Controversy Over Capital Punishment

Since the earliest times, man has struggled with the concept of justice. The controversy of capital punishment has weighed on the minds of humans since the beginning. When we are wronged it is our natural instinct to demand compensation. This thirst for revenge can be seen in the earliest civilizations and societies. Ancient Hammurabi code states “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (History of the World). For many people this little axiom seems fair. Others however, think otherwise and warn of a blind and toothless community. What is it about capital punishment that divides so many Americans? Is it the possibility of an innocent man being executed too much of a risk? Should our current

According to the basic principles of global human rights; capital punishment or death penalty is a crime towards humanity and the most crucial and important human right, which is the right to life. As a result, any form of justification attached to it is not valid arguing on the basis of the human rights organization policies. In order to successfully argue out the topic of discussion, this section uses two antagonistic perceptions of the debate namely the abolitionists and retentionists point of view respectively. The aforementioned comes in handy when trying to present the various stands that each group supports and using their stands to analyse and understand the efficiency and effectiveness of capital punishment as a way of striking justice and punishing law offenders.

Many people question the need for the death penalty, the execution of those who have committed certain crimes, as a capital punishment. For instance, the author of “Against the American System of Capital Punishment”, Jack Greenburg, who is a Professor of Law at Columbia University, argues that the death penalty does not benefit society and is not necessary. Likewise, Kevin Johnson, writer of “Study Finds No Evidence Death Penalty Deters Crime”, also argues against the use of the death penalty by pointing out the flaws in the common research of deterrence. On the other hand, some may also argue for the many aids the death penalty offers. Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University, Ernest Van den Haag, with his “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense”, and authors James M. Reams and Charles T. Putnam, with their article, “Making a Case for the Deterrence Effect of Capital Punishment”, both give arguments for the grander justice the death penalty offers. While each of these articles give very well thought out claims for the necessity of the death penalty, using arguments including racism, and deterrence, Van den Haag’s claim gives the clearest and best arguments.

On September 9, 1993 a seventeen year old boy, Christopher Simmons, and a few of his friends met up to discuss and devise a plan to commit a robbery and possibly even a murder, just for the sake of fun. Simmons’ plan was not complicated: find someone to burglarize, tie up the victim and either leave the victim tied to a tree or push them off a bridge. Simmons and his accomplice climbed through a window and proceeded into the bedroom of the victim, Mrs. Cook. The two teenagers tied the woman up and loaded her into the back of her own minivan. They drove to the state park at the edge of town, where they had planned to dispose of the body and that is exactly what they did. The boys were caught later on that month and put on trial for cold

Violent crimes such a murder, rape, sexual assault, and robbery are perpetrated by criminals once every few minutes in this country. Lawmakers spend countless hours enacting laws to prevent these crimes. The introduction of the death penalty is an effort to deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. What exactly does the death penalty accomplish? The best description of the term death penalty is the legal execution of criminals as punishment for committing a violent crime. Opponents of the death penalty want to outlaw its use and consider the action a form of judicial murder. Advocates continue to support the use of capital punishment as a way to deter

The controversy with capital punishment has been debated for hundreds of years. The Supreme Court is likely to sway its opinion often about whether it should be abolished or instituted throughout the United States. There have been many court cases and lawsuits regarding this issue that has suggested that legislation would be the most effective way to ending the discussion once and for all. In order to abolish the death penalty, the majority has to agree in support of abolition for any legislature to repeal it. This support would have to defend itself through the occasional questions of reinstatement of capital punishment. In order to abolish capital punishment, abolitionist have to provide alternatives to the death penalty that would make sure the criminals that committed the crimes receive harsh enough punishment that would please those wanting to keep the death penalty. Whether or not they are able to accomplish such a task is hard to say. The death penalty needs to be removed on the grounds that is unconstitutional.

Lethal injection, electric chair, firing squad, gas, hanging, you name it, these are all the variations that states use to condemn their prisoners. The death penalty has been, ironically, alive since the 1600s, massacring thousands. A debate that has been ongoing brings the question today, should capital punishment be banned? or should it continue? The truth lies in the fact that injustice cannot be solved by inequity.

A link between the perceptions of people who are considered to be different in local communities and the rate of Capital Punishment is discussed.

The death penalty has been around as early as the first civilization had begun. This execution has been used to justify the criminal’s punishment for breaking the capital law(s). While many people believe that it brings justice to families and reduce the amount of crime, it does not. However, the death penalty has done more harm than good. Today in the United States, it is not as popular, as before, to execute a criminal. One of few states, such as the state of Florida, has yet to remove this inconvenient punishment. It is essential that Florida should remove the death penalty law due to many wrongful executions and the costly expenses of an inmate’s incarceration on death row.

and Ruth Ellis, the last women to be a victim of the Death Penalty in

Punishment is a penalty in return for the crime provided by the law, which aims at correcting the culprit and rehabilitating him or her as a good person in society. The death penalty is one of the oldest punishments in history. It is one of the oldest punishments that human beings have ever known. The death penalty is also one of the most serious in terms of the importance of the right to life. The death penalty was not controversial in old legislation. In the modern era, there has been controversy over the feasibility of the death penalty as a sanction between criminal sanctions. The Opponents demand that it be abolished from the law because of the claim of humanization and urbanization of the penal system. However, the death penalty is a deterrent sanction which must be applied in the law for several reasons.

The death penalty is a highly-debated topic among Americans, and although proponents for capital punishment slightly outnumber those who oppose it, the number of executions in the United States has sharply declined in the past two decades. Those who hold strong negative opinions about this issue argue that there is not enough compelling evidence to indicate whether or not the use of capital punishment is a crime deterrent, and others argue that minorities represent the majority of those executed, which is grossly unfair. Lawmakers have succeeded in passing legislation that has improved how executions are carried out, and over the course of history, the justice system has at its disposal more effective tools to determine a person’s guilt or

During the 11th century, the first cases of established death penalty laws were formed. During this time period William the Conqueror initiated execution by another human being, only in the cases of a murder trial. The extermination of one life would result in the consequences of another murder, but in the eye’s of the law; it was justified. In 1976, the United States Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, as of 2014 more than 1,300 people were sentenced to death. In those hundreds of deaths, 1 in 25 innocent people have been killed. Though not in violation ofthe United States Constitution’s Eight Amendment, the lethal injection is for societies criminals who have committed the most shocking crimes and is viewed as most logical. According

At present there are five methods of execution. The most commonly used form of execution is by lethal injection. In this method the convict is first injected with sodium thiopental, which puts him to sleep, then he is injected with pavulon, which finally kills him. The next most common method of execution used is electrocution in which the person is tied with leather straps to a chair and electric current of two thousand or more volts is passed through the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the person’s body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs of the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urination, vomiting of blood, change in skin color, and even swelling or burning of the skin may occur. This method of execution is currently used by only eleven states. The third method is gas chamber execution in which hydrochloric acid and potassium is used to kill the convict. One of oldest methods of executions is hanging and last method is by shooting (Loeb). All the five methods are inhumane and cruel. The convict dies within a few seconds. He never gets the time to realize his mistake, repent over it or to correct it. Killing that person does not kill crime. So, I do not see any purpose of the death penalty. Instead, if the convict is given the punishment of life imprisonment, he has the time to realize his mistakes and correct it in some form. It he is made to do community service, his labor can be used for some good purpose.

In this paper, I will write on the topic of capital punishment, more specifically what to do if someone has been wrongfully executed. I will speak about what circumstances I feel should warrant a case be reopened and how to make it right, if it is determined that someone has been wrongfully put to death for a crime they did not commit. I will also discuss reparations for the families of the wrongfully executed. I will also discuss who I feel should be handling these types of cases.