Capital Punishment

Outline

I. Religious Views

a. Hinduism

b. Jainism

c. Buddhism

d. Judaism and Christianity

e. Islam

II. Who

a. Countries

b. States

c. Juveniles

III. What Ways

IV. Why, Laws Broken

a. Laws about it

b. Cost

c. Wrongful accusation

V. Increased Murder Rate

VI. Conclusion

Did you know, that according to a study at North Carolina State, a murder case cost 2.16 million dollars more with a death penalty then with a sentence of life imprisonment? It's true! It is estimated that the death penalty cost the U.S. Judicial System an extra one billion dollars a year! It's not only expensive, it's wrong. The worst part is Juveniles are being executed. This is wrong because the human brain is not fully developed until the 20s. That's why we should get rid of the death penalty. In my report I will discuss who gets the death penalty, why do they get it, Religious views of it, laws broken to get the death penalty, increased murder rates and wrongful accusations.

There are many different views of the death penalty. Many different religions have their own views of the death penalty. In Hinduism, if the king does not inflict punishment on those worthy to be punished the stronger would roast the weaker like fish on a spit.

In the religion of Jainism, mostly all of their followers are abolitionists of the death penalty which means that they oppose of it. Infact, this religion does not even allow for the killing of even small creatures. Today, only four countries have Buddhism as there state religion; Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Cambodia has not had the death penalty since 1993, and Bhutan eliminated it in 2004. Thailand has more than 1,000 prisoners awaiting execution. Sri Lanka reinstated the death penalty in 2004 after a 27-year moratorium.

In the religions of Judaism and Christianity, the followers have different views in the death penalty. Finally in Islam, both violent and non-violent crimes are punishable by death under Islamic law. These crimes may be: murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, apostasy, adultery, blasphemy, sorcery, prostitution, conjugation between partners not married to each other, converting to Christianity or Judaism, plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime and conspiring against the government.

Today, 120 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Australia, Canada, South Africa, Venezuela, New Zealand, Mauritius, and the 25 countries of the E.U. are part of these 120 countries. Only seventy-six countries still retain the death penalty. The top five leading countries in executions are China (3400), Iran (159), Vietnam (64), USA (59), and Saudi Arabia with 35.China is the world's record executioner; they impose the death penalty for sixty-eight crimes, including murder, rape, drug trafficking, pimping, habitual theft, and publishing pornography.

In the U.S., 365 executions for crimes committed as juveniles have been carried out. Since 1976, twenty-two juvenile offenders have been executed. Only twelve states today still have juvenile offenders on death row. Three of those twelve states are responsible for eighteen of the twenty two juvenile executions since 1976. These include Texas, Virginia, and Oklahoma. Texas alone is responsible for thirteen of those executions.

The first execution recorded of a juvenile offender was in colonial America in 1642. Thomas Graunger was executed for the crime of bestiality, he was sixteen. In 1885, James Arcene became the youngest juvenile offender sentenced to death in the U.S. He was executed for his part in a robbery and murder, when he was ten years old. Since World War II, the youngest offender to have been executed was an African-American juvenile named George Stiney. He was executed in 1944 for killing two Caucasian females when he was fourteen.

Critics contend that executing young offenders is cruel and unusual punishment. A violation of the Eighth Amendment. To back up their assertions, critics point to recent research showing that the human brain continues to develop into the 20s. Also, 60% of juveniles sentenced to death were neglected or abused growing up.

From 1999-2003, thirty-five juveniles were sentenced to death. Also note that just seven states have executed juvenile offenders since 1976. Since 2000, only three countries have executed juvenile offenders. These include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Pakistan. This making the U.S. the only country to still have it because all three other countries have either abolished it or are in the process of abolishing it since 2000.

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