Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chase Haacke
John N. Minichino
At one level, one might think capital punishment, or the death penalty, is just another
form of due-process in the criminal justice system. Social media, the internet, and traditional
media keep the public informed of horrendous crimes that are committed in the community,
however; few people are affected by those crimes. Whether youre a victim, a perpetrator, or a
family member of the victim or perpetrator, it does not affect us. At a different level, the death
penalty represents two profound concerns for nearly everyone in America: the value of human
life and how best to protect it. For most people who support capital punishment would say that
execution of killers and other horrific crimes makes perfect sense. Supports of capital
punishment state that executions do prevent those executed from committing more heinous
crimes again and also set the example to other potential criminals from committing the same
crimes. In addition, those who support the death penalty believe that those who commit horrible
crimes such as murder, deserve to die and have earned their ignominious fate of death.
For those who are opposed to capital punishment, it is something completely different.
civilization. Winston Churchill once said, The mood and temper of the public with regard to
treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any
country. In other words, for many opposed to Capital Punishment, the level of death penalty
support in the United States is rough estimate of the level of maturity of the American people. It
implies that a mature, civilized society would not employ Capital Punishment in any sense.
People who oppose capital punishment maintain that offenders of horrendous crimes can be dealt
with effectively by other means and it makes no sense to kill some people. However, they are to
teach other people not to kill. Opponents of Capital punishment argue that even though the
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offenders of terrible crimes such as murder, may deserve severe and harsh punishment but that
Capital Punishment, historically has been addressed on many different levels. The only
superficial issue that arises is that it is a minor issue. Some would argue that it is a complex issue
and concern that invite the question of who we are as a society and as a people handle our most
vexing social problems in such a manner. The understanding of Capital Punishment can be
broken down into 4 major sections: The first one would regard to the history of Capital
Punishment in the United States. The second would discuss the Supreme Courts regulation on
Capital Punishment. The third would be how Congress is involved in the process. The fourth
Britain influenced Americas use of the Death Penalty more than any other country in the
world. As European settlers came to the new world, they brought with them, the practice of
Capital Punishment. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Capt. George
Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for
the country of Spain. In 1612, Virginia Gov. Sir Thomas Dale established the Devine, Moral, and
Marital laws, which established that the death penalty was the sentence for even minor
convictions such as stealing, killing chickens, or trading with Indians. Other colonies established
their own laws and adopted the death penalty as punishment later on. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the Pennsylvania Prison Society,
challenged the belief that the death penalty was a deterrent. Rush believed in the brutalization
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effect, which states that the death penalty did the opposite and increased criminal conduct.
Pennsylvania became the first state to consider different degrees of murder and also repealed
the death penalty for all offenses except for first degree murder. In 1846, Michigan became the
first state to abolish the death penalty to all crimes except for treason. After that, in the 20th
Century, between 1907 and 1917, six states completely outlawed the use of the death penalty and
3 limited it to rarely committed crimes like treason and first degree murder of law enforcement.
By 1920, 5 of the 6 states that outlawed the death penalty had reinstated the punishment. In 1924,
the use of cyanide gas was first used in Nevada on a prisoner named Gee Jon. By the 1930s, due
to Prohibition and the Great Depression, this decade had more executions by the death penalty
than any other decade in American history. Today, there are 5 methods of execution, which vary
by state, but 36 out of 50 states currently have the death penalty. Of those 36 states, 33 of them
authorize the use of Lethal Injection. Currently 8 states still practice the Electrocution method.
Currently only 5 states, even though the primary method for these 5 states are lethal injection,
have the Gas Chamber method. 3 states still have the Hanging method, and lastly only 2 states
From the 19th century to today, the Supreme Court has played a huge role in house
American governments, especially on a state level, have carried out the death penalty. Currently,
there are 3400 prisoners on death row and the Courts role will not likely diminish in this area
over the next several decades, barring a major shift in state laws and the publics opinion on
Capital Punishment. The Supreme Courts rulings throughout American history have shaped and
reshaped how offenders are tried, convicted, sentenced and put to death for capital offenses.
Today, the Supreme Court has set a standard indicating that no method of execution has ever
been found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. However, the court set three precedents
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concerning sentencing in of itself: 1. Cruel and unusual punishment is defined by the changing
norms and standards of society and there for is not based on historical interpretations. 2. Courts
may decide whether a punishment is unnecessarily cruel with regard to physical pain. 3. Courts
may decide whether a punishment is unnecessarily cruel with regards to psychological pain.
Later on, the Supreme Court set a bifurcated procedure for capital cases. The first stage would be
with a jury to determine guilt or innocence of the offender of the crime that has, by state statute,
been determined as punishable by death. Th second stage, the jury reconvenes and considers all
pieces of the case and determines whether the death penalty is warranted. The bifurcated process
Congress passed a federal crime bill in 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act, which expanded the total number of punishable crimes by death to
approximately 50 crimes. Out of those 50, all but 4 involve murder, which are treason,
espionage, drug trafficking in large quantities, and attempting, authorizing, or advising the
killing of any police officer, juror, or witness involving a continuing criminal enterprise-
regardless of whether the crime actually takes place. The new law brought the previous statute
into compliance guidelines that were established by the Supreme Court. Since the law had
brought the statute into compliance, the government executed prisoners Timothy McVeigh and
Juan Raul Garza in 2001. They were the first executions in nearly 40 years, prior to those two,
the last execution was in March 1963 of Victor Feguar, which was hanged at the Iowa State
Penitentiary. Congress has had a great deal of involvement in the proceedings of Capital
Punishment. The majority have been more at a state level for their involvement and how their
state would regulate and administer capital offenses as well as the punishment thereafter.
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So, what is the future of the Death Penalty in the American court system? Its not hard to
understand why there are debates that generate such strong feelings regarding both sides of the
argument. I have been more in the defense side of capital punishment. I believe in the theory that
the punishment should fit the crime, if you kill someone, you deserve death as your punishment.
Some people would believe otherwise and regardless of the circumstances, that it is simply
unacceptable for the government to take the life of one if its citizens. Others who accept capital
punishment might question whether our current justice system is reliable to support the death
penalty. It isnt impossible to believe, with everything in mind, why there is such a passionate
debate on both sides of the topic. A large issue that we face is those who oppose the penalty have
made highly efficient efforts in making it increasingly difficult to impose the death sentence.
First thing is that theyve devoted a great amount of effort and resources to training defense
lawyers to avoid the death penalty for their clients. An initial death penalty determination doesnt
end the issue. There are several layers of appellate review through a series of courts and cases
that involve the death sentence that get extra appellate scrutiny. In the end, I dont see the death
penalty going away on a national level. Abolitionists have fought for decades to have the
Supreme Court declare that the death penalty is deemed unconstitutional. I dont expect the
Supreme Court will ever get to that point, in addition, those states who support the ruling, will
Meanwhile, for those states whose residents are more in the uncertainty about the death
penalty may start to consider whether the death penalty is worth the cost, litigations, and
burdens required to keep it in placeconsiderably due to the fact that an offender may be
sentence to death, but never actually be executed. Through it all, American society will continue
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to debate the questions on whether and when the death penalty should be imposed and moreover,
Worldwide, the death penalty is trending toward abolition. More than 40 countries have
abolished the death penalty since 1990, only 4 have reintroduced since 1985. Today, nearly 70%
of countries have abolished the death penalty and 135 of them did so through law or practice.
The number of countries that actually execute anyone in a given year is much smaller. In 2006,
there were 1591 executions throughout the world. That is down from the 2,148 in the previous
year, that is a 25% drop in executions worldwide. In the United States, there are several reasons
why the death penalty might be losing support. Now than convicted felons are offered an
alternative of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole, the support of the death penalty
dropped to 50%.
After researching this topic, I have found that there is a great deal more debatable and
compassionate arguments that have been brought up surrounding the death penalty. I have found
it to be unequivocally an interesting subject of debate and even more so reading some peoples
opinions and beliefs surrounding the Death Penalty. There have been a great deal of articles that
have been supportive of both sides but none of which have dissuaded me regarding my opinion
Citations:
1. Acker, J. R., Bohm, R. M., & Lanier, C. S. (Eds.). (2003). Americas experiment with
capital punishment: Reflections on the past, present, and future of the ultimate penal
3. Banner, S. (2002). The death penalty: An American history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
4. Bedau, H. A. (1997). The death penalty in America: Current controversies. New York:
America have capital punishment? The experts on both sides make their best case. New
punishment in the United States (3rd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: LexisNexis Anderson
from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf
8. Dieter, R. C. (2004). Innocence and the crisis of the American death penalty. Washington,