The Sentencing Structure And Texas Capital Punishment Assessment Team Report

This paper discusses three critical issues in the criminal justice system. It touches on the general issues of punishment philosophies, sentence decision making, and prison overcrowding and focused more specifically on the negative effects of each. Highlighted in this informational paper is the interrelated nature of the issues; each issue affects and is affected by the others. Data and information has been gathered from the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Amnesty International, the NAACP Legal Defense

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

The article, ‘Judge: Cop Killer Brandon Daniel competent can dismiss lawyers’ published in July of 2015, talks about Daniel’s case—overall punishment. This article is about a twenty-six year old man, Brandon Daniel, who murdered an Austin, Texas police officer. The police officer, Jaime Padron, received a call involving shoplifting at a Wal-Mart in the north side of town. Both, Brandon Daniel and Padron were wrestling on the floor when the officer was shot dead. In this situation, this murder is considered capital murder. When an individual is sentenced with capital murder, they are sentenced execution or in other words the death penalty. Texas is known for having the highest number of death penalties since 1976. However in this case,

Many people are hesitant on deciding whether they support the death penalty and in turn use other factors, like expenses, to determine their answer. They prefer to crunch the numbers and see what works better economically for society. Economically, it is actually cheaper to house an offender in jail for the rest of their life compared to the pricing to execute them. The reason is due to the pre-trial costs; in general, capital cases are far more complicated than non-capital cases and therefore require more money for the overall process. Several experts are needed to evaluate the forensic evidence, mental health and the social history of the defendant. Another expense is the procedure of jury selection. With the death penalty in question, the jury selection in capital cases are much more time consuming and expensive. In

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

There are laws and decisions of United States government and higher orders that present controversy to the people of America. In the state of Texas the application of the death penalty is difficult to interpret, especially for the mentally ill, because there is no written law or bill that explains the execution implication in complete detail. The death penalty is a capital punishment of death for those who have committed such high crime. This penalty goes for everyone who does such act no matter who you are, how rich how poor, or where you stand in society. For the longest time, even with the mindset and understanding that those who commit crime to a certain level can receive the execution punishment, the concern and debate whether the mentally

This essay explains sentencing in the United States Criminal Justice system. The objectives of punishment in the United States corrections is to help deter crime and to ensure reoffenders don’t reoffend. Sentencing impacts the corrections system and society in a positive manor by eliminating offenders out of the community. Sentencing may include one of the following: probation, fines, prison, community service, probation and so forth depending on the state you reside and the type of offense you commit. Each crime committed doesn’t have a set sentence, therefore they are determined on a case to case basis. The main goal of the criminal justice system is to defend the community and serve justice. Sentencing plays a vital role in the Criminal Justice system.

Although the Texas Criminal Justice System gives punishments that are deemed fit to the gravity of the crime, the death penalty is still too harsh of a crime. Prisoners are stripped off their Eighth Amendment rights when they go through the execution, which is an inhumane, cruel and unusual punishment. This can be examined through the methods that the criminal and justice systems and the method of execution.

The death penalty is the punishment of execution. The death penalty was authorized by 32 states, the Federal Government, and the U.S. Military. Throughout the years, the method of the death penalty has changed. Not only has the way it is performed been altered, but also the way our presidential candidates view the death penalty. For example, when George Bush was governor of Texas in the 1990s, he approved executions. He sent some to death who might have been innocent. Death sentences in Texas have dropped nearly 80% since 1999. In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a form of execution. Lethal injection is the primary method used. On December 2, 1982, Charles Brooks became the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas. Besides the deadly injection, the electric chair nicknamed "Old Sparky," was also an execution method. Texas, along with Louisiana, Ohio, and Illinois used the electric chair. The electric chair was in use from 1924 until 1964. Old Sparky was said to have taken 361 prisoners life's (TexasTribune).

This criminal code is one of the most sophisticated in the country and has become a model for other states to follow. But research studies conducted to compare effects of the death penalty nationwide have shown some conflicting results. Comparison studies done to show homicide rates of retentionist and abolitionist jurisdictions from 1999 to 2001 (Sorenson & Pilgrim) have shown that death penalty states tend to have a higher murder rate than abolitionist states. This result creates the argument of the overall deterrent effect of execution. Texas is still in the top 20 of states with the highest homicide rate even though it is the highest in death penalty executions. “If the death penalty were a deterrent, the argument goes, then Texas should be located among those states with the lowest homicide rates” (Sorenson & Pilgrim, P. 25).

There have been many different types of forms used when it comes to punishing the accused offender. In the past the punishment methods used ranged anything from stoning to death, to setting someone alive on fire, hanging, or the beheading of someone, alongside with the attaching of the offender’s arms and legs to four separate horses, or oxen only to be pulled apart. In all these barbaric and inhuman acts by our standards today, were performed within the towns square so that the community and visitors would be able to witness these executions.

Since the death penalty was reauthorized in 1976, 1,362 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states, with most occurring after 1990. Texas has accounted for over one-third of modern executions and over four times as many as Virginia, the state with the second-highest number. The Walls Unit prison in downtown Huntsville, Texas is the nations busiest execution chamber.

The state of Texas penal code and forms of punishment are more than fine the way that it is, because as previously mentioned the other checks and balances would come into play and quickly over turn any punishment or law that would be deemed excessive or unconstitutional or at the very least put Texas on a defense from constant legal challenges in court (Reynolds, 1996). However this does not necessarily mean that current punishments that Texas employs can not be tweaked or adjusted. An example of how punishments in Texas can be better adjusted to combat ineffectiveness or inefficiency is to concentrate at the sources of the problem, basically the: “how the problem first develop in the first place” such as youthful offenders were prevention

Texas Capital Punishment is not as reasonable as one might assume. It is not reasonable since there have been many innocent individuals who have been executed. One might wonder how an innocent individual is given Capital Punishment, and through out the Trial he or she is found guilty and hurl for execution. Many facing Capital Punishment are underprivileged individuals who cannot afford a private lawyer, in which he or she relies on the State of Texas to appoint an attorney for them (Byrd & Price, 2008). Much of the time, the appointed lawyers are overloaded with cases, don’t have time to review the case before trial, and don’t have trial experience required for a capital punishment case (Byrd & Price, 2008). According to the Death penalty

The jurors are asked if they would be able to consider the death penalty if the defendant is found guilty of a capital crime. If they are unable to consider the death penalty, they are automatically not permitted to be on the jury. This leads to a jury that is more inclined to convict a defendant because they believe that the death penalty is an expected outcome. Next, there is the trial. The first trial is the guilt phase, where the prosecution has to prove, using evidence and logic, that the defendant committed the murder. If the jury finds the defendant guilty, and the prosecution is seeking capital punishment, the penalty phase begins. Only one in five capital cases goes to the penalty phase (Costanzo 25). The prosecution now has to explain to the jury why the defendant would have committed the murder and why it merits the death penalty by using the defendant’s character, history, and motives. These are “aggravating” factors. The defense uses “mitigating” factors to explain the defendant’s possible motives for the murder to the jury. In order for the jury to find the defendant innocent, they have to be able to sympathize with his possible motives behind killing (Costanzo 26). Maybe it is a history of alcohol abuse, a mental illness, a troubled childhood. The penalty phase is one of the most flawed parts of our justice system. Now, instead of using logic to answer concrete questions, the trial focuses on the worth of the human being on the