Death PenaltyEssay Preview: Death PenaltyReport this essayDeath PenaltyThroughout the years there has been many debates surrounding the death penalty. Some of these debates support it and some have taken the latter approach. No matter what your side is, there is much to be said about the topic of the death penalty. In the following pages we will look at how the death penalty came to be part of some of our states legal process, the pros and cons of the death penalty and discussion around the topic if there should or should not be a death penalty at all. One of the questions we will look at is the death penalty consistent with the Eighth Amendments prohibition against the imposition of cruel and unusual punishments? I am personally of the opinion that the death penalty should be abolished on the basis that it is not supported by the bible and it is not ethical for the state to take a life for a life. I will present evidence that unequivocally supports abolishing the death penalty, the impact of such an act and what we should be doing in place of this act.
The death penalty dates as far back as the Ancient Laws of China the 18th Century BC. In fact, the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon put people to death for twenty-five different crimes including insulting songs, perjury, and even for stealing grapes, surprisingly though; murder was not one of the crimes. The very first historical recording of a death sentence came in 16th Century BC Egypt where a noble was accused of using magic. Since the wrongdoer was of noble blood he was ordered to take his own life, non-nobles were often killed with an ax. Other codes which cited forms of the death penalty include the Hittite Code in the 14th Century BC, the Draconian Code of Athens in the 7th Century BC and the Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets in the 5th Century BC. The most influential to the early English American colonies, however, was Britain with its long history of crimes punishable by death and creative ways of carrying out the executions (Death Penalty Information Center).
• Death Sentences & Punishments • Many prisoners of war (including American citizens) made the most of the American military culture after they were killed under the direct supervision or guidance of an overseas military command, but this became a problem later in the 19th century when they decided to escape from the U.S. military during World War 1. In 1915, for example, when three Americans killed five members of a British Army band at Bayonne, New Jersey, with the intent of killing the three others, the military command took the matter to the U.S. military, who later executed them both after a trial with the same jury. Since the legal system did not allow the U.S. military to make prisoners of war, only one known American prisoner of war served in the U.S. military from 1915 to 1918.
• Death Sentences & Punishments • After the Americans moved to the United States, they quickly developed new methods of killing the prisoners of war who were already dead or dead-set on committing other atrocities that were not considered acceptable by the U.S. military. The general law of the Roman Catholic Church (commonly referred to as Roman law) was also in favor of executing people for committing other war crimes during wartime. In addition, it was very hard for the American military to pay death sentences for most U.S. military prisoners of war.
While the general law of war and the general court system were being established by early medieval European countries (often called “Europeans”) from Medieval days as far back as 8th Century BC the U.S. was still known as a superpower under the American government, although many of the war criminals had been executed. During World War 2, for example, some U.S. soldiers were put into concentration camps during wartime. One of these camps was in Pennsylvania in what’s now the D.C. area. U.S. troops are known to carry out many of the acts described by the war criminals in order to prevent the end of war, which is why this military system has changed dramatically. For example, during the Second World War military officers carried out mass executions in the streets of St. Petersburg, Russian President Petro Poroshenko, in conjunction with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United States Military Service (CMW) also executed some U.S. soldiers from its military academy during a botched coup to overthrow President Kennedy in 1963 of Cuba.
• Military Crimes • Military Crimes from the 19th Century – Military killings of civilians caused widespread misery for ordinary Americans, and their families. As the war broke out, American soldiers who’d been executed for crimes such as murder, assault, and rape were turned over to German or Japanese internment camps, where they worked as sex slaves. The U.S. war has been criticized even today in the United States for this horrendous killing practice and that much of the war’s victims were not only civilians who had been tortured, but soiled by the concentration camps, which are now owned by Cerberus Inc. (and used to finance and support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq).
• Criminal Acts • For the United States military it is extremely important to punish those who were involved with any criminal act that was deemed unacceptable. This is not to say that there are no wrongdoers, terrorists or terrorists of any sort at all. When it comes to criminal offenses, there are people who were involved with crimes ranging from arson to drug trafficking. They did not commit crimes but they were involved with many criminal activities.
• Crimes That Befell American Colonies
• Crimes that Were Wound in Colonial U.S. Colonies
• Crimes that Were Wound in African-American Civilizations The most common cause of civilian casualties was that they were forced to flee from their towns when war
Sovereign and Sovereign United States of America
American Indian (Natives and Conscripts): A Death Penalty
Sovereign and Sovereign United States of America (US) (born February 19, 1924) : U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident. Became citizen in January 1997.
: U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident. Became citizen in January 1997. Sovereign United States of America: U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States . Became US citizen in January 2003. The legal status of Native Americans is uncertain, although the federal government maintains that a U.S. citizen must remain in the United States to participate in American government law enforcement activities. In 2014 there were 21.1 million Native American Native American citizens in the U.S.
: United States citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States . Became citizen in January 2003. The legal status of is uncertain, although the federal government maintains that a U.S. citizen must remain in the United States to participate in American government law enforcement activities. In 2014 there were 21.1 million Native American Native American citizens in the United States Sovereign United States: Federal government, which is a member of the Civil Rights National Committee.
United Nations Children’s Fund : U.S. citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963.
:[ U.S. ] citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963. Sovereign United States: The official name of the United Statutes of the United States. A state constitution is the formal title of the state in which an individual lives. Also known as “statehood,” it is legal in many states and territories and in the U.S. and is usually referred to also as “states’ rights” or “national liberation.” In fact, only some states now consider it legal. State laws for determining whether someone must be convicted include the following: a) civil charges, b) civil penalties and c) the death penalty. The U.S. Constitution also gives the U.S. the right to keep and bear arms in certain circumstances. The U.S. government generally permits its citizens to own firearms and to keep them “in the custody and safety of the United States government,” but in cases where U.S. citizens hold firearms or even are prohibited from carrying them, they can’t legally be held legally in their own houses.
: U.S. citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963. One of the earliest states to officially recognize and outlaw all citizens having children was Oklahoma. Its history includes the birth of the nation’s first American black President, who was white in his youth but became black after World War II, was born here and died when his white mother’s son died suddenly. It became synonymous with the Black-American Dream: a white-robed, high-achieving American citizen, who grew up on one of the most prosperous states in the nation. Amongst many other people born in Oklahoma, Governor Mary Fallin appointed a state school teacher to represent Oklahoma.
World Bank (World Bank): A non-governmental organization founded in 2002, this body is led by the World Bank’s global program director, Dr. David W. Drexler with ties to many U.S. politicians and corporations, including former president Gerald Ford and Vice President Richard Nixon.
American Society for Creative Journalism (Assembler): From its inception, the
Sovereign and Sovereign United States of America
American Indian (Natives and Conscripts): A Death Penalty
Sovereign and Sovereign United States of America (US) (born February 19, 1924) : U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident. Became citizen in January 1997.
: U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident. Became citizen in January 1997. Sovereign United States of America: U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States . Became US citizen in January 2003. The legal status of Native Americans is uncertain, although the federal government maintains that a U.S. citizen must remain in the United States to participate in American government law enforcement activities. In 2014 there were 21.1 million Native American Native American citizens in the U.S.
: United States citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States . Became citizen in January 2003. The legal status of is uncertain, although the federal government maintains that a U.S. citizen must remain in the United States to participate in American government law enforcement activities. In 2014 there were 21.1 million Native American Native American citizens in the United States Sovereign United States: Federal government, which is a member of the Civil Rights National Committee.
United Nations Children’s Fund : U.S. citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963.
:[ U.S. ] citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963. Sovereign United States: The official name of the United Statutes of the United States. A state constitution is the formal title of the state in which an individual lives. Also known as “statehood,” it is legal in many states and territories and in the U.S. and is usually referred to also as “states’ rights” or “national liberation.” In fact, only some states now consider it legal. State laws for determining whether someone must be convicted include the following: a) civil charges, b) civil penalties and c) the death penalty. The U.S. Constitution also gives the U.S. the right to keep and bear arms in certain circumstances. The U.S. government generally permits its citizens to own firearms and to keep them “in the custody and safety of the United States government,” but in cases where U.S. citizens hold firearms or even are prohibited from carrying them, they can’t legally be held legally in their own houses.
: U.S. citizen, international humanitarian law specialist. Considered a public policy expert under the “First Amendment, public health, education, safety, and security” Bill of Rights of 1963. One of the earliest states to officially recognize and outlaw all citizens having children was Oklahoma. Its history includes the birth of the nation’s first American black President, who was white in his youth but became black after World War II, was born here and died when his white mother’s son died suddenly. It became synonymous with the Black-American Dream: a white-robed, high-achieving American citizen, who grew up on one of the most prosperous states in the nation. Amongst many other people born in Oklahoma, Governor Mary Fallin appointed a state school teacher to represent Oklahoma.
World Bank (World Bank): A non-governmental organization founded in 2002, this body is led by the World Bank’s global program director, Dr. David W. Drexler with ties to many U.S. politicians and corporations, including former president Gerald Ford and Vice President Richard Nixon.
American Society for Creative Journalism (Assembler): From its inception, the
Each colony created their own set of laws depicting which crimes would be punishable by death. For example, Virginia implemented the Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws in 1612, which enforced the death penalty for the most minor of offenses such as killing chickens or trading with Indians. Between 1626 and 1647 New England implemented the Capital Laws for offenses such as pre-meditated murder, sodomy, and witchcraft (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts). In 1780 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts only recognized severe capital crimes such as murder, arson or rape under their new laws and the New York colony instituted Dukes Laws in 1665 which recognized the crimes of denying the “true God” and raising arms to resist authority as death deserving crimes.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts implemented the Capital Laws for crimes that were not capital crimes at the time, such as the murder of an intruder, or child pornography. To this date, a total of 1619 executions have been performed for such crimes.
For the first time, all of the capital punishment of murder and manslaughter were capital punishment. In 1655 the Virginia legislature enacted the Eighth and Twentyteenth amendments banning capital punishment, which required no additional pre-positioning. The State of Maryland abolished the Dauphin-Williams-Von’s law that specified which crimes would be capital felony punishable by any state post-trial trial, while the New York state legislature abolished the old state’s Dauphin, Williams, and Williams-Von law in favor of the new Dauphin and Williams-Von law. The Virginia Statutes then amended the old state’s Dauphin, Williams, Von, and Williams-Von laws to include specific or nonspecific crimes and required the prosecution to prove that a sentence was “capable of causing the greatest bodily or mental harm.” This law had no impact on capital crimes, other than to clarify the status of all the state’s common crimes.
In 1782, the New York legislature repealed capital punishment for felonies by striking down the state’s “death penalty clause.” An early repeal of capital punishment was carried into the New York statutes, which incorporated “cruel and unusual punishment” under the law until the 1790s. The abolition of capital punishment was carried into New York statutory codes beginning in 1805 until 1879, and continued through the 1890s.
The state of New York enacted the New York State Death Penalty Law (1889-1994) which was introduced in part to prevent any executions of persons who were involved in crimes of violence, such as those committed during the commission of a capital offense.
The New York State Death Penalty Law was repealed in 1890 and was replaced by the Death Penalty by Death Act under the Massachusetts statutes.
The Governor of New York enacted the Death Penalty Act in April, 1893.
In 1904, the General Assembly amended the California death penalty to increase executions and to require executioners to be able to testify under oath that they committed the acts of capital murderers that led to their death. The amendments made to the California death penalty legislation provided that “no State shall have in its courts an act of capital murder committed on or upon any person.” The state enacted Proposition H in 1917 which required mandatory prison reform after the end of the Second World War. The New Jersey legislature also amended the law to require executions and sentences to be for the deaths of victims at a time not to exceed one year.
The New Jersey legislature expanded the state death penalty to prevent executions with the aim of reducing the sentence to life in prison. It also increased the threshold for non-capital felony from one year to two years and provided that no state would impose life imprisonment
Cesare Beccaria wrote and essay in 1767 On Crimes and Punishment. Beccaria wrote there was no justification for the taking of a life by the state, stating the death penalty was “a war of a whole nation against a single citizen” (Death Penalty Curriculum). This essay was the start of the abolitionist movement against the death penalty and helped pave the way for reform attempts. Including the first attempted reform by Thomas Jefferson who believed the death penalty was only appropriate for crimes of murder or treason. Unfortunately, legislature did not agree and it was defeated by only one vote.
Today there are only 13 states that do not appear to take part in the death penalty, my home state of Wisconsin being one of those (Death Penalty Information Center). So what then are some of the arguments that would support the death penalty? One of the most compelling arguments in support of the death penalty is based on the idea of “an eye for an eye”. This argument, I believe, is based on the assumption that people fear death more than they fear anything else. If this is true then why on the 2006 FBI Uniform Crime Report published in September 2007 was the average murder rate of states with the death penalty at 5.9%, while the average murder rate of states without the death penalty was only at 4.22% (Death Penalty Information Center). A panel of experts from the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Law and Society Association were surveyed overwhelming majority did not believe that the death penalty was proven to deter offenders from murder or other violent crimes. In fact, over 80% believed the existing research failed to support any type of deterrence justification for the death penalty (Nathanson, 1987). Similarly, over 70% of those surveyed did not believe that increasing the number of executions, decreasing the time spent on death row, or allowing more appeals before the execution was carried out, would produce any kind of positive affect toward the current murder rate.
The next argument we will explore is the economic argument. I do not think any debate would be complete without look at the overall financial impact. The economic argument for executions seems simple. Many argue that it cost much more to imprison murderers for life than it does to execute them. Stated like this, the economic argument seems to reveal a disturbing lack of any moral sensitivity. The reality is on the surface one would think the cost of execution would be less expense than housing someone for years and years (Nathanson, 1987). This does not appear to be true, in fact at the trial level, death penalty cases cost approximately $470,000 more to prosecute than trying the same case as an aggravated murder without the death penalty. On direct appeal, the cost of appellate defense averages $100,000 more, and public defense costs rise an additional $137,000 in cases seeking the death penalty. A New Jersey Police Perspectives report concluded that the states death penalty had cost taxpayers $253 million since 1983, a figure that is over and above the costs that would have been incurred had the state utilized a sentence of life without parole instead of death (Death Penalty Information Center). The truth, regardless of what we think, is that the death penalty cost far more than jailing someone for life.
There is another perspective that many people seem to think is a viable reason to have the death penalty and that is to “give people what they deserve” (Nathanson, 1987). To me this is a morbid argument, who decides what a person “deserves”. The question here is even if people who commit murder deserve to die, is it wrong for the state to execute them? Many experts suggest that if state representatives dealt with the environmental and social issues in their state, then the violent crime rates would drop drastically. It has been proven that areas with the highest crime rates are those in the worst socio-economic health. Not only was the murder rate highest