Perez Vega1

Alondra Perez Vega

Mark Vincent

CJ 1010-351

December 7, 2018

Death Penalty

The Death Penalty has been a controversial topic since it was first established. The Death

Penalty has been established since the BC times, even though it wasn’t officially named the

Death Penalty it basically was. The history/ timeline of the Death Penalty has changed over the

years and is still changing today.

Let us go over the history of the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty was first established

in 1700s BC called the “Code of Hammurabi Codifies”. Under this code, twenty-five crimes

were punishable by death. The crimes that are included are adultery (cheating) and helping

slaves escape (murder was not one of the twenty-five-crimes).

In 1775 the Death Penalty was used in all 13 US Colonies in the American Revolution. In 1787

the Founding Fathers have allowed the Death Penalty to be written into the Constitution. On

April 30, 1790, the First US Congress establishes the Federal Death Penalty. On August 14,

1936, was the last Public Execution. And on January 31, 1945, Private Eddie Slovik becomes the

First American Executed for Desertion. And in 1957-1972 several states abolish Capital

Punishment. On June 29, 1972, the US Supreme Court Rules the Death Penalty is

unconstitutional and overturns over 600 death sentences. And on July 2, 1976, the US Supreme

Court reaffirms constitutionality of the Death Penalty. On January 17, 1977, Gary Gilmore

becomes the first person to be executed in the United States in 10 years. And on April 24, 1996,
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the senate and house of representatives rule that judges are able to reverse sentences of death row

inmates. There are many changes made to the Death Penalty that where not included.

During the changes of the Death Penalty, William Francis Kemmler was the first man to

be legally executed by the Electric Chair on August 6, 1890. Kemmler was a suspect of

murdering Matilda "Tillie" Ziegler, his common-law-marriage on March 19, 1889. He was

convicted of murder on May 10, 1889, once he was convicted he was put on the Death Penalty

and was going to be executed by the Electric Chair.

On the day of his execution at 6:38 am warden Charles Durston presented William

Francis Kemmler to the 17 witnesses that were in the room. The warden cut a hole into

Kemmler’s suit so that the wires can be put on him. Once the wires were added to Kemmler the

warden covered Kemmler's face and ordered for the switch to be thrown.

The generator was charged with the 1,000 volts, which was assumed to be efficient to get

the job done. Kemmler was hit with 1,000 volts for about 17 seconds, and once it was done

Edward Charles Spitzka had declared William Francis Kemmler dead. However, some of the

witnesses noticed that Kemmler was still breathing. The physicians that were there confirmed

that Kemmler was still alive. Once it was confirmed one of the physicians instead that the switch

was to be turned on again but to a higher volt. Kemmler was hit once again with 2,000 volts, in

which his blood vessels had ruptured under his skin. Some of the witnesses claimed that the

chamber began to smell like burned flesh. Kemmler was officially declared dead.

The execution took around eight minutes. Today's execution looks completely different

from 1890. And there is no doubt that it will change over the next couple of years. Kemmler was

the first man to be executed by the electric chair legally but was not the last.
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There have been many feelings expressed towards the Death Penalty and whether or not

murders deserved to be executed or be in prison for the rest of there lives. According to statista,

where a survey was completed asking US citizen whether or not they are in favor of the death

penalty for a person convicted of murder. This survey was completed from 1936 to 2018.

Throughout those years most of those people who were surveyed agreed with the death penalty

for people who were convicted of murder.

In the year 1991, we see a high appetence of the Death Penalty with 76% of people

saying they are in favor with the death penalty for murders and a low 18% who were not in favor

and an even lower 6% who had no opinion.

In the year 1971, we see a low appetence of the Death Penalty with 49% of people

saying they are in favor of the Death Penalty, and not the far behind 40% who were not in favor

and 11% of people who had no opinion.

Last year in 2017 we see 55% of people are in favor of the Death Penalty for those who

were convicted of murder, and 41% are not in favor and 3% who have no opinion. However, in

2018, 56% of people are in favor of the Death Penalty for murder and 41% are not in favor and

4% have no opinion.

As the laws of the Death Penalty change, so does the opinion of US citizens. However,

we do see a high acceptance of the Death Penalty for those who are convicted of murder. We do

see a high acceptance, however, would we see the same acceptance if all US citizens where to be

asked the same question? Or would we see the same or lower acceptance for the Death Penalty

for those who were convicted of murder?

Not all crimes committed can get you to be sentenced to Death. So what crimes does

somebody need to commit in order to receive the Death Penalty? Crimes that are punishable by
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Death are known as Capital Crimes and/or Capital Offenses, and they included offense such as

murder, treason, espionage (spying on someone for obtaining political and military information.)

war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. If you commit any of these crimes, you don’t

necessarily get the death penalty you must get sentenced to death.

In order to receive the Death Penalty, the defendant has two separate trials, the first one is

to determine whether or not the defendant is guilty or innocence. If the jury decides that the

defendant is guilty, there is a second trial to determine the sentence. At the sentencing phase of

the trial, jurors usually have only two options: life in prison without the possibility of parole, or a

death sentence.

In the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecution shows evidence of aggravating

circumstances which include prior criminal record, evidence of the defendant having heinous

nature, evidence of the defendant committing a separate crime. Once the prosecution has finished

giving their statement the defense presents evidence to not sentence the defendant to death. The

defense may imply that the Death Penalty is not an appropriate punishment, such as the age and/

or mental state of the defendant at the time of the crime.

Once the evidence is presented the jury deliberates on a sentence. The decision of the jury

generally must be unanimous, in order to sentence the defendant to death. If the jury cannot

unanimously agree on a sentence, the judge can declare the jury deadlocked and sentence the

defendant to a lesser sentence of life without parole. However, in some states, a judge can still

impose a death sentence.

Once the jury has deliberated on the sentencing of Life in Prison without the possibility

of parole, the defendant is removed from the court and is processed in Prison where the

defendant will spend the rest of their life in. But if the jury deliberated on the sentencing of the
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Death, the defendant is removed from the court and put into a separate facility of the prison,

known as “Death Row” and that is where the defendant is waiting on their execution day.

If the defendant is sentenced to death, the defense attorneys can challenge mistakes that were

made at trial including the jury selection, admission of evidence, testimony and instructions to

the jury. If this is denied there, the U.S. Supreme Court may review the case (it is rare).

There are other ways the defense attorneys can challenge mistakes that were made at trial

which can be that the constitutional rights of the defendant are protected. If the claims are

successful the defendant will be granted a new trial or a new sentencing hearing. However, the

defendant is not granted a different outcome.

There are people who are in favor of the Death Penalty and there are people who are not

in favor of the Death Penalty. Let us go over some of the pros and cons of the Death Penalty.

Here are some ideas why some people are in favor of the Death Penalty. First, it is less expensive

to execute some rather than having them in prison for life millions of dollars are taxpayers

money are spent for housing a criminal in prison when executing someone cost very little to the

taxpayer. Secondly, fewer people are going to commit capital crimes because they are afraid of

receiving a Death sentence or being sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole. Here

are some ideas why some people are against the Death Penalty. First, innocent people are

wrongly executed, for crimes that they did not commit, and are being blamed for. Secondly, the

Death Penalty is used as a form of revenge, the government is executing someone for murdering

someone else, as revenge for murdering someone. There is always going to be pros and cons to

any controversial topic.

The Death Penalty is always going to be a controversial topic, we need to respect others

opinion about the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty has been established since the B.C times
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even though it wasn’t officially named the Death Penalty. Over many years, the Death Penalty’s

regulations have changed over many years. The way we executed the criminals that are

sentenced to death is different from how it was in 10 years ago. There is no doubt that the

regulations will change within the next couple of years.

References

statista. “Death Penalty - Opinion of U.S. Citizens 2018 | Statistic.” Statista, 2018,

www.statista.com/statistics/262929/opinion-of-us-citizens-on-the-death-penalty/.

ProCon. “Historical Timeline - Death Penalty - ProCon.org.” Should the Death Penalty

Be Allowed?, 2013, deathpenalty.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000025.

Editor, Crystal Lombardo - Chief. “List of 10 Biggest Death Penalty Pros and Cons.”

Green Garage, 22 July 2015,greengarageblog.org/list-of-10-biggest-death-penalty-pros-and-cons.

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/podcast/resources/Episode14LegalProcess.pdf