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The Death Penalty Is Justified

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The death penalty is a punishment of execution administered to someone who is legally convicted of capital punishment. The death penalty has been practiced throughout America since the 1600’s. The death penalty was influenced by Britain; it was created for a purpose of deterrence. The death penalty was designed to be a way to deter individuals by making an example of those who has committed selected crimes that ended in a sentencing to capital punishment. The first recorded execution was of Captain George Kendall for treason and mutiny by a firing squad. During this time known as the early period of capital punishment which is 1608-1929 there was an estimate of 10,598 executions. How it is that capital punishment is a form of deterrence …show more content…

Others however believe the government has no right to take a life and that it goes against the 8th amendment. The 8th amendment reads “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” There are a couple cases that have saved people from being executed because executing them would go against the 8th amendment. For example Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407, 2008 brought light to the fact that the death sentence for one who raped but did not kill a child, and who did not intend to assist another in killing the child, is unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment.
Not only may some see it as cruel and unusual punishment, but there are innocent people being sentenced to the death penalty and our political leaders are some of the reasons why the system fails because of error on their part. “As the cases began to add up, however, a new frame emerged: The judicial system was riddled with bureaucratic incompetence, error, and occasional malfeasance” (James A. Morone) in this periodical journal politics and the death penalty are explained in depth. This particular quotation refers to how there were innocence projects created to free those who were being wrongly convicted or brought to light those who died while on death row. Avoiding the use of cruel and unusual punishment on innocent

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