Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment has been the center of much controversy dating back to its origins. Although the roots of capital punishment can be traced as far back as 1697 BC, arguments over its effectiveness and morality continue in the midst of its existence today. There are many people who have come up with reasonable arguments for both sides of the issue. Many people who believe that the death penalty is a fair punishment use the argument, they believe that an eye for an eye is justifiable. While most people who are in opposition use the argument that capital punishment is cruel and inhumane violates the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution, while at the same time dehumanizes and brings the person performing the retribution to the same level as the criminals who they are punishing.

In the times surrounding the origins of capital punishment, it was used for a wide variety of crimes. Capital punishment can also be found in the Christian's Bible. The Christian Bible prescribed the death penalty for crimes such as murder, kidnapping and witchcraft. By 1500 AD, in England, only major felonies carried the death penalty: treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape, and arson. (Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia, 1989) The United States inherited capital punishment from European settlers in the seventeenth century. They promoted the idea that heinous crimes deserved severe punishment. And this is what brought capital punishment to its present standing. In the United States justice system a proportionate punishment is achieved, in the case of a person who committed a crime, when the death penalty is enforced. (Williams, 2000, p.17-24) By 1800 Parliament had enacted many new capital offenses, and hundreds of persons were being sentenced to death each year. As of the official report on capitol punishment for 2003, in the United States, there are approximately 3,374 people on death row. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003) Which is actually down by 188 from 2002. As of 2003 38 states can legally enforce capital punishment.

Throughout history there have been many methods of executing criminals. Some of these methods are crucifixion, stoning, drowning, burning at the stake, impaling and beheading. But more modern methods of capital punishment are typically accomplished by lethal gas or injection, electrocution, hanging or shooting. Since 1977 up until 2003 81 percent of all executions were performed by lethal injection. The argument over the brutality of capital punishment is at the head of topics concerning it as a whole. These arguments are also not only centered in The United States but all over the world as well. About 90 nations have denounced capital punishment by abolishing it. (MSN Encarta, 2005) Capital punishment remains legal in all but twelve states. Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin all do not use the death penalty. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003) Although 38 of our states have the ability to use the death penalty, some states have not enforced it. For example, the state of South Dakota is only now preparing for their first execution in 59 years of Elijah Page who brutally beat Chester Allan Poage to death.

Many people feel that the death penalty is cruel as well as an ineffective crime deterrent. But the most successful argument that is used against the death penalty is that it infringes on the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution which states "'No cruel and unusual punishment is to be inflicted". Another argument against capital punishment is that people who are innocent may be killed. In 18th century Europe, reform of the death penalty began and was headed by the Italian jurist Cesare Beccaria, the French philosopher Voltaire, and the English law reformer Jeremy Bentham. They all believed that the death penalty was cruel. (Lexicon Universal, 1989) Beccaria strongly believed that capital punishment was ineffective and grossly inhumane. (Williams, 2000, p.17) In the "Progressive," a monthly journal of left wing political opinion, an editor once stated, "...there are options less cruel and unusual that do not put society at risk. Life without parole is one. A lengthy sentence with treatment, with release conditional upon proof of rehabilitation, is another." (Williams, 2002, p.72) The people who are opposed to taking the life of a convicted murderer do not believe that premeditated, state-sanctioned killing is justifiable under any circumstances. They also refute the idea that the death penalty deters crime. Some states say that a person will stop themselves from killing or committing a crime if, in the back of their minds, they know that the punishment for their actions could be the death penalty. But this statement has been invalidated. Statistics have shown that the states that use the death penalty have a higher crime rate than those with out it. (4essays.com, 2000) The chance that a person who has been convicted of the death penalty is innocent is also a factor. In the "Progressive" editors claimed that "innocent and wrongly convicted inmates might have already been executed." (Williams, 2002, p.63) This causes much controversy because innocent lives are taken and it could have been prevented. Lastly, opponents of the death penalty say that when the states execute killers in an attempt to proclaim that murder is wrong, they undermine their own, moral authority. (Zimring, 2003, p.21)

On the other side of the argument, people claim that capital punishment is a deterrent for future criminals, a proportionate punishment for those who have killed, and it is also said to be less harsh than life imprisonment because it is quick and instantaneous, although in many cases a person will be on death row for several years before it is actually enacted. As an example David Hocker from Alabama stabbed his boss repeatedly until dead and was only recently in September of 2004