...Criminology, 2009), compares the deterrence capability of the death penalty to that of long term imprisonment. The article begins by detailing the context of the study through highlighting the declining support for the deterrence hypothesis, due in large part to flawed empirical research. Radelet and Lacock offer a brief history of studies on...
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...Is the Death Penalty a Fair and Effective Deterrent in the United States? Abstract The death penalty is the most severe punishment that may be imposed on an individual by the United States government. It denies a person one of their most basic human rights, which is the right to live. One of the purposes of the death penalty is to serve as a deterrent for other would-be criminals. There have been studies conducted to determine if the death penalty is effective in this regard. There is another point of disparity surrounding the death penalty related to the equality of its application. Are all citizens treated equal? This paper takes a closer look at the equality in the application of the death penalty and its effectiveness as a deterrent. Is the Death Penalty a Fair and Effective Deterrent in the United States? The death penalty came to the United States with the first European settlers and continued until the 1960’s. “The 1960s brought challenges to the fundamental legality of the death penalty. Before then, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.” (Bohm, 1999) Since the 1960’s courts have been battling the issue of the death penalty. Currently there are 38 states that have provisions for the death penalty. What is the purpose of the death...
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...support of the former, in his article titled “On Deterrence and the Death Penalty”[ Van Den Haag, Ernest (1969) On Deterrence and the Death Penalty. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 60(2) ], Ernest Van Den Haag outlines his thoughts which support the use of the death penalty and how it might deter heinous crimes against society. The first section of this paper will give a summery of Van Den Haag’s thoughts, which he outlined in the article, including the main points and arguments made which support his view. Following this summary, an in depth analysis of how the article relates to my personal beliefs and understanding of the topic will take place. Summary In section one of the article, the author brings up the point that the purposes of the death penalty must always be understood as being one of two things: doing justice or deterring others. Van den Haag points out that any other aim of a justice system, such as rehabilitation, would not be met by this form of punishment. It is his belief that opponents contesting the use of the death penalty must show that that neither purpose is met in order to illustrate that it should be abolished[ Van Den Haag, Ernest (1969) On Deterrence and the Death Penalty. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 60(2),pp.141]. He then outlines the purpose of his paper which is to challenge the claim that capital punishment is useless as a form of deterrence. Section...
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...23 people were executed in the United States. The Death Penalty has been a part of history since the eighteenth century B.C. Although the United States Supreme Court suspended the death penalty in 1972, it was reinstated in 1977. Since then, there has been over 1500 executions carried out. Capital punishment is just because it is reserved for the sinister criminals, provides justice for the family, and deters future criminals from committing felonies, and has a natural deterrent effect which pushes away future convicts from committing violent acts. however others fear innocent lives are being taken. One of the most popular counter arguments from the non-supporters of the death penalty is the notion that innocent lives through the use of capital punishment....
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...Should the Death Penalty be abolished? The international trend of stopping executing and abolishing the death penalty is obvious. For example, in 2011, there are nearly 200 countries in the world but only 21 countries execute the death penalty. In addition, 140 countries have already abolished the death penalty legally and practically (i.e. stop executing the death penalty). In the US, 17 states abolished the death penalty or sentenced the death penalty unconstitutional, including New Jersey (2007), New York (2007), New Mexico (2009), Illinois (2011) and Connecticut (2012). There are also a numbers of states that have suspended executions for many years. In 2007, United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution for the first time to implore all the members of the United Nations to stop using the death penalty. Since then, the United Nations General Assembly also declared the similar resolutions in 2008 and 2010 respectively and the most recent one was made in December 20, 2012. In 2007, 104 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 54 voted against it. By 2012, there were 111 countries in favor, 41 countries against. The death penalty has two dimensions: one is the humanity between the individual life, another one is the rights among social communities and social members. The first dimension is a punishment executed by a specific public institution to the murderer once the murder happened between the the social members. In this dimension, the trace of the...
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...2014 When I look at our justice system and how it works, I cannot help but perceive the death penalty’s main function is retribution. The punishment as a whole is flawed and there will always be a substantial risk of executing an innocent person. This negative aspect cannot be overlooked. Furthermore, the cost of this farce is completely appalling and we should not continue to irresponsibly waste crucial funding of the criminal justice system in this way. Capital punishment is hurting our government more than it is helping. Unless the research proves that it is an effective form of deterrence, we should abolish this form of punishment outright. I do not see how the death penalty would deter anyone from committing a heinous act. This is because someone in the commission of a crime is not thinking about sitting in a court room and being sentenced to death. Many people use the term “eye for an eye” but is this the right way to uphold justice? For the reasons of lack of substantial evidence of capital punishment being an effective deterrent, the wasteful spending of valuable funds, and the potential death of innocent people, I do not support the use of the death penalty. For centuries, governments have tried to utilize the death sentence for deterrence and to keep the crime rate lowered. We must ask ourselves, does executing wrongdoers actually lower the rates of crime punishable by death? In my research, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a successful deterrent...
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...For decades the death penalty has been an emotional and almost unmentionable issue that has affected people in many different ways. Whenever the word "death penalty" comes up, extremists from both sides start yelling out their arguments. One side says deterrence, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent person; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder. Regardless of people’s philosophic points of view, it is important to be aware of the facts. This is exactly what I would like to talk about in this essay: the facts regarding this controversial issue. I do not have the answer to this question; I believe both viewpoints have good arguments. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion in this or any other matter, but no one is entitled to his own facts. What is the death penalty? Congress or any state legislature may prescribe the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, for murder and other capital crimes. (Death Penalty: An Overview, 2010) As far back as the Ancient Laws of China, the death penalty has been established as a punishment for crimes. In the 18th Century BC, the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon established the death penalty for twenty five different crimes, although murder was not one of them. The first death sentence historically recorded occurred in 16th Century BC Egypt where the wrongdoer, a member of nobility, was accused of magic, and ordered to take his own life. During this...
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...Is the Death Penalty Effective? Name Institution Is the Death Penalty Effective? The death penalty debate has been ongoing with supporters saying that it contributes towards the deterrent of crime. In the 1970s, this form of punishment was suspended for being unconstitutional (Bedau, 1997). Abolitionists of the death penalty believe that the issue of using capital punishment to deter crime is dependent on the mind of a murderer because it is psychological. Research shows that 88% of the leading criminologists agree that the death penalty does not deter crime (Radelet & Lacock, 2009). Death penalty is a debatable topic, but research shows that it has not deterred crime levels. According to Radelet & Lacock (2009), the use of the death penalty to punish criminals had no effect on the crime levels across the states. Ninety-one percent of the respondents during the study indicated that there are misconceptions on the reason for supporting the death penalty. Politicians support this form of punishment to appear tough on crime while an overwhelming seventy-five percent of the respondent believe it is a diversion from the real solution to social issues. The respondents were positive that adding the number of executions carried out annually or speeding the process would have little or no effect on crime levels in society. The rate of homicides in abolition states is lower than in death penalty states. Research shows that...
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...The Death Penalty The death penalty is a just and proper punishment Today, one of the most debated issues in the criminal justice system is the issue of capital punishment or the death penalty. Capital punishment was legal until 1972, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia stating that it violated the Eight and Fourteen Amendments citing cruel and unusual punishment. However, in 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia and reinstated the death penalty, but not all states have the death penalty. There are currently 35 states with the death penalty and 15 states that do not have it. When the word death penalty is used, it stirs up a lot of debates from both the people that agree versus the ones that do not. One side may say it acts as deterrence from others to not commit crimes, while the other side may say, but it may take the life of an innocent man. Federal, state, and local officials need to recognize that the death penalty saves lives. How capital punishment affects murder rates can be explained through general deterrence theory, which supposes that increasing the risk of apprehension and punishment for crime deters individuals from committing crime. Nobel laureate Gary S. Becker's seminal 1968 study of the economics of crime assumed that individuals respond to the costs and benefits of committing crime. According to deterrence theory, criminals are no different from law-abiding people. Criminals "rationally...
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...Retribution: Should the death penalty be used for retribution? Retribution in the criminal justice system refers to the idea that offenders should be punished for committing crimes when they freely violate existing social rules. Retribution would not support punishing someone who does no exercise free will or was forced to commit a crime, i.e., a gunman compiles a victim to steal money. One example of retribution involves the notion of an eye, which demonstrates that punishment of services crimes is justified when deserved. The team focused on capital punishment in India and whether retribution is utilized in the justice system. Although capital punishment is legal in India, it is rarely carried out. Supporters of the death penalty have argued that the death penalty is morally justified when it is applied in murder especially when there is aggravation, such as multiple homicides, child murder, torture murder and mass killing such as terrorism. The Supreme Court of India ruled in 1983 that the death penalty should be imposed only in “the rarest of rare cases”. The judgment then goes on to say that the “rarest of the rare” must be measured not only in qualitative but also in quantitative term. Basically if the crime fits the punishment than retribution should be utilized and capital punishment would be adhered to. Although it has been stated that capital punishment has been rarely used, history in India reports that between 1975 and 1991, 40 people...
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...capital sanctions are imposed on the state level for murder. Currently, thirty-two states have death penalty statutes. Of those thirty-two, only seven states carried out executions in 2014 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). Those executions total 35 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). As a result of the low number of executions carried out, experts in the United States have examined the efficiency of the death penalty. To accurately assess the economic costs of the death penalty, the difference between the costs...
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...Death Penalty Essay Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent. The overwhelming conclusion from years of deterrence studies is that the death penalty is, at best, no more of a deterrent than a sentence of life in prison. The sentiment that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime is widely accepted as false. Citing such a reason like deterrence is not even a part of many pro death penalty supporters’ arguments. The Death penalty causes so much controversy due to the ethical and moral implications. However, due to the inherit volatility of trying to ascertain “what is right” the death penalty along those lines has continued and will continue to be a subject of debate. Personal opinion aside, according to statistical data the death penalty is not a deterrent. According to thedeathpenaltyinfo.org, States in the United States that do not employ the death penalty generally have lower murder rates than states that do. The same is true when the U.S. is compared to countries similar to it. The US homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1992 from a rate per 100,000 persons of 9.8 to 4.8 in 2010, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. There were 14,748 homicides in the United States in 2010, including non-negligent manslaughter .The U.S., with the death penalty, has a higher murder rate than the countries of Europe or Canada, which do not use the death...
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...The Death Penalty Is It a Deterrent to Cop Killing And Crime in General Eastern Michigan University School of Police Staff and Command Executive Lieutenant Ronald Livingston Huntington Woods DPS Huntington Woods, MI An applied research project submitted to the Department of Interdisciplinary Technology as part of the School of Police Staff and Command Program. 2 Abstract This paper examines whether or not the Death Penalty is a deterrent to crime in general and more specific, it examines if the Death Penalty is a deterrent to the murder of Police Officers in the line of duty. It explores the history of the death penalty as our country moves through different periods in its history. Comparisons were made of regions throughout the country as to how the death penalty impacts crime in general and whether the fact that having the death penalty makes Police Officers safer with potential Cop killers knowing that the death penalty awaits them should they kill an Officer. This paper was compiled mainly by researching online periodicals, newspapers and books. This is a topic that evokes strong feelings, pro and con. These feelings and responses to certain crimes provide a virtual emotional roller coaster ride depending on circumstances. The killings of two Detroit Police Officers earlier this year proved to be no different. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ………..……………………………………………………………………..2 Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….....3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...
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...The death penalty has origins in the very beginning of civilization. King Hammurabi of Babylon created a code of laws to help keep the peace and create organization in society. His code allowed the death penalty for 25 crimes. Interestingly enough murder was not one of them. The death penalty has been part of the American justice system since the very beginning of our country. Right after the end of the Revolutionary War each state created it own constitution. This was before the writing of the United State Constitution that centralized a national government. Every one of these early state governments included the death penalty as a punishment for certain crimes. The death penalty is a long standing method for crime prevention and deterrence. It is the responsibility of our government to protect it citizens from the threat of violent crime. The death penalty is a crucial part of that in both deterrence of those wishing to commit these crimes and ridding our country of those who have committed these horrible crimes against innocent people. Some people believe that in the past innocent people have been put to death. Modern criminal science and DNA testing effectively eliminate uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence. The death penalty is a key component of our justice system for upholding peace and for the protection of American citizens. Civilized society has relied on capital punishment as a means of deterrence for those who want to commit violent crimes resulting...
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...head: DETERRENCE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1 DETERRENCE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE 2 Deterrence in Criminal Justice The theory of deterrence says that punishment for a crime will dissuade people from committing crime. There are two types of deterrence : general deterrence and specific deterrence. General deterrence is defined by Siegel (2011) as “a crime control policy that depends on the fear of criminal penalties, convincing the potential law violator that the pains associated with crime outweigh it's benefits.” (p. 95). In other words, general deterrence uses the punishment of one person's crime to teach the rest of society that this is what will happen to you if you commit this crime or any crime like it. It is meant to scare others so that they will not commit crime. Siegel (2011) defines specific deterrence as “the view that criminal sanctions should be so powerful that offenders will never repeat their criminal acts.” (p. 99). This form of deterrence is geared at stopping the offender from re-offending by making their punishment as harsh and unpleasant as possible. Today in society, the main concern with the criminal justice system is deterrence. The question is, what types of deterrence do we currently use and do they work? In this paper, we will overlook a few forms of deterrence that are currently used in the American Criminal Justice System. The most frequently used form of deterrence is imprisonment. This is also the oldest form of deterrence. The...
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