Capital Punishment And It's Effects On Corrections

Introduction

“Capital Punishment n. execution (death) for a capital offense… Means of capital punishment used in the United States include lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad. All capital offenses require an automatic appeal, which means that approximately 2,500 men and women are presently on death-row awaiting their appeals or death.” (Dictionary.Law.com, 2008)

Contemporary America seems to be suffering from an socio-philosophical divide in recent times as many long-held systems and ways of thinking have come under scrutiny from those that would have change: For better or for worse. Debate on the effectiveness and methods implored when using capital punishment are just one of the many topics that have garnered debate with strong, almost fanatical, followings on either side of the proverbial fence. There are those that hold to the axiom “eye for an eye” while the opponents argue that no one, including the government, has the right to take a life for any reason. Although debate between both sides can sometimes become heated and livid, their do exist rational and just reasons for holding either opinion for or against capital punishment.

The basis for most arguments surrounding the death penalty seem to be primarily based upon the arguing individuals own belief and values structure; which is in turn, is developed by that individual’s background and experiences. If a person can hypothesize theoretical situations where a prisoner execution would seem more appropriate than life imprisonment, than most likely that individual would be a proponent to capital punishment.

Historical Overview

“Capital punishment kills immediately, whereas lifetime imprisonment does so slowly. Which executioner is more humane? The one who kills you in a few minutes, or the one who wrests your life from you in the course of many years?”

(Chekhov, 1976)

Capital punishment goes back to the beginnings of recorded history. It was a means of sentencing in ancient Greece for murder, treason, arson, and rape (Britannica, 2008). Through his existing writings, Plato argued that it should only be used against those that were considered beyond rehabilitation. The Romans also used it for a wide range of offenses, although history has recorded short durations of time where citizens were exempt from these policies (Wikipedia, 2008).

Most of the world’s major religions at one time or another have sanctioned the use of the death penalty for various crimes. Devotees to Christianity, for example, have claimed to find valid justification towards capital punishment in the Old Testament passage “Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). Islamic law condones capital punishment for several crimes including robbery, adultery, and heresy; but murder is not among them. Instead, murder is treated as a civil crime and is covered by different rules, where the relatives of the victim decide the ultimate fate of the offender (Britannica, 2008).

From ancient times until well into the 1800’s, many cultures inflicted exceptionally cruel forms of capital punishment relative to today’s standards. In early Rome, the guilty were tossed from cliffs, drowned in a burlap sacks that were tossed into a body of water, or forced into mortal combat for public spectacle. Standard forms of execution in Europe at the time included burning at the stake, decapitation by guillotine, hanging, drawing and quartering, or if you were lucky - drowning. Summary executions in ancient Asia were exceptionally torturous and included heinous acts such as sawing the condemned in half, boiling, and other painful forms of mutilation (Britannica, 2008).

Execution was the penalty for many offenses in England into the 18th century, but failed to be applied as often as the law allowed. Most offenders who committed capital crimes escaped death via sympathetic juries and magistrates, or due to executive pardon usually on condition that they leave and never return (Carmichael, 2004). As an interesting side fact, some of those pardoned individuals were sentenced to the lesser punishment of being transported to the American colonies or Australia (Wikipedia, 2008).

By the time of the new millennium, many jurisdictions, including every U.S. state that employs the death penalty and several other assorted countries, had adopted lethal injection as the execution method of choice. In Saudi Arabia and other Persian countries, beheadings as well as the occasional stoning were still to be found in common use. Other methods of execution such as electrocution, gassing, and the firing squad were also not unheard of in many nations (Britannica, 2008).

In the past, executions have been public events, attended by large crowds similar to modern day sporting events. At these civic festivals of yesteryear, the mutilated bodies would often be displayed until they turned rancid. In 1868, public executions were banned in England even though they shamefully continued to take place in parts of the United States until after World War I. Although public executions have been condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, some lesser-developed nations such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria still continue the practice in the modern day (Britannica, 2008).

Proponents

“But after all the arguments are done, I am left with a feeling. It is the feeling you get when you think of a 7-year-old being raped. It is part revulsion, part rage, as real as a high fever. Remember Ellie Nesler, the woman who walked into the courtroom and shot and killed the man accused of having sodomized her son? I understand Ellie Nesler. I ... understand what she did just fine.” (Quindlen, 1994)

Perhaps the most common defenses of capital punishment are on utilitarian grounds. For utilitarians, punishment is justified only if it creates a greater balance of happiness versus unhappiness. Under these grounds, capital punishment is justified if it successfully prevents the criminal from repeating his crime; or deters future crimes by discouraging would-be offenders. In both instances, a greater balance of happiness in society is achieved through either incapacitation or deterrence (Fieser, 2008).

The critics of capital punishment sometimes argue that the expenses involved in executions are substantially greater than the cost of life-in-prison; with the appeals process and lawyers being the principal expenses. Although this sounds