capital punishment is the legal infliction of thedeath penalty. In the United States capitalpunishment is legal in thirty-nine of the fiftystates. Beginning in 1973, prison populations beganan inevitable growth. There were 204,211 inmates in1973, and by 1977 the number of prisoners had grown to285,456, which later grew to 315,974 in 1980. By1976, it was clear that the death penalty had to bereinstated. America’s twenty-one year experiment withcapital punishment has resulted in a total of 392executions, seventy eight of which took place in 1996alone. Of these only thirty-four were federal cases,out of which thirty two were male and only two werefemale.
Every year about 15,000 killers are charged and onlyabout 300 wind up on death row. The death rowpopulation is constantly increasing. It is now morethan 3,000. Because of constant appeals, it takes a person on death row typically between five to eightyears to finally get executed. To kill all theprisoners on death row, it is estimated that it wouldtake two executions a day for seven years.
The Essay on Thirty Years From Now
As I sit here, I wonder what I will become; all I see is pure success like no one has ever seen. My life is full of great and achievable goals that can fulfil my life with happiness. I see myself see myself thirty years from now becoming the most successful person the world has seen. I will have graduated high school and college with 4.0 GPA, majoring in aeronautical engineering while being in the ...
Crimes such as aiding in suicide, causing a boatcollision resulting in death, forced marriage,procuring an abortion resulting in the death of themother, espionage, castrating another, rape, homicide,child molesting resulting in death and conspiracy tokidnap for ransom among many others are, in somestates, crimes that are punishable by death. What thelaw permits, however, is not always used by the courtsor the executive authorities. Most executions are aresult of a murder or rape, and a small number forrobbery, kidnapping, burglary, aggravated assault and espionage.
In the US, the death penalty is currently authorizedin one of five ways: hanging, which has been thetraditional method of execution throughout theEnglish-speaking world; electrocution, which wasintroduced by New York State in 1890; the gas chamberwhich was first adopted by Nevada in 1923; the firingsquad which is used only in Utah and Idaho, and lethalinjection which was introduced in 1977 by Oklahoma andis the most common form of execution in the US.
Capital punishment is legal in Washington State,Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota,Nebraska, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico,Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi,Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana,Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, New Hampshire, New York,Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, WestVirginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, NewJersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington DC. Out ofthese, lethal injection is legal in thirty two states,electrocution in ten states, the gas chamber in fivestates, hanging in three states and the firing squadin two states. Some states use more than one method.
Out of the thirty nine states where the death penaltyis legal, twelve have had no executions. Texas is thestate with the most executions with a total of 127. Florida and Virginia follow with a huge difference,only thirty nine executions per state. There arecurrently more than 3,000 people on death row, manywithout lawyers. Texas has the most, an amazing 448. California is a close second with 444. Wyoming, NewHampshire and New York are currently the only oneswith no criminals on death row. It is unimaginable tosee how blacks, which are only twelve percent of theUS population, are a sweeping forty one percent of theinmates on death row.
The Essay on Death Penalty Execution Punishment Protocol
In the United States Constitution, the 8 th Amendment prohibits the use and practices of cruel and unusual punishment. What exactly is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment This question is a hot topic among America's many different current controversies. Many people are saying that the use of capital punishment (to be sentenced to death as a penalty in the eyes of the law [a capital crime ...
Timothy McVeigh is the new poster boy for capitalpunishment. After his home-made bomb exploded in theMurrah building in Oklahoma city, ending 168 innocentlives, including those of nineteen children, McVeighis being prosecuted in courtroom C-204 in the UnitedStated Courthouse in Denver Colorado. This has been atwo-year effort to execute the twenty nine year oldman whom defendants are trying to make look like “theboy next door.” The defendant’s lawyers emphasizedthe fact that “he was brought up in a typical Americanfamily in upstate New York, and he won the Bronze Starfor his combat service during the Persian Gulf War.” Timothy was a man loved not only be family, but by hisfriends and neighbors as well. It was very obviousthroughout the trial that McVeigh is smart and alertand in no way mentally impaired.
As the case progressed, Timothy seemed emotionallyunaffected, unlike the jurors, lawyers and, at onepoint, the Honorable Richard P. Matsch. “The crimewas pure savagery, premeditated and unprovoked.” Although the defense will not allow McVeigh totestify, they are making it quite clear that he lovedhis country, but came to believe that “ the federalgovernment… had become master, had declared war onthe American people.” Timothy’s bomb is practicallyidentical to the one found in the plot of his favoritebook, which is a racist and anti-Semitic book about abomb attack on FBI headquarters in Washington byantigovernment “patriots.” McVeigh’s bomb, howeverwas worst, due to the fact that in the book, nochildren were killed. It is almost impossible tobelieve that on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh killed168 innocent people out of fanaticism and hatred forhis government.
There are many reasons why the Oklahoma City bomberdeserves the death sentence, nonetheless, jurors wereasked not to let their feelings be a determiningfactor when deciding the verdict. Evidence designedto stir emotions, such as wedding pictures, poetry,and the testimony of a boy who misses his mother wouldbe inadmissible. Jurors were also asked by the judgenot to seek revenge and to ask themselves thefollowing questions: Why does America put people todeath? Is the death penalty meant to benefit societyor to provide comfort to the victims? There is animportant distinction that must be made betweenrevenge and retribution. “Revenge is a hot, deeplypersonal desire to hurt the malefactor, andretribution is a statelier and more carefullyconsidered decision to uphold the values of society.”
The Term Paper on The Death Penalty 3
... murder cases that juries have been racist and have sentenced some people to prison while others, mostly black, have been given the death penalty ... reported that 350 people have been wrongfully sentenced, twenty-three of which were actually killed by the state ... death penalty doesn’t help anybody and doesn’t show that killing is ok. Therefore, “It sends the wrong message: why kill people who kill people ...
The main question for the jurors, however, is todetermine whether Timothy should die by lethalinjection or spend the rest of his life in one of thejails in the federal corrections system. If thejurors would happen to decide against the deathpenalty, the state of Oklahoma could force him to facethe death penalty a second time. Oklahoma has a longhistory of voting for the death penalty and has manyinmates currently on death row. Some people believethat this is precisely the case that the death penaltywas intended for. Even though there is weightysupport for the death penalty, some people aredoubtful when it comes to taking the life of anotherhuman being. It is also a probability that the deathpenalty could trigger further violence by the guncrazies and millennial extremists. When making thedeath penalty decision, jurors must respond threequestions: Will the defendant eventually be released,which means he could possibly kill again, if he is notsentenced to die? Did the defendant show any regret? Was the crime notably brutal? In general, fifty sixpercent think a convicted murder should get the deathpenalty if he was driven by political or ideologicalbeliefs, and only thirty six percent oppose.
McVeigh’s old army friend, Terry Nichols, helped blowup the federal building in Oklahoma City with amassive fertilizer bomb. Nichols awaits his trial onthe charges that he helped plan and carry out thecrime and to destroy the evidence. If convicted,Nichols could also find himself face to face with thedeath penalty. Evidence against Terry includeblasting caps found in his basement, explosives thathad been stolen from the quarry months before, areceipt for 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate withMcVeigh’s fingerprint, and the rented Ryder truck usedfor the bombing.
Other examples of criminals who have sufferedcapital punishment include Rolando Cruz and anotherChicago man. They were both sentenced to death in1985 for the abduction, death, and murder of aten-year-old little girl named Jeanine Nicarico. Because the prosecution had based its case on a visionstatement, the conviction was overturned. There wasanother man who had actually confessed to the murder,however, he was never allowed to testify, and Cruz wasconvicted again on the evidence of a dream regardingthe crime that he confessed he had. Cruz’s convictionwas overturned once more and it wasn’t until a thirdtrial that DNA evidence cleared his name. RolandoCruz was finally acquitted in November 1995. Aftereleven years, he is finally free.
The Term Paper on Death Penalty Murder In Disguise
Death Penalty: Murder in Disguise The American Heritage Dictionary defines capital punishment as "the penalty of death for the commission of crime." The death sentence has been applied since ... 11) This may be true for some people, even those who oppose the death penalty. Tit for tat, the bottom line is this. ...
On June 13, 1997, ten minutes past midnight, a formerKu Klux Klan member was killed just outside Mobile,Alabama by high voltage which slammed into his brain. His name was Henry Francis Hays. He was convicted in1981 for abducting, brutally beating and cutting, thenstrangling a black teenage boy named Michael Donaldafter a jury failed to convict him. This was supposedto be a show of strength. Hays’ friend and accomplicegot life imprisonment. It took sixteen years tofinally execute Hays, and the execution went virtuallyunnoticed. Only ten people gathered outside theprison gates, and the press barely covered it.
Federal prisoners currently on death row include themarijuana grower David Rolando Chandler who wasconvicted in May 1991 for hiring a man to kill apolice informer and Juan Raul Garza who was given thedeath sentence in 1993 because of his connection tothree murders committed in Brownsville. Cory Johnson,Richard Tipton, and James Roane Jr. are three crackdealers that were sentenced to death in 1988 for astring of murders designed to expand theirterritories. Other death row inmates include LouisJones who was sentenced to death in 1995 forkidnapping, raping, and murdering a female soldierfrom a Texas military base and Anthony George Battlewho was already serving life in prison when he killeda corrections officer. The other names are OrlandoHall, Bruce Webster, Len Davis, Paul Hardy andBountaem Chanthadara.
As executions increase, so do the charges that thedeath penalty is unfair. “Factors such as race andpoor lawyering can be as decisive as a murder’sseriousness.” An overwhelming majority of capitalcases involve crimes committed against people who arewhite. Blacks who kill whites are sentenced to deathat a far higher rate than whites who kill blacks. Inthe U.S., the chief objection to capital punishmenthas been that it has always been used unfairly, in atleast three major ways. First, women are rarelysentenced to death and executed, even though 20percent of all homicides in recent years have beencommitted by women. Second, a disproportionate numberof nonwhites are sentenced to death and executed.Third, poor and friendless defendants, those withinexperienced or court-appointed counsel, are mostlikely to be sentenced to death and executed. Defenders of the death penalty, however, believe thatdiscrimination is not a sufficient reason forabolishing the death penalty. Although people likePresident Clinton, the Supreme Court, and many federalstate lawmakers back capital punishment, the AmericanBar Association believes that executions should stopuntil reforms are enacted. No one today questions the necessity for punishingcriminals by depriving them of their freedom forperiods of time, however, there is ardent discussionregarding the topic of the death sentence. Questionssuch as when, how, and to whom it should be appliedare crucial when discussing the subject. The veryexistence of capital punishment is, in many occasions,questioned. The people who defend it believe it islegitimate and necessary, and those who oppose itbelieve it is unjustifiable and outdated.
The Essay on Is The Death Penalty Cruel And Unusual Punishment
In order to determine whether the death penalty is to be considered cruel and unusual punishment, it is necessary to first define each word in order to get full understanding of the issue being assessed. According to the Merriam-Webster collegiate dictionary, cruel is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering devoid of humane feelings. Unusual is defined as: not usual, uncommon, or rare. ...
Many times the question is life or death, mercy orvengeance. Is capital punishment meant to benefitsociety or provide comfort to the victimized? It isan international ongoing debate. Some people thinkthat capital punishment serves to remind us of themoral order in our law, that some animals needkilling, if only to remind the rest of us animals howto live. Other people’s opinions differ, however. They believe that life without parole is, in someways, more retributive than death. It forces theconvict to accept his punishment for the rest of hislife, and it makes us morally energetic aboutpunishment. There are, on the other hand, someAmericans that want to see more executions with fewerappeals and delays, especially those who live in the“Death Belt” states of Texas, Florida, Virginia,Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama, whichtogether make up for seventy-eight percent of theexecutions in America. Other folks feel that deathis the most irrevocable of all sanctions and that theyshould use the usual alternative to the death penaltywhich is long-term or life imprisonment. These peopleemphasize the fact that there is possibility ofperjured testimony, mistaken honest testimony andhuman error. There is no way of knowing how manyinnocent persons have been executed. The deathpenalty decisions must be unanimous by the convictingjury.
The Term Paper on The Death Penalty And Deterrence As Public Policy
... under the risk of death. In all fairness, even crime families do not use the death penalty too often. The punishment for breaking the rules ... sentences is the death penalty. Death penalty has been banned in many countries throughout the world, however, in the United States, an earlier move ... 100 criminals and sentence them to prison for a life term than to execute single innocent person. I think that ...
The fundamental questions raised by the death penaltyare whether it is an effective obstacle to violentcrime, and whether it is more effective than thealternative of long-term imprisonment. Defenders ofthe death penalty insist that because taking anoffender’s life is a more severe punishment than anyprison term, it must be the better deterrent. Supporters also argue that it is better to kill thecriminal before he can commit another crime or murder,even while he or she is incarcerated. Those who argueagainst the death penalty as an obstacle to crime sothat the adjacent states, in which one has a deathpenalty and the other does not, show no significantlong-term differences in the murder rate; states thatuse the death penalty seem to have a higher number ofhomicides than states that do not use it; states thatabolish and then reintroduce the death penalty do notseem to show any significant change in the murderrate; and no change in the rate of homicides in agiven city or state seems to occur following a localexecution. Criminologists affirm that there is thatno conclusive evidence that exists to show that thedeath penalty is a more effective impediment toviolent crime than long-term imprisonment.
There is a margin of more than two-to-one peoplethat support the death penalty. Seventy-four percentof the people are in favor of the death penalty forindividuals convicted of serious crimes, but onlyforty-five percent think it deters people fromcommitting crimes. A sweeping sixty percent don’tthink that vengeance is a legitimate reason forkilling a murderer.
Many court decisions of the 1980s and early 1990shave lowered bars to executions. In 1986 the Courtruled that opponents of executions may be barred fromjuries in murder cases. The following year the Courtruled that the law may be applied to accomplices incrimes that led to murder, then rejected a challengeto capital punishment based on statistics thatindicated racial bias in sentencing. In separatedecisions in 1989 the Court decided that the deathpenalty could be applied to those who were mentallyretarded or who were underage, but at least 16, at thetime of the murder. In the early 1990s the trend ofSupreme Court rulings was to cut back on the appealsthat Death Row inmates could make to the federalcourts.
