Why Was The Death Penalty Made Constitutional?

In the United States Constitution, the 8th Amendment prohibits the use and practices of cruel and unusual punishment. What exactly is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment? This question is a hot topic among America's many different current controversies. Many people are saying that the use of capital punishment (to be sentenced to death as a penalty in the eyes of the law [a capital crime]. An execution [capital punishment]) is a direct violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Capital Punishment). They say there should be another way to deal with these criminals other than having them executed. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of the death penalty

Hannah Patrick, one has only to look at some of the cases such as Coker v. Georgia to feel that the death penalty does not violate the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, the U.S. Supreme Court says it is excessive punishment for the rape of an adult woman and that it violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. In Coker v. Georgia, the defendant raped a woman and stabbed her to death. Eight months later he kidnapped another woman, raped her twice, and abandoned her to die after biting her severely. While he was serving multiple life terms in prison, he escaped and kidnapped, raped, and robbed a third woman at knifepoint (LeSage, 1978). I do not see how you can read about this case and decide as the U.S. Supreme Court did.

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.

For instance, the cost to execute someone is 5x times more than keeping them in jail. Cases without the death penalty cost roughly about $740,000 depending on the situation, while cases with the death penalty cost roughly $1.26 million, and maintaining each death row prisoners cost taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population. Additionally, Texas has made 474 executions since 1976, and the next closest state to that number is Virginia with 109 executions. There are still several states that have made 0 executions or very little compared to Texas. Moreover, some argue against the death penalty because of wrongful convictions and innocent killings. In the Larry Griffin case, an investigation by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund has uncovered evidence that Griffin may have been innocent of his crime. Investigators say his case is the strongest demonstration yet on executing an innocent man, due to the fact it violates the Eighth Amendment. There’s also principles at conflict, like popular sovereignty and federalism because opposition to the death penalty has increased dramatically since the 1900s. There are 31 states with the death penalty legalized and 19 that have abolished it; however, there’s 5 states that have a moratorium on executions. To conclude, the states depict if the death penalty is legal or not based on the people’s votes, and the states having the power to vote represents

Death penalty is one of the most controversial topic brought up in American politics. Within America, there are 31 states that carry out the death penalty and only 19 states that have abolished the practice. Many people are concerned whether or not the death penalty is beneficial to decreasing the amount of crime rates. Recently, the Supreme Court had a meeting to discuss the death penalty and if it went against the eight amendment. The eighth amendment states that it has banned cruel and unusual punishments but the death penalty is going against the idea. Compared to the late 1990s the number of executions in America has decreased. In 2015, there were only 28 executions with 48 new death sentences. 2015 was the year that had the lowest number

The 8th amendment of the United States Constitution states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Specifically, the idea of cruel and unusual punishment has been a topic of dispute since its inception. Although the United States practiced execution as a punishment beforehand, “the Supreme Court did not address the death penalty issue until 1972.” It is often debated how we are to define cruel and unusual because of the vague nature of the terms. Because it is thought that the terms were kept vague in order to keep up with new forms of cruel and unusual punishment that would come into being after the constitution was written, the standards for determining what is cruel and unusual has been set by “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” meaning that it changes depending on what our society deems decent or indecent at the time. The problem is that our society has always been split on this issue. Whether it involves the death penalty or the quality of prisoner confinement, some hold the opinion that these people deserve to be treated as less than human because of the crimes they have committed. Others vehemently disagree saying that everyone, no matter what they’ve done, deserves to be treated as humanely as possible. Those of this opinion are generally opposed to the death penalty. For future interpretation of this facet of our constitution, the cruel and

“…if we look to the States, in more than 60% there is effectively no death penalty, in an additional 18% an execution is rare and unusual, and 6% (Texas, Missouri, and Florida) account for all executions” (Justice Breyer, p.86). It is quite curious that, even with the option, few states implement capital punishment. “For the reasons I have set forth in this opinion, I believe it highly likely that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment. At the very least, the Court should call for full briefing on the basic question” (Justice Breyer, p.91).

The eighth amendment claims that there would be no cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, Williams writes, “In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court suspended the death penalty on the grounds it violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (2011, 2)”. Supporters of this do not believe that it is fair to kill someone for a crime. The most common forms of executions in the United States are lethal injection, electrocution, and lethal gas. People believe that these ways of execution are in humane, and according to Williams article -- The Cost of Punishment -- “has no place in society”. Also, people who argue the death penalty say that it is a costly alternative to life sentencing in prison. ( quoted material from argues side cost of punishment.) It also says that on average it only takes twenty thousand dollars to keep an inmate in jail for a year, While the death punishment requires much more money to carry out. Whether it be because of the violation of the eighth amendment, or the cost to carry out, the death penalty is not in agreement with all of the American

The courts positions of the death penalty has changed over the years. For centuries societies have used death as the ultimate penalty for crime. In the 1960's, the court ruled against the death penalty as a "cruel and unusual punishment", which was forbidden by the eighth amendment of the Constitution. By the 1990's the death penalty was again in wide use supported by the court and Congress, which continually expanded by legislation the crimes for which death would be an acceptable penalty.

The death penalty has existed in different forms dating back to Eighteenth Century B.C. Burning, hanging, beating, etc. were all means to an end to achieve this retribution. In today’s society, the debate over whether the death penalty is a viable punishment is still to be determined. Many scholars suggest that it fails to act as a deterrent and should be abolished while others cling to the idea that it continues to serve as retribution to those affected by the acts of criminals. Within this paper I will study the changing attitudes towards the death penalty as well as look into Texas and California as examples as they both portray interesting cases of the death penalty. While both actively sentence criminals to death row, California rarely executes while Texas has the highest execution rates in the country. Do these states have lower crime rates because of this or will this prove that the death penalty is unnecessary and violates the eighth amendment and is out of line with current views.

As of 1987, 37 states in the US allowed the use of the death penalty, and 27 of those states allowed the execution of minors under the age of eighteen. The state of Indiana, for example, had a minimum execution age of ten. About a dozen states had no declared age limit, and only six states out of the original 37 had adopted eighteen as the minimum age (Times Wire Services). At the time of Thompson v Oklahoma, the state of Oklahoma had a juvenile rehabilitation system that permitted the execution of minors for murder; they believed that despite the fact that they were children or adolescents, they were perfectly aware of the wrongness of their actions and had no hope of being rehabilitated (Cengage Learning). Approximately 20,000 individuals have been legally executed in the United States in the past 350 years, but the controversy surrounding the death penalty has almost always existed (Wilson). In the era of Thompson v Oklahoma, fifteen-year-olds had few rights. They could be tried as adults and given the death penalty, but could not drive, vote, drink alcohol, get married, buy drugs, sit on a jury, or gamble (Cengage Learning). Furthermore, time spent on death row can be from six to over twenty years, so many criminals convicted as juveniles are not executed until they are adults, after essentially growing up in prison and potentially undergoing massive changes in character (Wilson). In addition, the 8th Amendment to the Constitution reads: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” ("8th Amendment”). Execution has been viewed as a cruel and unusual punishment by many for years. In the very beginning, when the Constitution was written, the Framers defined “cruel and unusual punishment” as something blatantly

The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes ("History of the Death Penalty" 1). Executions back then relied on more torturous methods without regard to the executed. As the use of the Death Penalty was issued out, its popularity spread throughout the neighboring countries and has become more refined for modern use. In June of 2004, “New York’s death penalty law was declared unconstitutional by the state’s high court” (“History…” 3). Between the early 1950’s and late 1970’s, the death penalty became suspended for going against the constitution, only to get reinstated after the brief pausing period. Having to take a pausing period to consider options for taking a human life merely demonstrates how confused and undecided the supreme court can be when it comes to choosing the route of convicts. According to the Bureau of Justice, before the Kennedy v. Louisiana case of 2008, in Texas, “..the only other penalty punishable by death besides murder is the rape of a child under 14..” (“History...” 16). No convictions have happened since establishment, yet the supreme court finds it okay to take a human life despite the convict not taking one themselves. While rape is punishable by multiple years or sentences depending on severity in Texas, deciding to take the life of a human being when no murder has been conducted shows how unfairly a court

In the eighth amendment, it says "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." This amendment is saying that the government should not impose harsh or unusual punishments to the defendant. Yet, we are killing the criminals in the worsts ways. Yes, they obviously should have to pay for the crime they did but they should not have to die. They should just be put in prison for life without parole or any release. So why is the death penalty not considered a cruel and unusual punishment? Most people say "do the crime pay the time". But does that really relate in this situation? Yes, most of the crimes committed by people on death row are extremely terrible and horrific but does that mean they should have to die for it. Why do the judges and the jury get to decide who lives and who dies from capital punishment. About half of our nation would agree that they should be punished for it but does killing them really punish them. For all we know it could just relive them of having to spend their lifetime in jail. Instead they get to take the easy way out and die and not have to serve time for their crime. The other half, believe that we should keep the death penalty and in some ways it makes sense. They want to keep the death penalty to keep revenge for the person they lost and healing for the families of those murdered. They also want to see the person who committed the crime have to pay for what they did. But they can pay for their crime in other ways then the death

An Impassioned Debate: An overview of the death penalty in America depicts the facts about the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment is the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments (Masci 1). There are two significant cases that have inflamed the debate over the capital punishment, The Baze v. Reese case, and the Kennedy v. Louisiana case. The first case reveals the strong debate that the execution by lethal injection is inhuman and in violation of the eight amendment. The second case inflamed the

In 1879, the United States Supreme Court ruled, by a vote of 9-0, that execution by firing squad was not cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. This began a long debate on whether or not a government reserves the right to punish those who have taken a life by taking their lives. There are many reasons as to why someone would be against capital punishment: it is not our right as humans to play God, it is against the constitution, the threat of capital punishment is not a valid deterrent, it is morally corrupt to take a life. All of these points are valid, and they represent the mindset of millions of Americans; however, capital punishment is a valuable asset to be reserved for only “the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers” (Alice).