The death penalty’s main argument is morality. Is it wrong or is it right to sentence someone to death for a crime. The idea of capital punishment stems back from the world’s earliest known societies (Garland, 2011). In the United States today the death penalty is used as form of punishment in 32 states. America is a country of opinion, Americans have their own outlook on everything and the death penalty is no different. Many Americans feel capital punishment is wrong and unethical; while other Americans feel it is ethical and needed. The death penalty can be traced all the way back to the 18th Century B.C. in Babylon to the Hammurabi Codes (“Introduction to the Death Penalty,” 2014). The Hammurabi codes had 25 different crimes that were punishable by the death penalty (“Introduction to the Death Penalty,” 2014). Capital punishment was used in almost all societies after its introduction in the 18th century B.C. The means of death varied from country to country. Some countries had very cruel tactics such as: burnings, drowning, beating to death, and even crucifying people (Nicolau, 2013). Some researchers believe that the United States still enforces the death penalty because of the historical background. The death penalty has been used in America from day one. Public ceremonies and certain execution rituals were done from the 18th century until the early 19th century (Garland, 2011). Getting into the 19th century capital punishment’s primary reason was changing (Garland, 2011). Garland explains capital punishment as being a rule of the state’s security, to it becoming an instrument of the penal system (2011). This change made capital punishment a penal sanction; making it less of a political spectacle. The executions were now don... ... middle of paper ... .... Retrieved February 24, 2014, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org Galliher, J. F., Koch, L., & Wark, C. (2012). The Death of the American Death Penalty: States Still Leading the Way. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Garland, D. (2011). America's Death Penalty: Between Past and Present. New York: New York University Press. Introduction the Death Penalty. (2014). Retrieved February 17, 2014, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty Nicolau, I. (2013). Historical Evolution of the Death Penalty Abolition as a Fundamental Human Right. Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice, 5(2), 278-283. Meranze, M. (2011). The Death Penalty: Between Law, Sovereignty, and Biopolitics. New York: New York University Press. Vollum, S. (2008). Last Words and the Death Penalty: Voices of the Condemned and Their Co-victims. New York: LFB Scholarly Pub.
Randa, Laura E. “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the Death Penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print.
Koch, Larry Wayne, John F Galliher, and Colin Wark, The Death of the American Death Penalty : States Still Leading the Way. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2012, Ebscohost Ebook.
Koch, L.W., Wark, C., Galliher, J.F. (2012). The death of the American death penalty. Lebanon, NH: Northeastern University Press.
Throughout America’s history, capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been used to punish criminals for murder and other capital crimes. In the early 20th century, numerous people would gather for public executions. The media described these events gruesome and barbaric (“Infobase Learning”). People began to wonder if the capital punishment was really constitutional.
The essay pans the whole world and presents the death penalty practices. In the last paragraph the paper focuses on the USA exclusively.
...ed United States. U.S. Government Accounting Office. Capital Punishment. Washington: GPO, 1994 Cheatwood, Derral and Keith Harries. The Geography of Execution: The Capital Punishment Quagmire in America. Rowman, 1996 NAACP Legal Defense Fund . Death Row. New York: Hein, 1996 "Ex-Death Row Inmate Cleared of Charges." USA Today 11 Mar. 1999: 2A "Fatal Flaws: Innocence and the Death Penalty." Amnesty International. 10 Oct. 1999 23 Oct. 1999 Gest, Ted. "House Without a Blue Print." US News and World Report 8 Jul. 1996: 41 Stevens, Michelle. "Unfairness in Life and Death." Chicago Sun-Times 7 Feb. 1999: 23A American Bar Association. The Task Ahead: Reconciling Justice with Politics. 1997 United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Report. Washington: GPO, 1994 Wickham, DeWayne. "Call for a Death Penalty Moratorium." USA Today 8 Feb. 1999: 17A ILKMURPHY
In this paper I will argue for the moral permissibility of the death penalty and I am fairly confident that when the case for capital punishment is made properly, its appeal to logic and morality is compelling. The practice of the death penalty is no longer as wide-spread as it used to be throughout the world; in fact, though the death penalty was nearly universal in past societies, only 71 countries world-wide still officially permit the death penalty (www.infoplease.com); the U.S. being among them. Since colonial times, executions have taken place in America, making them a part of its history and tradition. Given the pervasiveness of the death penalty in the past, why do so few countries use the death penalty, and why are there American states that no longer sanction its use? Is there a moral wrong involved in the taking of a criminal’s life? Of course the usual arguments will be brought up, but beyond the primary discourse most people do not go deeper than their “gut feeling” or personal convictions. When you hear about how a family was ruthlessly slaughtered by a psychopathic serial killer most minds instantly feel that this man should be punished, but to what extent? Would it be just to put this person to death?
Mappes, Thomas A., Jane S. Zembaty, and David DeGrazia. "The Death Penalty." Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 105-53. Print.
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013
Lewis, Neil A. “Death Sentences Decline, And Experts Offer Reasons.” The New York Times, Late Edition. New York, New York: Dec. 15, 2006. Print.
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.”
Bedau, H. A. (2004). Killing as Punishment:Reflections on the Death Penalty in America. York, Pennsylvania. Maple Press. Northeastern University Press. Print
Van Den Haag, Earnest, and John Conrad. The Death Penalty: A Debate. New York: Plenum Press, 1997.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.