The justice system is a complicated area of government; not all states enforce the death penalty, because criminal punishment is a subject left for the states to decide (Banner, 2002). There are multiple methods of execution available to enforce the death penalty; different states enforce different methods, even multiple methods (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010).
There's a specialist from your university waiting to help you with that essay.
Tell us what you need to have done now!
order now
There are some people that argue the death penalty is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and should be prohibited by the constitution (Banner, 2002). According to the American Civil Liberties Union, some people believe that only the defendant should have the power to choose whether or not he or she is to receive the death penalty, not the judge; they argue that capital punishment should not be pushed on to the person, and that the judge should be limited to deciding the length of the sentence (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011).
The death penalty is an extremely controversial subject on the national and state levels of government (Bedau, 1997). Only thirty-five of the fifty states enforce the death penalty. The other fifteen states support a life sentence without parole (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). The death penalty is one of the reserved powers left to the states by the Constitution of the United States in the tenth amendment. The individual states can choose how to punish the criminals in their respective states (Bedau, 1997).
The states that do not have the death penalty include: Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. New Mexico abolished the death penalty with two inmates left on death row (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). There are multiple forms of execution enforced in multiple states to carry out capital punishment. The methods of execution are lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad.
Lethal injection is the most widely used and accepted form, plus it is the primary method and only method used by all thirty-five states that have the death penalty (Banner, 2002). The drugs used in execution by lethal injection are Sodium Thiopental to cause unconsciousness, Pancuronium Bromide to stop respiration, and Potassium Chloride to stop the heart (Bedau, 1997). The method of electrocution is used by nine states in case lethal injection is found unconstitutional in the future.
The gas chamber method is enforced by four states, only to be used if lethal injection is found unconstitutional. Hanging is used in two states if lethal injection is found unconstitutional. Oklahoma is the only state that enforces the firing squad method, but only if lethal injection and electrocution are both found unconstitutional (Banner, 2002). In the past, most methods of execution could easily be classified as cruel and unusual.
On June twenty-ninth nineteen seventy-two, the United States Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in Furman v.Georgia, as cruel and unusual punishment violating the Eighth Amendment (Bedau, 1997). Today, the United States Supreme Court has ruled the five methods of execution in use in the United States constitutional as declared in the case Gregg v. Georgia (Banner, 2002). However, capital punishment on a juvenile has been ruled as cruel and unusual punishment by the Supreme Court in the case Trop v. Dulles in nineteen fifty-eight as violating the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
The comparison between the United States Government’s methods of execution and the methods of the past in other countries such as drawing and quartering and boiling people in oil, are not inhumane and have been hailed as quick and virtually painless, unlike the past methods (Bedau, 1997). A lot of individuals feel that the death penalty should be strictly the choice of the criminal. In context, the judge can only tell the convict whether or he or she qualifies for the death penalty, then the felon decides which available sentence he or she would rather.
Generally people aren’t against the death penalty, just the idea of the capital punishment being decided for the criminal. Many people agree that the convict should have a say in whether or not his or her crime deserves a result of their execution (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011). Some argue that the death penalty is premeditated murder by the state in the name of justice; which raises these questions: “Where’s the justice in murdering the murderers,” (Mitchell, 2001)? “
If the government prohibits these barbaric acts, why do they get away with the death penalty,” (Kronenwetter, 2001)? Who are they to kill to other men, when they are killing the men, for killing other men,” (Mitchell, 2001)? “Is killing a guilty person any different than killing an innocent person? ” “Does the death penalty apply to mentally retarded people,” (Kronenwetter, 2001)? “Is the purpose of the death penalty to remove from society someone who would do more harm? ” “Is the purpose to remove someone who is incapable of being rehabilitated? ” “
Is the purpose to frighten people from committing murder? “Is the purpose to punish the criminals? ” “Is the purpose of the death penalty to take retribution on behalf of the victim,” (Bedau, 1997)? The posed questions lead to the ongoing controversy of the death penalty. The many revisions of the death penalty laws are due to the few people that asked these questions, and supported their moral values in a court house (Kronenwetter, 2001). Thirteen of the thirty-five states that enforce the death penalty have laws prohibiting the execution a mentally impaired person.
A man named Oliver Cruz is on death row for raping and murdering a woman and the prosecutor reasoned that “Mr. Cruz’s lack of intellect makes him more dangerous,” which is why the mentally retarded Mr. Cruz is scheduled to receive death by lethal injection in the state of Texas (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). Many states across the country are revising their laws about capital punishment to set limits for criminals with special needs and how to punish mentally impaired law breakers (Kronenwetter, 2001).
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, some believe the mentally ill convicts should be exempt from the death penalty and be forced to live in an asylum until they die (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011). However, the financial burden of housing the mentally impaired for their lifetime is too great for the states to handle on top of the other financial responsibilities (Kronenwetter, 2001). The death penalty is considered the ultimate violation of human rights. Taking a human’s life for taking a human’s life is no better than killing a man’s horse for him killing your horse. ”
Denying a man the right to live by the death penalty is no better than the criminal denying some other person their right to live. Some would even argue that making the condemned live with his or her crime is a more severe punishment than executing the convict (Mitchell, 2001). The death penalty has dangerous risks; the repercussions of executing an innocent man would be fatal.
The Writ of Habeas Corpus is the final line of defense for the innocent (Bedau, 1997). In conclusion, the death penalty is an extremely controversial subject with many crucial aspects that are heavily debated throughout history (Banner, 2002). The true purpose of the death penalty is the most elusive detail about capital punishment, covering all insisted intents stated from the past defenders of the death penalty. There are many well built cases both supporting and attempting to abolish the death penalty.
Habeas Corpus was written in order to solve the problems of wrongful imprisonment. Along with Habeas Corpus, counsel for the poor was also added in order to ensure that only lawful imprisonment takes place. Also, the counsel for the poor was added so that the wrong person does not receive the death penalty for not knowing how to defend oneself in a court of law.
