Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the toughest form of punishment enforced today in the United States. According to the online Webster dictionary, capital punishment is defined as “the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime” (1). In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and premeditated murder. In the 38 U.S. states and within the federal government currently upholding and enforcing death penalty statutes, this method of punishment varies quite differently amongst them. It is a controversial issue that continues to be debated and overflowing with opinion and emotion by the American public. One of the biggest issues being debated is whether or not the death penalty is immoral, excessively cruel or inhumane. I support capital punishment and do not believe that it is cruel or inhumane but that it delivers a small sense of closure to the public. After all, aren’t we a society who has always lived by “an eye for an eye”? According to statistics, seventy percent of Americans are in support of the death penalty, while only thirty percent are against it. These statistics show that few people are against capital punishment (2). With the use of the death penalty growing, the controversy is becoming more heated. With only twelve states left not enforcing it, the resistance is becoming futile (2). Many debates have been made and even clauses have been invoked, such as, the “Cruel and Unusual Clause” that was invoked by the Supreme Court in 1962 (3). The use of death as a punishment has been viewed as “cruel and unusual,” but in further research, the view of what is considered “cruel and unusual” has been reduced (4). America’s method of punishments has been reduced from several extremely painful execution methods, to four
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the toughest form of punishment enforced today in the United States. According to the online Webster dictionary, capital punishment is defined as “the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime” (1). In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and premeditated murder. In the 38 U.S. states and within the federal government currently upholding and enforcing death penalty statutes, this method of punishment varies quite differently amongst them. It is a controversial issue that continues to be debated and overflowing with opinion and emotion by the American public. One of the biggest issues being debated is whether or not the death penalty is immoral, excessively cruel or inhumane. I support capital punishment and do not believe that it is cruel or inhumane but that it delivers a small sense of closure to the public. After all, aren’t we a society who has always lived by “an eye for an eye”? According to statistics, seventy percent of Americans are in support of the death penalty, while only thirty percent are against it. These statistics show that few people are against capital punishment (2). With the use of the death penalty growing, the controversy is becoming more heated. With only twelve states left not enforcing it, the resistance is becoming futile (2). Many debates have been made and even clauses have been invoked, such as, the “Cruel and Unusual Clause” that was invoked by the Supreme Court in 1962 (3). The use of death as a punishment has been viewed as “cruel and unusual,” but in further research, the view of what is considered “cruel and unusual” has been reduced (4). America’s method of punishments has been reduced from several extremely painful execution methods, to four
Bibliography: (1) Online Webster Dictionary www.merriam-webster.com (2) “Death Penalty Fact Sheet” www.deathpenaltyinfo.org (3) Don Reilly, Norman Murphy, Chuck Timanus “The Supreme Court of the United States…Its Beginning and Its Justices” Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1992 (4) Berns, Walter, “Crime and the Morality of the Death Penalty” For Capital Punishment, NY Basic Books, 1974 (5) Description of Execution Methods/Death Penalty Information www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/description-execution-methods.org (6) “United States Death Penalty Facts” www.amnestyusa.org (7) Bedau, Hugo, “The Death Penalty In America” 3rd Edition, NY, 1982 (8) “Nine Lives: Myths and Facts About the Death Penalty” www.ninelive.org/myths.htm (9) Dieter, Richard C., “On the Front Line: Law Enforcement Views On the Death Penalty”, 1999 www.essential.org/dpic/dpic/r03.html