punishment.

Many people have heard the motto, an eye for an eye but does that truly mean we should inflict pain onto another person because they did someone else harm. Those that stand by this motto believe in capital punishment which is best known as the death penalty. Americans have argued if the death penalty is a moral form of punishment or if it even deters crimes from happening. This is a controversial issue between people of all types including different religions that have express their emotions and debated numerous times regarding the subject.

The death penalty has been in the justice system of America tracing all the way back to the days of its founding fathers. Though it is a highly controversial legal and moral matter, it still stands today as the most ultimate punishment in the United States. Many countries have been or are currently abolishing their death penalty under the notion that it is unjust and morally wrong. The United States, on the other hand, has 38 out of its 50 states with laws that state the death penalty as its ultimate punishment. Since 1990, more than 350 people have been put to death with another 3,300 waiting in death row. Another statistic that is an eye opener is since 1976, 552 executions have occurred in the United States, with 394 by lethal injection, 141 by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, three by hanging, and two by firing squads. Half of the executions that have taken place after 1976 have happened within the last five years, 52 happening so far this year (Death Penalty). The Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment violates the 8th Amendment, which protects the right from “cruel and unusual punishment, on June 29th, 1972. The respective states halted executions in 1967, awaiting the ruling of the case. However in July, of 1976, the Supreme Court, as a just punishment for certain crimes, upheld the death penalty (Fagan, n.d.). For the nine years that the death penalty was suspended, the United States did not have a substantial amount of crime increase, which is somewhat

In the past decades, many policy issues were heard around the courts and one of these matters were the capital penalty. Many citizens agree with the death penalty and some of them do not agree with it. Moreover, this law brings several discussions within the population since Americans have different points of views about death sentence. Furthermore, there are numerous reasons, positive and negative about the death penalty. After all, three positive reasons are morally, fairness and effectiveness.

James Madison once stated that, “Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction” (Madison, 1787). What Madison meant by this was that factions, or groups of people with similar ideas, are bad for the nation since they do all they can to better their faction instead of bettering their nation. Thankfully in America, factions usually get controlled by equally powerful opposing factions. These parties usually have opposing viewpoints for several reasons and in a way make sure that citizens don’t have to all think in the same way. Furthermore, the issues of the death penalty, abortion, and the influence of religion of

Capital punishment is beneficial to the community. It provides the society with a sense of security. The death penalty contains a positive influence on the future. A heavily debated topic is, “Does capital punishment deter people more than a life sentence to prison?” An explanation on why will be covered later. An issues many people have with capital punishment, is when it is just or not just. This is a topic many stray away from, because it is difficult to decide. Finding the right consequence for an action is difficult. While this paper is for the use of capital punishment, it is clearly not needed for every crime, or even every murder. Overusing capital punishment, such as using it for every murder, will negatively impact the country, and not using it has the same effect.