The Death Penalty Of The United States

Currently there is not an active death penalty in New York state. New York's history of capital punishment goes back to colonial times, with the second most executions of any state from 1608 to 1972. The last record of its use was in 1963. Mr. Eddie Mays was executed by means of electrocution at Sing Sing state prison. He was convicted of first degree murder and robbery in 1962. Mays was 34 years old at the time of execution. Currently there is a zero population on death row in the state of New York.

The justice system is filled with opposition. Those who support the use of Supermax, the death penalty and the execution of those who are mentally retarded and juveniles, and those who oppose the above mentioned. The following essay will discuss all mentioned topics.

The criminal justice system was made to protect the rights and the safety of the citizens of the United States, It was created to have justice in the United States, But even then it has some flaws. Three of the faults I decided to discuss about are the death penalty, Issues within prison for example; weapons and riots, and high incarceration rates.

This paper will discuss the Death Penalty. It analyzes the effectiveness of the death penalty. It covers the history of the death penalty as our nation shifts through various eras in its history, as well as the historical background of the death penalty in New York. It considers all factors such as crime rates, deterrence, the rights of the people, and consequences of the death penalty. Analogies were made of areas all over the country as to what degree the death penalty effects crime all around. It concludes this paper by reflecting on the information provided of the death penalty and provide an alternative to it.

    There has been about 15,760 executions in the United States since 1700, (http://time.com/deathpenalty/), but that is counting all types of executions, for example: burning, firing squad, hanging, gas, electrocution, injection, and others. Now looking from when the capital punishment was approved in 1976 (Death penalty Information Center), only 1,448 executions have been made. The capital punishment was made for “retribution, theory which demand for ‘tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye’ … if the criminal snatches liberty, peace, and lives… [they] should also be deprived of all these,” (http://listovative.com). It was also made to help have a more pure society, by placing fear, “best method to prevent

Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the utmost form of punishment in the United States. It is the method of punishment by execution legally given to a criminal convicted of a crime. Capital punishment originated from many early societies, it is only imposed on people who have committed very serious crimes, and only five different execution types are currently used in the United States.

Until the 1890s, hanging was the primary method of execution used in the United States as it was quicker than the firing squad and there was no blood involved. The prisoners were hung and the platform below would open, causing a quick neck dislocation. The firing squad was first used in 1913 in Nevada, and was used in the first execution in America. The prisoner is strapped to a chair, has his heart marked with a cloth, then shot at by shooters, killing the person due to a vessel rupture. Seeing as how inhumane these were, the new method of electrocution was built in 1888 in New York, and in 1890 they executed William Kemmler, who is one of 158 inmates to receive electrocution. The inmate in strapped into a chair, has electrodes attached to their body, then are given regular shocks until their heart stops beating. Nevada still found this inhumane, so they developed a lethal gas execution process that would hopefully inflict less pain while remaining cost-effective and in 1924, Gee Jon was the first person of 11 executed by lethal gas (DPIC). The inmate is placed into a gas chamber, where once the room is sealed, is filled with hydrogen cyanide gas (or nitrogen gas). The prisoner is instructed to breathe deeply to speed up the process. Most prisoners,

America’s criminal justice system is based on equality, integrity, and fairness. All criminals are treated the same, given the same rights, and punished fairly based on their crimes. However, despite that, there are many controversial topics regarding the criminal justice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crime. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow cruel and unusual punishment to be inflicted upon criminals. Although there have been many court cases discussing capital punishment, there is still much confusion regarding whether it violates the 8th amendment or not. Capital punishment is a very significant, and very controversial topic that has been around for a long time; the death penalty is still being argued today, with persuasive arguments on both sides.

Pennsylvania was the first state that decided not to perform public executions in 1834. Michigan, during 1864, was the first state to partially abolish the death penalty. They only permitted the death penalty to be a punishment when the person committed treason. The electric chair was introduced by the end of the century and was the most preferred method of execution during that time. By 1924, cyanide gas was introduced in Nevada.

The United States should not stop using the death penalty. Most criminals that are sentenced to the death penalty would have to serve 100 years to life prison sentences if not legally killed. Therefore, there would be more felons to be accommodated for in each prison, causing overcrowding. Which potentially could lead to lethal offenders getting parole and let out into the world. Another reason the death penalty should continue to be used in the U.S. is that it increases the possibility of prisoners escaping if we don’t. Like it was said before, there would be more prisoners, hence more odds of one or more escaping. Escaped prisoners are even more of a threat to the world than ever. This is because once they have escaped they are on the run,

In the jurisdiction of The United States we have what is known as the death penalty. The capital punishment consist of life in prison (25 to life) with parole, life in prison without (LWOP) parole and the death penalty. This controversial topic has been going on for decades because of the cruel punishment. Many of the victims family member search for an eye for an eye as their justice.

Now there is a lot that the United States could do to get rid of the death penalty. The government could pass a law on the Federal level or the states could individually do it. The last option would be the last option since many states, like Texas, would not willingly get rid of the death penalty. However if they, the Federal government should use a model similar to the European Model. It is common knowledge the stance of the European Union, but Behrmann and Yorke wrote it best in their article entitled “The European Union and Abolition of the Death Penalty:”

As we near the culmination of the twentieth century, capital punishment is in decline. Once a near universal practice, the death penalty has been abolished in 101 countries, as of July 2015(Amnesty International, 2015) and executions have become less common amongst industrialised democracies. Some nations keep capital statutes for instances of exceptional crimes such as treason, but parts of the former Soviet Union, Japan and the United States of America (USA) still administer death sentences for ‘ordinary’ crimes of violence.

The United States of America has been influenced by the Britain’s use of death penalty when Europeans first settled into the new world. Majority of the states still carry out executions, and there are hundreds of people that are on a death row sentence. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and Criminal Justice Legal Foundation are two opposing organizations. The NCADP is against the death penalty while the CJLF is for the death penalty.

Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the utmost form of punishment in the United States. It is the method of punishment by execution legally given to a criminal convicted of a crime. Capital punishment originated from many early societies, it is only imposed on people who have committed very serious crimes, and only five different execution types are currently used in the United States.