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The use and impact of technology in the justice system
History of the correctional system
History of punishment in law
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Founded in the Principles of Babalyonian in 1780 BCE, the Code of Hammurabi first
established the action of retalitation and retribution of "an eye for an eye." Over time punishment
theories have developed from retribution, detterence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and reform.
Regardless of this development the death penalty has been in existence as far back as history can tell.
The death penalty is a concept of retribution, it's a simple and swift answer to physical or
pyschological harm done to a person by the victim or victim's family. The only difference now
from ancient times is that the retribution is done by our legal system and not the victim's family.
It is facinating how society has enhanced to what is is today in all aspects of life, but we continue
to punish those who take part in crime in a manner that is uncivilized and inhumane. Not only is the death
penalty still being used across the globe and in our nation, but now is being introduced to youth offenders.
I firmly stand that the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause of the eighth
amendment bars the imposition of the death penalty of juveniles.
The U.S. Constitution's eighth amendment states, "Excessive bail shall not be required, norexcessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." A number of state constitutions also adhere to
similar provisions. Our constituion created by our the founding fathers of our country clearly established
the eighth amendment to protect those committed of crimes. This begs the question, how is the death penalty
still part of the legal system and why has it not yet been found unconstitutional? Some suggest the best possible
answer is detterence. To discourage and prevent future crim...
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...A evidence at
the crime scene. As we advance in technology and science, this allows those who have been wrongfully
committed of crimes to in the future possibly be found innocent. The death penalty takes this component
away disregarding true justice to be served.
I believe not only that the eighth amendment protects offenders from cruel and unusual
punishment, but that our legal system and nation should not represent nor promote the death
penalty as a response to violent crimes specifically regarding youth. Our nation was built on
values and morals that speak against retribution and punishment. Our religious beliefs do not
condon these actions either. We must not turn our backs against the troubled youth, but mold
them to be successful productive citizens for they are the future of the world.
Works Cited
Challenge of Democracy
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.
takes the form of “an eye for an eye”, meaning that the offender should be punished by an act of
them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.”-J.R.R. Tolkien. Throughout history punishment for committing a crime is handed down by governing officials and depending on the type of defiance of the law can determine the severity of punishment handed to the criminal. Society looks at the unlawfully premeditated killing of one human being by another momentous in regard of crime. This act of lawbreaking has endured great debates on wether the current state of capital punishment is a moral and justified way of handling criminals being convicted of murder. Capital punishment by definition is the death penalty or execution is punishment by death.
The courts have declared that if a sentence is inhuman, outrageous, or shocking to society, it would be considered cruel and unusual. For example, cutting body parts off, breaking on the wheel, crucifixion, and so on. The Founding Fathers intention for the Eighth Amendment was to give the government into the hands of people and take it away from arbitrary rulers and judges, who might expose any amount of excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment that they wished....
Utilitarianism is a theory that seeks to identify the consequence of administering punishment. It explains that punishment should serve to dissuade a potential offender from committing a crime. This could be done by setting clear laws, which outlines the punishment for specific crime committed. The theory also proposes punishment as a way of rehabilitating the offender. For instance sentencing an offender to do community work should be done with the aim of improving the character of the offender (Fieser, 2001).On the other hand, Retributivism is a theory that advocates proportionate punishment to any wrongdoer. The theory invokes the retaliation principle, which stipulates that a person, who kills another, should also be killed. The proponent of this theory, Immanuel Kant, seems to be in agreement with the existence of capital punishment in some states. However, to rule out chances of an innocent person being pu...
The Eighth amendment which was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789 and was ratified on December 15, 1791 states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This helps protect citizens by not allowing the judge to assign the defendant an excessive bail without knowing whether he or she is guilty of the crime in question. The second part states that there shall be no cruel or unusual punishment although it has not really been determined what is cruel and what is not. Things like branding, strangulation, being locked in stocks or burned where still means of punishment when the Eighth amendment was
that offenders will not commit these crimes again. The United States should use the death penalty because it is economical and continues to be a deterrent for potential offenders.
Mandatory sentencing is not anything new. It began in the 1970s. The main purpose for mandatory sentencing was to try to get rid of the drug lords and to eliminate most of the nation’s street drug selling. It was to impose that the same crime would have the same sentence all over the nation. Some of the negatives that rose from mandatory sentencing were nonviolent drug offenders and first time offenders who were receiving harsh sentences. Inmate populations and correction costs increased and pushed states to build more prisons. Judges were overloaded with these cases, and lengthy prison terms were mandated to these young offenders. Mandatory sentencing is an interesting topic in which I would like to discuss my opinions in going against mandatory sentencing. I will show the reasons for this topic, as well as give you my personal brief on which I support.
The term retribution can be used in several senses. It can indicate vengeance or expiration, however, it is today more commonly associated with giving the offender his just deserts and using punishment as a c...
heinous crimes. Take in account the need for justice, (“An Eye for an Eye”) capital punishment carries
When I told my friend the topic for this essay she simply assumed I was against the juvenile death penalty. When I told her I supported the juvenile death penalty she was extremely shocked. She commented, “So you think a nine year old who accidently kills their mom should get the death penalty?” This seems to be many people’s idea of the juvenile death penalty, an overgeneralization and misunderstanding of the types of crimes and situations that would warrant the death penalty. This is not what the juvenile death penalty is. In reality the juvenile death penalty is reserved for the absolute worst juvenile offenders whose crimes are so terrible and gruesome that there is no other option to punish them. Unfortunately, most people think of the juvenile death penalty as “killing kids” as my professor did. In reality, this is a far too broad of a statement. It is like saying that everyone, everything they go outside will get struck by lightning. It is just simply not true. Only .05% of juvenile population are arrested for violent crimes (Juvenile Arrest Rate Trends). Of that .05% only .001% are murders which puts the chances of a juvenile being executed for this crime at .0000003%. This means that if all 7 billion people on this planet were juveniles who have been arrested for a violent crime, only 210 of them would actually be executed for their crimes.
Capital punishment, by definition, is the legal killing of an individual. Now, how someone could be killed legally when murder is universally recognized as a violent and serious crime. It is irrevocable, meaning that once an inhabitant of death row pays the ultimate price. The death penalty is corporal punishment in its most severe form and is considered to be the ultimate form of retribution for those who have committed society's most heinous crimes, including rape and murder. Ultimately, Capital punishment is wrong due to the likelihood of error, the unjust racial allocation, and the violation of constitutional rights. However, many people believe that capital punishment is morally correct and preserves human dignity.
Punishment is reserved to those who have committed a transgression, a dominant and common response to injustices upon a victim (Okimoto and Weznzel 2008 p.346). It is a sense of retribution against immoral behavior, not solely for the purpose of punishment against the offender, but
Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfarism and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years.
The death penalty has been a very popular topic throughout history. Hearing the word death is scary enough for some. But hearing the word death penalty, well that is a literal “Death sentence”. Why do we have the death penalty? “The presence of capital punishment in America feels more threatening, at least to American and European scholars and activists, than its occurrence elsewhere in the world” (Meranze, M., McGowen, R., & Garland, D. 2011 pg. 1). This capital punishment is still performed in many states in the United States of America. Many feel that this is an issue involving human rights and that it’s considered inhumane (pg. 1).