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Arguments for and against capital punishment
Capital punishment in the us overview
Arguments for and against capital punishment
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The death penalty also known as capital punishment is a very widely discussed argument. The term capital is derived from the Latin word capitalis “of the head” referring to execution by beheading. The death penalty to many people could be considered unconstitutional under the eighth and the fourteenth amendment's. The majority of people fear nothing more than death itself because death is life’s finality. Execution dates being carried out promptly with assigned dates after a fair trial would discourage almost anyone from committing future crimes that are worthy of execution. It is apparent that we as a society are based on the need for retribution and vengeance. Making a wrongdoer pay the price equivalent to the price the wrongdoer did. As …show more content…
The eighth amendment is against “cruel and unusual punishment”. To get on death row, you must have either committed murder or multiple murders to earn your place. Since committing murder is cruel and unusual punishment the party that dealt the death forfeits their constitutional rights. Cruel and unusual punishment were geared towards torture and excessive punishment, not executing someone for their crimes. The fourteenth amendment states that “no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law”. Each death row inmate has spent more than 100 hours in a courtroom in their first initial case and all appeals after the verdict has been given. The state in question may deny any person their life after going through the Judicial process. The judicial process is the entire court process as well as the appeals so saying you're depriving them of that is farthest from the truth. The death penalty is a punishment that is fair and just to the person that it is delivered …show more content…
Cold cases are reopened and reexamined just for the simple fact of our DNA testing advancements. In this day and age you can get blood drawn and they can tell you exactly your heritage down to the very percentage. We do not have a problem with not being able to use DNA testing as a viable piece of evidence in a case anymore. However, some mistakes can be made on the human end of it. It doesn't make it any less of a great asset to people convicting murderers all the way to rape victims. High profile death penalty cases have full use of DNA testing to either confirm or deny guilt. This single advancement that we have now will enable us a citizens to better judge someone's guilt or innocence. The use of DNA will only continue to grow and its validity will be stronger as time goes by. This strength and validity will enable high profile cases to be closed indefinitely with nothing left to question. The only hangup that can hinder DNA testing is the presence of a chimera. People that are chimera’s maintain two completely different strands of DNA in their body. A chimera could commit a murder leaving blood evidence behind and never be found. Chimera’s can go without detection due to the simple fact that most people do not know if they are. In the case of a murderous chimera leaving DNA you can have two different samples from two different locations
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. This amendment is the 8th bill of rights in the constitution of the United States of America. The death penalty is a direct violation of the constitution of the United States, and should be deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court. Although the death penalty shows justice at avenging the death of the innocent, it is not cost effective by being ten times more expensive than a criminal spending life in prison, and it violates the 8th amendment in the Constitution of the United States which is the supreme law of the land.
“Death penalty” and “capital punishment” have the same meaning. They mean the punishment of execution administered to a person or juvenile legally convicted of a capital crime. Capital crimes are any crimes severe enough to be punishable by death. This brings up the point that not all crimes are punishable by death. Crimes that are punishable by death are crimes such as first degree murder and particularly heinous violent crimes against people. First degree murder is the killing of another person that is deliberate and premeditated. Heinous crimes are crimes that shock the general public’s consensus. The death penalty as a punishment can only be decided by a judge after the defendant has been proven guilty in a jury trial. Once a person is sentenced to death they are sent to a prison where death row is. From there they have one appeal. The appeal must pass through four stages of appeals. Automatic appeal, state Habeas Corpus petition, federal Habeas Corpus petition, and clemency. A Habeas Corpus petition is a writ that challenges the legality of a sentence or punishment. An automatic appeal is an appeal given to anyone sentenced to death. An automatic appeal is made to the state’s highest court. In this appeal, the prosecutor and defense supply oral arguments to a panel of judges. The judges decide whether to affirm the conviction and sentence, reverse the conviction, or reverse ...
...n some peoples’ opinions’ that would be a horrible idea, but I think that if someone was to make people suffer and put them through absolute misery, they should not be let off the hook very easily. So instead of the Eighth Amendment being “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.” (Legal Dictionary), it should be “as “Excessive bail or fines should not be imposed unless it fits the crime committed, cruel and unusual punishment should also not be imposed unless the need was to arise where the crime was extreme enough for all the jury members should agree on a cruel or unusual punishment.”.
The “cruel and unusual” clause in the eighth amendment states that “cruel and unusual punishment” such as torture or lingering death can not be inflicted on anyone as a form of execution. It is however permissible under the 8th Amendment to execute a convict by means of hanging, shooting, electrocution, and lethal gas.
Capital punishment results in the victims family gaining a greater sense of security, making sure the criminal is able to be punished to the highest degree for his crime, and honoring retribution. The issue of capital punishment has created a division
The death penalty, as administered by states based on their individual laws, is considered capital punishment, the purpose of which is to penalize criminals convicted of murder or other heinous crimes (Fabian). The death penalty issue has been the focus of much controversy in recent years, even though capital punishment has been a part of our country's history since the beginning. Crimes in colonial times, such as murder and theft of livestock were dealt with swiftly and decisively ("The Death Penalty..."). Criminals were hanged shortly after their trial, in public executions. This practice was then considered just punishment for those crimes. Recently though, the focus of the death penalty debate has been on moral and legal issues. The murderers of today's society can be assured of a much longer life even after conviction, with the constraints of the appeals process slowing the implementation of their death sentence. In most cases, the appeal process lasts several years, during which time criminals enjoy comfortable lives. They have television, gym facilities, and the leisure time to attend free college-level classes that most American citizens must struggle to afford. Foremost, these murderers have the luxury of time, something their victims ran out of the moment their paths crossed. It is time this country realized the only true justice for these criminals is in the form of the death penalty. The death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.
Many call capital punishment unconstitutional and point to the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution for support. The amendment states that, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment be inflicted." Those who oppose the death penalty target the 'cruel and unusual' phrase as an explanation of why it is unconstitutional. Since the Framers of the Constitution are no longer with us and we base our nation on the words in which that document contains, the legality of the death penalty is subject to interpretation. Since there is some ambiguity or lack of preciseness in the Constitution, heated debate surrounding this issue has risen in the last ten years.
The federal government has an obligation to make just laws. Currently, US laws allow for the death penalty for certain heinous crimes. The supporters argue that the 5th Amendment, which guarantees that no one shall be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” implies that depriving someone of his or her life is permissible under the constitution as long as there is due process. However, there are several reasons why the federal government must abolish the death penalty - it weakens US moral authority over other nations; there have been too many wrongful convictions for death penalty in the US; the death penalty is in conflict with the 8th amendment of the US constitution; and finally, the cost of death penalty prosecution compared to sentencing someone to life in prison is very high.
The Eighth Amendment says: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (Constitution). How does it square with the actual facts of capital punishment:
or hundreds of years people have considered capital punishment a deterrence of crime. Seven hundred and five individuals have died since 1976, by means of capital punishment; twenty-two of these executions have already occurred this year (Death Penalty Information Center). Many U.S. citizens who strongly support the death penalty believe that capital punishment remains the best way to protect society from convicted killers. I, however, disagree; I do not feel that execution best punishes criminals for their acts. Instead, in my opinion, the administration of the death penalty should end because it does not deter crime; it risks the death of an innocent person, it costs millions of dollars, it inflicts unreasonable pain; and most importantly it violates moral principles.
The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.
The death penalty, ever since it was established, has created a huge controversy all throughout the world. Ever since the death penalty was created, there have been people who supported the death penalty and those who wanted to destroy it. When the death penalty was first created the methods that were used were gruesome and painful, it goes against the Eighth Amendment that was put in place many years later. The methods they used were focused on torturing the people and putting them through as much pain as possible. In today’s society the death penalty is quick and painless, it follows the Eighth Amendment. Still there are many people who are against capital punishment. The line of whether to kill a man or women for murder or to let him or her spend the rest one’s life in prison forever will never be drawn in a staight.
... rape or treason was committed ("8th Amendment to the Constitution – U.S. Amendment VIII Summary"). However, there are some cases where the death penalty is unacceptable regardless of the crime. In the Supreme Court case of Roper v Simmons the court decided that the execution of someone for a crime they committed when they were a minor violated the eighth amendment . The court case of Atkins v Virginia established that the death penalty is not an acceptable punishment for mentally ill felons (Lemieux, "The Supreme Court's Empty Eighth Amendment Promise"). The Supreme Court has also ruled that executing anyone under the age of 18 is an act of cruel and unusual punishment ("8th Amendment to the Constitution – U.S. Amendment VIII Summary"). The death penalty is the worst punishment a person could get, and because of that there are many restrictions on when to use it.
Americans have argued over the death penalty since the early days of our country. In the United States only 38 states have capital punishment statutes. As of year ended in 1999, in Texas, the state had executed 496 prisoners since 1930. The laws in the United States have change drastically in regards to capital punishment. An example of this would be the years from 1968 to 1977 due to the nearly 10 year moratorium. During those years, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment violated the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, this ended in 1976, when the Supreme Court reversed the ruling. They stated that the punishment of sentencing one to death does not perpetually infringe the Constitution. Richard Nixon said, “Contrary to the views of some social theorists, I am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes.”1 Whether the case be morally, monetarily, or just pure disagreement, citizens have argued the benefits of capital punishment. While we may all want murders off the street, the problem we come to face is that is capital punishment being used for vengeance or as a deterrent.
I understand that capital punishment is the death penalty, and has been legal in most states for many years and has been legal around the world but its still wrong. Most countries will use capital punishment without justifying the cause. Even though here in the U.S. you can have a trial but other places are bad. Everyone can form there own opinions but just because a kid steals from a store isn’t right but in Iraq but the kid would eventually go to jail and get the capital punishment. America's laws are based on the Constitution. They are considered to be justifiable and what should be right; and are supposed to be the foreground for future laws. It is unconstitutional, though, for an American to be sentenced to his or her death. The eighth amendment states that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" (US Constitution). It would be against the Constitution for an American to be put to death because it can be considered cruel and unusual punishment.