Topic: How would the reinstitution of capital punishment influence the crime rate of the Jamaican society?

Name: Anissa Geddes Registration number: 1000390818 Territory: Jamaica Year of Exam: 2013

Aims and Objectives Description of the method employed Findings and Discussion of Findings Recommendations Bibliography Appendix

The purpose of this Internal Assessment is to see to what degree the Jamaican society would benefit from the reinstitution of the death penalty. This project will seek to: Inform about Capital punishment. Give the opinion of the selected sample of Capital punishment. Determine whether or not the Jamaican society would benefit from the reinstitution of the death penalty.

A survey is a general investigation of a problem or a statistical study of a sample population. In this research paper a survey was done by the use of a questionnaire. Random persons were selected as targets for this research. The research paper is based on the opinions of selected sample. This way the risk of the information being biased is reduced. This paper analyzes and interprets the conditions that are present among the sample in relation to the topic of Capital Punishment. General information needed to complete this task was found in books, essays and the internet. This information was needed to support the primary data collected from the survey. Cases and references were obtained in this fashion.

Capital Punishment, according to the Encarta Dictionaries, is the lawful execution as punishment for a person convicted of committing a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Capital punishment is meted out to offenders of capital crimes such as murder committed after a capital felony for example rape or robbery. This is a must as seen with this case Kennedy v. Louisiana. Petitioner Patrick Kennedy was convicted and sentenced to death in Louisiana for the aggravated rape of his then 8 year-old stepdaughter. A Louisiana state statute authorized capital punishment for the rape of a child under 12. The State Supreme Court affirmed the statute, rejecting petitioners reliance on Coker v. Georgia, which prevented the use of capital punishment for the rape of an adult woman. The Supreme Court concluded that the Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victims death. Since medieval times people have been put to death for crimes they had committed. Some of these punishments were crucifixion, drowning, stoning, burning at stake and beheading. More modernistic practices are now practiced such as usage of lethal gas or injection, electrocution, hanging, or shooting. For the majority if not all the societies and or countries of the world the death penalty had been used as a method of crime correction. This can be seen in the Torah the holy book of the Jews lays down the law for the crimes deserving of the death penalty for example murder, kidnapping, magic, violation of the Sabbath, blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes.

China is observed as the first nation to abolish the death penalty as it did in 747. This however, only lasted for twelve years before it was reinstated. In the last few centuries, there has been a drastic change in the perception of human natural rights and civil liberties. This has led to greater focus on the abolition of the death penalty. In todays world the death penalty is a controversial topic among the population. It is claimed to be arguable based on its questionable brutality, effectiveness, infringement of human rights and claim to loss of dignity. The first detections of a serious and organized movement to the abolition of the death penalty can be traced back to the mid eighteenth century in Italy. Soon after other individuals joined the campaign against executions during this period including French authors Voltaire and Denis Diderot, British philosopher David Hume, Scottish economist Adam Smith, and political theorist Thomas Paine in the United States. Since then to present it has been a constant battle between supporters and the abolitionist movement. Early oppositionists of capital punishment first grasped at the brutality of the punishments allotted to offenders to protest. They claimed it was a public and cruel method of punishment. This is also seen in the case of Gregg vs. Georgia. Petitioner Troy Leon Gregg was found guilty of armed robbery and murder and then sentenced to death by a Georgia grand jury. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, excluding its imposition for the robbery conviction. Gregg challenged his remaining death sentence for murder at the US Supreme Court, claiming that his capital sentence was a 'cruel and unusual' punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments because the jury "wantonly and freakishly" imposed the death sentence. The Court rejected the claim and affirmed the sentence. The death penalty was also not only used for serious crimes such as murder and betraying of ones country but less serious crimes such as theft. Supporters of the death penalty stated however, that capital

punishment was necessary for the safety of the public and therefore cannot be so easily discarded. Also the supporters sought to make capital punishment less gruesome. As such, the death penalty was now done behind closed doors. Later on in history more humane methods of capital punishment were employed. Early objectors of capital punishment also argued that the fear of imminent death was not necessary to control crime and properly punish wrongdoers. Instead, alternative punishment such as imprisonment, could effectively isolate criminals from the community, deter other potential offenders from committing offenses and show societys disapproval of the crimes committed. However the supporters of capital punishment were against this saying the ultimate punishment of death would be more effective in the deterrence of crimes committed. This is also argued saying there is always the possibility of the person being innocent or perhaps the intention was not present for the crime committed for example in this case Furman vs. Georgia. Petitioner William Henry Furman was discovered burglarizing a home. When attempting to escape, his weapon went off and killed a resident in the house. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Two other death penalty cases were decided along with Furman: Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas. These cases deal with the constitutionality of the death penalty for rape and murder convictions. The US Supreme Court held that the imposition of the death penalty in these cases constituted cruel and unusual punishment and violated Constitutional rights.

Crime rate of the Jamaican soceity

High Moderate 0% 13% Low

87%

This result of the questionnaire shows the proposed measure of the Jamaican crime rate. Thirteen persons agreed that it was high while two persons decided it was moderate. Of the two who agreed that the crime rate was moderate both of them were in the age group fifteen to twenty but both were male. Rest of the participants was from the two age groups except over twenty five.

Should Capital Punishment be legal?

No

Yes

From the question Should capital punishment be made legal in Jamaica? nine of the participants agreed it should be while six of them decided against it. Of the nine persons who thought the death penalty should be made legal in Jamaica seventy eight percent of them were males. The six who agreed that the death penalty should not be made legal once more represents forty percent of the sample.

Methods of capital punishment that are Appropriate

Electric Chair

Gas Chamber Methods of capital punishment that are Appropriate Hanging

Lethal Injection 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

This chart displays how many of the fifteen participants agreed on which methods of Capital punishment they thought were most appropriate. Every one of the fifteen participants agreed that the lethal injection was appropriate. Eighty seven percent of the sample thought hanging was suitable, Thirteen percent of the sample thought the gas chamber suitable while only seven percent of the sample thought the electric chair was appropriate.

Are criminals punished fairly?

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Yes No Are criminals punished fairly?

The results for the question Are criminals punished fairly in Jamaica? shows a sixty seven percent in agreement whilst the remaining thirty three percent are against it. Of the participants on agreement with this statement sixty percent of them are female and the remaining forty percent are male. For the results of the persons against the statement it is the other way around as forty percent of them are female and the remaining sixty are male. There seem to be not much of a variation pattern in terms of age.

Does Capital Punishment impede the Human Rights?

Yes No

Fifty three percent of the respondents agreed that the death penalty impedes the human rights of the offenders of law. There seem to be no preference of gender in relation to this question. Fifty five percent of the respondents who agree with this question are females.

Therefore if crime is to be controlled in Jamaica the following must be done:

Criminals are treated too fairly in the Jamaican justice system. Humane methods of capital punishment should be practiced. Capital punishment should be made legal in Jamaica.

Questionnaire TOPIC: How would the reinstitution of capital punishment influence the crime rate of the Jamaican society? Sex: Male ( ) Female ( ) Age: 15-20 ( ) 21-25 ( ) over 25 ( ) Capital Punishment can be defined as an execution as punishment for a crime committed. 1. How would you describe the crime rate of Jamaica? High ( ) Moderate ( ) Low ( ) 2. Do you think capital punishment should be legal once more in Jamaica? Yes ( ) No ( )

3. Do you think criminals are punished fairly in Jamaica? Yes ( ) No ( )

4. Do you believe the methods of capital punishment available are humane? Yes ( ) No ( )

5. Which crimes do you believe deserve capital punishment? Murder ( ) Rape ( ) Theft ( )

6. Which methods of capital punishment do you think is appropriate for the crimes stated above? Lethal Injection ( ) Hanging ( ) electric Chair ( ) Beheading ( ) other________ 7. Do you believe the crime rate of Jamaica because severe psychological effects on the society, state why?

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 8. Does capital punishment impedes the human rights? Yes ( ) No ( )