Haacke 1

Chase Haacke

John N. Minichino

Criminal Justice 1010

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Capital Punishment Is it necessary?

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At one level, one might think capital punishment, or the death penalty, is just another

form of due-process in the criminal justice system. Social media, the internet, and traditional

media keep the public informed of horrendous crimes that are committed in the community,

however; few people are affected by those crimes. Whether youre a victim, a perpetrator, or a

family member of the victim or perpetrator, it does not affect us. At a different level, the death

penalty represents two profound concerns for nearly everyone in America: the value of human

life and how best to protect it. For most people who support capital punishment would say that

execution of killers and other horrific crimes makes perfect sense. Supports of capital

punishment state that executions do prevent those executed from committing more heinous

crimes again and also set the example to other potential criminals from committing the same

crimes. In addition, those who support the death penalty believe that those who commit horrible

crimes such as murder, deserve to die and have earned their ignominious fate of death.

For those who are opposed to capital punishment, it is something completely different.

Capital punishment is a benchmark of the development of moral standards of the American

civilization. Winston Churchill once said, The mood and temper of the public with regard to

treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any

country. In other words, for many opposed to Capital Punishment, the level of death penalty

support in the United States is rough estimate of the level of maturity of the American people. It

implies that a mature, civilized society would not employ Capital Punishment in any sense.

People who oppose capital punishment maintain that offenders of horrendous crimes can be dealt

with effectively by other means and it makes no sense to kill some people. However, they are to

teach other people not to kill. Opponents of Capital punishment argue that even though the
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offenders of terrible crimes such as murder, may deserve severe and harsh punishment but that

punishment doesnt need to be execution.

Capital Punishment, historically has been addressed on many different levels. The only

superficial issue that arises is that it is a minor issue. Some would argue that it is a complex issue

and concern that invite the question of who we are as a society and as a people handle our most

vexing social problems in such a manner. The understanding of Capital Punishment can be

broken down into 4 major sections: The first one would regard to the history of Capital

Punishment in the United States. The second would discuss the Supreme Courts regulation on

Capital Punishment. The third would be how Congress is involved in the process. The fourth

would be how Capital Punishment will be in the future.

Britain influenced Americas use of the Death Penalty more than any other country in the

world. As European settlers came to the new world, they brought with them, the practice of

Capital Punishment. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Capt. George

Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for

the country of Spain. In 1612, Virginia Gov. Sir Thomas Dale established the Devine, Moral, and

Marital laws, which established that the death penalty was the sentence for even minor

convictions such as stealing, killing chickens, or trading with Indians. Other colonies established

their own laws and adopted the death penalty as punishment later on. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a

signer of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the Pennsylvania Prison Society,

challenged the belief that the death penalty was a deterrent. Rush believed in the brutalization
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effect, which states that the death penalty did the opposite and increased criminal conduct.

Pennsylvania became the first state to consider different degrees of murder and also repealed

the death penalty for all offenses except for first degree murder. In 1846, Michigan became the

first state to abolish the death penalty to all crimes except for treason. After that, in the 20th

Century, between 1907 and 1917, six states completely outlawed the use of the death penalty and

3 limited it to rarely committed crimes like treason and first degree murder of law enforcement.

By 1920, 5 of the 6 states that outlawed the death penalty had reinstated the punishment. In 1924,

the use of cyanide gas was first used in Nevada on a prisoner named Gee Jon. By the 1930s, due

to Prohibition and the Great Depression, this decade had more executions by the death penalty

than any other decade in American history. Today, there are 5 methods of execution, which vary

by state, but 36 out of 50 states currently have the death penalty. Of those 36 states, 33 of them

authorize the use of Lethal Injection. Currently 8 states still practice the Electrocution method.

Currently only 5 states, even though the primary method for these 5 states are lethal injection,

have the Gas Chamber method. 3 states still have the Hanging method, and lastly only 2 states

currently practice the Firing Squad.

From the 19th century to today, the Supreme Court has played a huge role in house

American governments, especially on a state level, have carried out the death penalty. Currently,

there are 3400 prisoners on death row and the Courts role will not likely diminish in this area

over the next several decades, barring a major shift in state laws and the publics opinion on

Capital Punishment. The Supreme Courts rulings throughout American history have shaped and

reshaped how offenders are tried, convicted, sentenced and put to death for capital offenses.

Today, the Supreme Court has set a standard indicating that no method of execution has ever

been found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. However, the court set three precedents
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concerning sentencing in of itself: 1. Cruel and unusual punishment is defined by the changing

norms and standards of society and there for is not based on historical interpretations. 2. Courts

may decide whether a punishment is unnecessarily cruel with regard to physical pain. 3. Courts

may decide whether a punishment is unnecessarily cruel with regards to psychological pain.

Later on, the Supreme Court set a bifurcated procedure for capital cases. The first stage would be

with a jury to determine guilt or innocence of the offender of the crime that has, by state statute,

been determined as punishable by death. Th second stage, the jury reconvenes and considers all

pieces of the case and determines whether the death penalty is warranted. The bifurcated process

essentially eliminated wantonly and freakishly imposing of the death penalty.

Congress passed a federal crime bill in 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement Act, which expanded the total number of punishable crimes by death to

approximately 50 crimes. Out of those 50, all but 4 involve murder, which are treason,

espionage, drug trafficking in large quantities, and attempting, authorizing, or advising the

killing of any police officer, juror, or witness involving a continuing criminal enterprise-

regardless of whether the crime actually takes place. The new law brought the previous statute

into compliance guidelines that were established by the Supreme Court. Since the law had

brought the statute into compliance, the government executed prisoners Timothy McVeigh and

Juan Raul Garza in 2001. They were the first executions in nearly 40 years, prior to those two,

the last execution was in March 1963 of Victor Feguar, which was hanged at the Iowa State

Penitentiary. Congress has had a great deal of involvement in the proceedings of Capital

Punishment. The majority have been more at a state level for their involvement and how their

state would regulate and administer capital offenses as well as the punishment thereafter.
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So, what is the future of the Death Penalty in the American court system? Its not hard to

understand why there are debates that generate such strong feelings regarding both sides of the

argument. I have been more in the defense side of capital punishment. I believe in the theory that

the punishment should fit the crime, if you kill someone, you deserve death as your punishment.

Some people would believe otherwise and regardless of the circumstances, that it is simply

unacceptable for the government to take the life of one if its citizens. Others who accept capital

punishment might question whether our current justice system is reliable to support the death

penalty. It isnt impossible to believe, with everything in mind, why there is such a passionate

debate on both sides of the topic. A large issue that we face is those who oppose the penalty have

made highly efficient efforts in making it increasingly difficult to impose the death sentence.

First thing is that theyve devoted a great amount of effort and resources to training defense

lawyers to avoid the death penalty for their clients. An initial death penalty determination doesnt

end the issue. There are several layers of appellate review through a series of courts and cases

that involve the death sentence that get extra appellate scrutiny. In the end, I dont see the death

penalty going away on a national level. Abolitionists have fought for decades to have the

Supreme Court declare that the death penalty is deemed unconstitutional. I dont expect the

Supreme Court will ever get to that point, in addition, those states who support the ruling, will

continue to impose it.

Meanwhile, for those states whose residents are more in the uncertainty about the death

penalty may start to consider whether the death penalty is worth the cost, litigations, and

burdens required to keep it in placeconsiderably due to the fact that an offender may be

sentence to death, but never actually be executed. Through it all, American society will continue
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to debate the questions on whether and when the death penalty should be imposed and moreover,

if it is imposed, will the sentencing actually be carried out.

Worldwide, the death penalty is trending toward abolition. More than 40 countries have

abolished the death penalty since 1990, only 4 have reintroduced since 1985. Today, nearly 70%

of countries have abolished the death penalty and 135 of them did so through law or practice.

The number of countries that actually execute anyone in a given year is much smaller. In 2006,

there were 1591 executions throughout the world. That is down from the 2,148 in the previous

year, that is a 25% drop in executions worldwide. In the United States, there are several reasons

why the death penalty might be losing support. Now than convicted felons are offered an

alternative of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole, the support of the death penalty

dropped to 50%.

After researching this topic, I have found that there is a great deal more debatable and

compassionate arguments that have been brought up surrounding the death penalty. I have found

it to be unequivocally an interesting subject of debate and even more so reading some peoples

opinions and beliefs surrounding the Death Penalty. There have been a great deal of articles that

have been supportive of both sides but none of which have dissuaded me regarding my opinion

on the Death Penalty.

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Citations:

1. Acker, J. R., Bohm, R. M., & Lanier, C. S. (Eds.). (2003). Americas experiment with

capital punishment: Reflections on the past, present, and future of the ultimate penal

sanction (2nd ed.). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

2. Acker, J. R., & Karp, D. R. (Eds.). (2006). Wounds that do not bind: Victim-based

perspectives on the death penalty. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

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3. Banner, S. (2002). The death penalty: An American history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.
4. Bedau, H. A. (1997). The death penalty in America: Current controversies. New York:

Oxford University Press.

5. Bedau, H. A., & Cassell, P. G. (Eds.). (2004). Debating the death penalty: Should

America have capital punishment? The experts on both sides make their best case. New

York: Oxford University Press.

6. Bohm, R. M. (2007). Deathquest III: An introduction to the theory and practice of capital

punishment in the United States (3rd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: LexisNexis Anderson

Publishing. Callins v. Collins, 510 U.S. 1141 (1994).

7. Death Penalty Information Center. (2008). Facts about the death penalty. Washington,

DC: Author. Retrieved August 20, 2013,

from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf
8. Dieter, R. C. (2004). Innocence and the crisis of the American death penalty. Washington,

DC: The Death Penalty Information Center.

9. Dow, D. R. (2005). Executed on a technicality: Lethal injustice on Americas death row.

Boston: Beacon Press.

10. Dow, D. R., & Dow, M. (Eds.). (2002). Machinery of death: The reality of Americas

death penalty regime. New York: Routledge.