Running Head: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment Kathleen Predmore

Abstract Capital Punishment should it be abolished or continue? Over 15,269 Americans have been executed since the beginning of the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. Some people see it as a barbaric means of punishment while others see it as an important tool for fighting pre-meditated murder and other horrific crimes. The death penalty has bee in existence since the Eighteenth Century B.C. At first, it was carried out by horrific means, boiling, beheading, and burning at the steak just to name a few. Later as man became more civilized, more humane methods were invented and used. It was not until the Nineteenth Century that the death penalty finally found opposition. Since then the civilized world has been at odds on whether to abolish the death penalty. In conclusion, the reasons for abolishing it as well as reasons against abolishing the death penalty are argued; however, the victims of the crimes and their families cannot be ignored. . Over 15,269 Americans have been executed since the beginning of the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. America remains a minority of nations in the world that still uses the death penalty for punishment of certain crimes. Many see this as a barbaric and against human values. Others see it as a very important means to fighting violent crime and pre-meditated murder. The death penalty’s history started as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. during the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. During that period there were 25 crimes that were considered punishable by death. The methods of punishment were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. During the sixteenth century death by boiling, burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quartering was practiced under the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign an estimated 72,000 people were put to death. The death penalty was carried out for such crimes as marrying a Jew, not confessing to a crime, and treason. By the 1700’s, two hundred and twenty two crimes were punishable by death in Great Britain, including e.g. crimes as stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. As a result of the severity of punishment, many juries were hesitant to convict the defendants if the offence was not that serious. This caused Britain to reform its laws during the years 1823 to 1837 and eliminated one hundred out of the two hundred and twenty two crimes punishable by death. (Death Penalty Information Center) Great Britain has influenced America’s use of the death penalty more than any other country. The colonists brought the death penalty with them when they came to America. The death penalty has not always been consistent in the American history. There have been many changes and reforms throughout the last two hundred twenty five years after the American Revolution. The death penalty was reversed and abolished for many crimes right after the American Revolution. No one opposed the death penalty until the nineteenth century. Government officials ended public hangings in the mid nineteenth century, and moved them to the privacy of the prisons. Officials considered it more appropriate to conduct executions in prisons, away from public scrutiny. In the 1840’s the abolitionist movement called for the end of the death penalty. In 1846 the Michigan legislature made their state the first government in the world to remove Capital Punishmentr. “The Historian, Louis Masur argued in Rites of Execution Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865 that the death penalty might well have ended in the whole nation if the Civil War, and the brutalizing of society that it engendered, had been averted.” (William McFeely) Instead, during the Civil War, the legislative changed from local government having the authority over executions to allowing the state level of government to have that authority. In 1864, Vermont took the law away that gave the right of local towns and counties to sentence a hanging, and allowed only state-sanctioned executions. Most all the other states followed suit. The reason for the change was to limit overly eager “hanging judges,” but instead it institutionalized the death penalty in a way that disturbs many people today. Other changes have influenced methods of capital punishment. With the discovery of electricity, the electric chair was invented and used as a more humane alternative to hanging. Later, the method of lethal injection was adopted by many states. It is considered a less stressful method of execution to the prisoner and the witnesses than the electric chair. [pic]
'Old Sparky' is the electric chair that Nebraska used for executions. It is housed in the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska

Throughout history, the laws concerning capital punishment have been argued, fought over and changed due to moral issues. During the Great Depression and Prohibition, there were more executions in the 1930s than in any other decade in American history. Then in the 1950s, public opinion changed and people began turning away from capital punishment. Many allied nations either abolished or greatly limited capital punishment and here in America the number of executions dropped drastically. By the 1960’s support for the death penalty reached an all time low and during the years 1960 – 1966 only one hundred ninety one prisoners were executed. The polls showed that only forty two percent were supportive of the death penalty. Support for the death penalty was changing and the 1960’s brought new challenges to the legal issues of the death penalty. The Civil Rights movement and justice for African Americans coincided with the opposition to the war in Vietnam, which focused on ending government-sponsored violence. In the 1960’s, few prosecutors would ask for the death penalty, and between 1967, and 1972, there were no executions in America. The death penalty is one of the most controversial subjects today. There is more debate about it today than at any time in the past twenty years. The death penalty has been abolished in all European and South American countries the United States is considered to be included in the minority of nations that still practice capital punishment; e.g., nations as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. Many see this type of punishment cruel and barbaric. Other democracies and groups such as the ACLU keep pressure on the United States to abolish capital punishment. The numbers of executions change year to year. According to the ACLU the number of executions rise and fall each year, for example, in 2007 there were forty-two executions, 2008 thirty-seven, and most recently in 2010 forty-six. The south seems to have the highest percentage of executions, in 2010 seventy-six percent with the northeast being the lowest at zero. At the present, there are sixteen states without the death penalty. These are Alaska, New Jersey, Hawaii, New Mexico, Illinois, New York, Iowa, North Dakota, Main, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.(deathpenaltyinfo.org) There are those who make a good argument to abolish as well as those who want to keep the death penalty. People that are against the death penalty argue that the financial costs to taxpayers. The cost of capital punishment is several times that of life in prison. In addition, it is barbaric and violates the “cruel and unusual” clause in the Bill of Rights. The endless appeals and additional procedures clog our court systems. Here is a list of the remaining pros and cons courtesy of Balanced Politics.org. Reasons to Abolish Capital Punishment: 1. The endless appeals and required additional procedures clog our court system. 2. We as a society have to move away from the "eye for an eye" revenge mentality if civilization is to advance. 3. It sends the wrong message: why kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong. 4. Life in prison is a worse punishment and a more effective deterrent. 5. Other countries (especially in Europe) would have a more favorable image of America. 6. Some jury members are reluctant to convict if it means putting someone to death. 7. The prisoner's family must suffer from seeing their loved one put to death by the state, as well as going through the emotionally-draining appeals process. 8. The possibility exists that innocent men and women may be put to death. 9. Mentally ill patients may be put to death. 10. It creates sympathy for the monstrous perpetrators of the crimes. 11. It often draws top talent lawyers who will work for little or no cost due to the publicity of the case and their personal beliefs against the morality of the death penalty, increasing the chances a technicality or a manipulated jury will release a guilt person. 12. It is useless in that it does not bring the victim back to life. People that argue for the death penalty give the following reasons. 1. The death penalty gives closure to the victim's families who have suffered so much. 2. It creates another form of crime deterrent. 3. Justice is better served. 4. Our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does victims. 5. It provides a deterrent for prisoners already serving a life sentence. 6. DNA testing and other methods of modern crime scene science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence. 7. Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance to kill. 8. It contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prison system. 9. It gives prosecutors another bargaining chip in the plea bargain process, which is essential in cutting costs in an overcrowded prison system. (Balanced Politics.org) In conclusion, to abolish Capital Punishment would be a great injustice. Even though the reasons to abolish it much out weigh the reasons to keep it. With life in prison, being the only punishment what has the criminal have to do but wait for parole or serve out his prison time eating three meals a day and a warm place to sleep. Some prisons have better living conditions that the homeless shelters do. In addition, what about the criminals that show no remorse for what they have done. They sit there all during their trial with smiles on their faces as though they have done nothing wrong. These criminals have done unspeakable horrific crimes against man. For example, a case history pulled from Pro-Death Penalty.com. “When Katy Davis observed three strangers outside her Austin, Texas, apartment, she walked away. Returning later, she was attacked and forced to open the door by Charles Rector, on parole for a previous murder. The men ransacked her apartment, abducted her and took her to a lake where she was beaten, gang-raped, shot in the head and repeatedly forced underwater until she drowned.”

There is no end to horror stories like this one. With an average of 15,000 murders committed yearly, the fact that we are only reaching 1,000 executions over the past thirty years is proof that the death penalty is only reserved for the worst of the worst crimes committed. All the attention that is given to the execution of the prisoner is sickening, especially when the ones speaking the loudest think that the death of a convicted murderer is a tragedy; however, the deaths and suffering of the countless victims goes unnoticed and are just statistics. America may appear barbaric to the world the south may have its guns but the world and the criminal may never know what will happen to it or him. If the author were sitting on a jury for a defendant of a heinous crime, she would be able to cast her vote in favor of the death penalty.
References
McFeely, William. (2001 January). Retrieved November 21, 2011. Trial and Error: Capital Punishment in U.S. History. History Matters The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. From http://historymatters.gmu.edu
History of the Death Penalty. Death Penalty Information Center. (2011 March). Retrieved November 21, 2011. From http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
Death Penalty 101. ACLU American Civil Liberty Union. (2011 October 3) Retrieved November 21, 2011. From http://www.aclu.org/
Messerli, Joe. (2011 November 19). Retrieved November 21, 2011. Should the Death Penalty be banned as a Form of punishment. Balanced Politics.Org. From http://www.balancedpolitics.org
Who speaks for the victims of those we execute. (2010 August 17). Retrieved November 20, 2011. From http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/