...on death row for days, months, or years whenever it is about time for execution. I am going for supporting the capital punishment. The reason why is because it takes tax money from us if there are more prisoners in prisons. When capital punishment is okay. My moral stance and why I choose it. Somewhere in the bible says that taking someone’s life is another persons life. Economics and statistics of penalty verses keeping them in prison. Penalty popular in the United States. Thirty- seven states retained by Federal government. Also popular in Iran, China, and Vietnam. 65-75 percent of American’s continually favor it. Furman vs. Georgia (1972) application was unconstitutional. Gregg v. Georgia (1976) bifurcated system constitutional. Woodson v. North Carolina (1976)- mandatory death sentences unconstitutional. Coker v. Georgia (1976)- death penalty for rape “ grossly disappropriate “this violates...
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...century B.C. This was under the rule of King Hammaurabi of Babylon ruled, who codified the death penalty for twenty-five different types of crimes. Within the US, there are 32 states who employ death penalty, and only 18 who don’t. Death penalty has been an ordinary way to deal with extreme criminals in order to end their crimes, for a longer time. Capital punishment has for long been a component of the government. In American history, there have been numerous methods of capital punishment. Everything from electrocution, hanging, firing squad to beheading, and even gas chambers. Capital punishment has always been a brutal and unnatural thing. Luckily, lethal injection is what most states use today. They have done since post-Gregg (Gregg v. Georgia), but electrocution, gas chambers and hanging are still practiced as well. One large motive for supporting capital punishment is economy. It is much cheaper to have someone executed than having him or her imprisoned. This is, though, extraordinarily inhuman. What about the family and friends of the executed? This is where the ethical aspect begins to play a role. The government needs to think about whether this should be accepted as being ethically correct. Because of the ethical aspects, capital punishment is one of the few massively discussed subjects in American politics. In the southern states, especially in Texas, death penalty has been the most evident. 522 people – 6 of them women – have been executed in Texas. This...
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...April 30, 1790. When the First Congress enacted the Crimes Act in 1790, it stipulated only 17 federal crimes will be taken to trial. (Meese III, 2010). Defendants that were found guilty of murder and prison break were put to death. Oliver Ellsworth was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1796. “In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty, which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment.” These death penalties are cruel and unusual. (Head, n.d.). U.S. Supreme Court voted upholding the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 by 7-2. In regards to the vote, there would be some changes to the Crimes Act of 1790 that would not allow defendants eligible for the death penalty. One of the changes is the defendants I.Q. When the defendant’s has an I.Q. below 70, the defendant would be labeled mentally retarded and would not be eligible for the death penalty. When the defendant is under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, the defendant would not be eligible for the death penalty. President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City bombings, this Act allowed the defendant found guilty would be subject to the death penalty. According to "U.S. Army Corrections System: Procedures For Military Executions " (2010), “Only the President of the United States can approve...
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...Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is not the best financial option available today. The death penalty has been a constant source of debate for as long as it has been imposed. Most of the debates focus on constitutionality, morality, religion, and racism. Focusing on the financial burden on carrying out the death penalty can help to eliminate all of the other debates. In the United States of America 36 states and the federal government still use the death penalty. Those people that oppose the death penalty say that it violates the "cruel and unusual punishment" provision of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly agreed and continues to rule that the death penalty is constitutional only if applied in a particular way. That ruling makes sure that congress and state legislatures are always at work to enact new capital punishment laws to try to ensure that the executions are not "cruel and unusual". Due to these laws all convicted prisoners sentenced to the death penalty undergo more expensive trials and appeals than someone sentenced to life without parole. The morality of killing a person is subjective for each individual. A person’s upbringing, education, beliefs, and religion all affect their moral beliefs. Therefore different people interpret what is moral differently. Also, throughout the life of an individual, their beliefs and morality can and most likely will change. Considering these facts and...
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...Running head Capital Punishment 1 Capital Punishment Ronnie C. Smith Running head Capital Punishment 2 Capital Punishment otherwise known as the ‘death penalty’ is the punishment given by governments for an individual who is found guilty of committing a serious offense or crime. Without even a hesitation, executions are well though-out definitive punishment for any offense or felony, because there is no revoke from bereavement. The rational option for capital punishment is living in jail without even parole; a number of states still use capital punishment. The reason behind this is the dispute whether capital punishment is right and permissible is still widely unclear (Phil for Humanity, 2006). Nowadays, one of the most discussed concerns in the Criminal Justice System is none other than capital punishment or otherwise called 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 Amendment 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 (Prodeath.com. 2001). There are always two sides of the coin and so is the case with Capital Punishment. There are people who favor it and there are people who are against it. The first stance. Many people who are against Capital...
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...DEATH PENALTY ARLINCY ERSKINE WESTWOOD COLLEGE REFERENCES References (2010). Retrieved from www.bsos.umd.edu. (2013). Retrieved from www.citelighter.com. Bardes, S. S. (2013-2014). American Government and Politics Today. Boston: Cengage Learning. www.studentsnewsdaily.com. (2013). Retrieved from www.studentsnewsdaily.com. DEATH PENALTY Thesis As you further read into this paper you will understand the reason and cause for the death penalty in the United States. You will be educated how many states in the United States use the death penalty as a form of punishment and also what form of it is used. There are many methods of death some states opposed while others see it as “an eye for an eye”. Capital Punishment is defined as the practice of executing an individual as punishment for a specific crime. This is known as a state’s form of committing murder. Capital punishment comes from the Latin word meaning for the head. Some oppose it (those we term Conservative) and those who support it (these we term Liberal). Capital Punishment can range from simple punishments of cutting ones’ hand off for stealing to being hung, set in front of a firing squad, using lethal injection (a commonly used form), to being gassed, or the electric chair (a more common form). Some countries even use poisoning, starving, and burning (which some deem as unconstitutional). So because a state does it, is it legal? Or morally right? Yes because it is done...
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...Although, the death penalty is being handed down by the courts, the number of death penalties carried out occurs far less than they should. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of executions since 1976 is just 1352 with the years 1999 and 2000 being the highest in number of executions (DPIC). In the book Deterrence and the Death Penalty, it brings attention to more of the debate of the death penalty: In 1976 the Supreme Court decision Gregg v. Georgia (428 U.S. 153) ended the 4-year moratorium on executions that had resulted from its 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238). In Furman the Court had ruled that the death penalty, as then administered in the United States, constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Then, in Gregg, it had ruled that the death penalty is not, in all circumstances, cruel and unusual punishment, thereby opening the way for states to revise their capital punishment statutes to conform to the requirements of Gregg. (Nagin, Daniel, and John Pepper, Summary Page 1) Some say that humans are just beings and therefore aloud to make mistakes and that...
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...Furman v. Georgia Death Penalty Furman v. Georgia Death Penalty University of Phoenix Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice University of Phoenix Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice The Furman v. Georgia case states that the United States Supreme Court rules that capital punishment was not constitutional. There were five justices that had come together in this ruling and together they thought that capital punishment was to be banned in the United States. On August 11th, 1967 Micke William Jr. woke up when he heard noises in his house. When he got up he went to see where the noises were coming from and he ended up finding Henry Furman in his kitchen. Furman, an uneducated African American, broke into the kitchen with a gun (Smith 2008). When Furman realized that he had been spotted by Micke he ran for it while he fired a shot at Micke. The shot that was fired got Micke in the chest and it killed him instantly. His family immediately called the police. When the police reported to the scene they searched the house and the neighborhood. They ended up finding Furman in the neighborhood with the murder weapon where he was arrested and charged with the murder of Micke William Jr. The court ordered that Furman have a psychological exam done before the trial is held. The results came back from the psychological exam stating that Furman is psychotic and mentally ill. Murder cases can usually last a good while and they can become complicated cases. The trial for Furman...
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...not committed the crime. Since 1973, hundreds of innocent people have been released from death row, after the evidence that sentenced them to death was found to be inaccurate. Many of these innocent people were victims of wrongful convictions based on confused witnesses, mistakes by lawyers and inaccurate forensics, while the person actually responsible for the crime was still free. Cases involving DNA evidence in court, such as Ray Krone's case, can be denied access even if life and death are on the ropes. Found guilty, Krone was sentenced to death for rape and murder in Arizona, even though DNA found on the victim did not correlate with his. Arizona argued that no submission of DNA evidence could interfere with the jury decision. A decade later, without a court order, a crime lab worker identified the person who actually committed the crime through DNA evidence, and Ray Krone was luckily exonerated before his death. Likewise in 2011, Troy Davis was convicted in Georgia for murdering police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Physical evidence did not convict him, but testimonies from nine witnesses strongly tied him to the case. After Davis’s execution, seven witnesses changed their testimonies, two remained in what they believed...
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...“Death Penalty” Furman was a poor black man living in Georgia when he broke into William Joseph Micke, Jr’s house, Mr. Micke went downstairs to investigate and saw William Furman in his house with a gun. Furman began to flee the house but tripped in the process and fired the gun accidently shooting Mr. Micke in the chest and killing him instantly. Furman was later found by the police still carrying the gun and arrested for murder. This case is known as Furman v. Georgia and was taken to the Supreme Court on the fact that the death penalty in Georgia violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This is a landmark case because “The significance of Furman v. Georgia is that this case was the first case that was ruled violating the Eighth amendment and that it halted every man on death row in the United States” (study). But before the case reached the Supreme Court the case went on trial September 20, 1968 where Furman pleaded mentally ill and insane, the court rejected his plea and found him guilty of murder. Then, Furman appealed his conviction and sentence, based on the death penalty in Georgia violating the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution . The Eighth Amendment says the federal government may not use "cruel and unusual punishments” (Henson). The case was later tried in the Supreme Court January 17, 1972. The justices who won majority and reversed the case were William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Potter...
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...In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court declared all existing death penalty statutes at the time unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment". There was no majority opinion, and each of the five majority members wrote a separate opinion. While three of them based their decision on the arbitrary and discriminatory application of the death penalty in the U.S., Justices Brennan and Marshall based their opinions on the per-se unconstitutionality of capital punishment. Justice Brennan argued that although human dignity is not explicitly guaranteed by the United States Constitution, it is the fundamental concept underlying the Eighth Amendment. In his opinion: "The State, even as it punishes, must treat its members with respect for their intrinsic worth as human beings. A punishment is "cruel and unusual, therefore, "if it does not comport with human dignity". He declared that the severity of capital punishment is degrading to the dignity of a man, and since even the vilest criminals share an inherent dignity, the punishment is unconstitutional. Though in Brennan words human dignity functions as a justification for the Eight Amendment, they seem to illustrate the psychological approach to the meaning of human dignity. In 1976, the nationwide ban that was imposed on the capital punishment was over turned in Gregg v. Georgia. Gregg was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death in Georgia. He appealed to the...
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...led to drastic changes in various sectors from police operations, probation, sentencing, etc. When examining capital punishment the first question that must be asked is why do we do it? Is it simply a universal response to an atrocious act committed by an offender? If so, then there is no need to look any further. However, thousands of capital offense convictions are handed down annually in the U.S., yet most do not result in death penalty sentences. Therefore the only logical conclusion is that there is much more complexities in play once the state hands down capital punishment. Possible Effects of Capital Punishments at a Glance By and large, capital punishment in the United States is handed down to those offenders that are found guilty of homicide. Although not limited to strictly homicide, the overwhelming majority of those executed and assigned to death row have committed such offenses. Therefore, the focus of this paper is centered around capital punishment, and its effect on homicide. Some will contend that capital punishment serves as a deterrent for those in society that have not committed such offenses, but may be considering. Others believe that...
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...escape from prison and murder every single one of you”, threatened John Louis Evans to the jury on April 26, 1977. Within less than fifteen minutes of discussion, the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death by electrocution in the “chair”. Six years later, the first of three attempts of 1,900 volts of electricity were sent accelerating through John Evans's body. The final excruciating jolt boiled his brain and extremities in a horrifying manner, causing the nauseating stench of burnt flesh to quickly pervade the open air. John Evans's execution, which should have been only 30 seconds, lasted 14 minutes long. Whenever the phrase “death penalty” is brought up, two sides of extremists are riled up shouting for either approval or forbearance; thus creating a whirlpool of dissent and provocation. Many critics of this controversial issue may state that the moral aspects are inhumane and that the use should be discontinued from the United States; however, the crimes deemed worthy of capital punishment should not and cannot be overlooked simply because of a certain belief. The implementation of the death penalty should remain in practice to prevent heinous crimes and victimization of the innocent. Sometimes the “chair” truly is the best seat in the house. The supreme court case of Alabama vs John Louis Evans of 1977 shifted the viewpoint as to how the United States would approach the sensitive issue of the death penalty. John Evans was the first inmate to be executed...
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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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...Is The Death Penalty Justified? Narisha T. Carr-Smalls PHI200: Mind and Machine Instructor: Elliott Crozat July 4, 2012 Is The Death Penalty Justified? How would we define Capital punishment? It is the death penalty. “Capital punishment is the execution of a person by the state as punishment for a crime. The word ‘capital’ comes from the Latin word ‘capitalis,’ which means ‘regarding the head.’ At one point and time capital crimes where punished by severing the head. Crimes that can result in the death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. Capital punishment has been used in societies throughout history as a way to punish crime and suppress political dissent. In most places that practice capital punishment today, the death penalty is reserved as punishment for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy (the formal renunciation of the State religion). In many retentions countries (Countries that use the death penalty), drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty (Debatepedia, 2011).” Capital punishment was used throughout history and still used today for a variety of offenses. The death penalty was even utilized biblically for crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and even witchcraft...
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