Definition and purpose:
Capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty, is the execution of a a person sentenced to death after conviction of a criminal offense by a court of law. Crimes eligible for the death penalty almost always involve murders.
At some point before the trial, the prosecution announces its intention to seek the death penalty if the defendant is found guilty. A judge or lawyer must also decide if jurors can consider aggravating evidence and be able to deliver a death sentence through a series of questions. The jury then chooses between a death sentence and a lesser sentence although in some states the judge can override the jury’s decision.
(britannica.com) (deathpenaltycurriculum.org)
A brief history:
1907-1917: Nine states abolish the death penalty for all crimes or strictly limit it. By 1920, five of those states had reinstated it.
June 29, 1972: In Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court effectively voids 40 death penalty statutes and suspends the death penalty because they ruled it to be cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
1976: In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in a 7-to-2 decision. The Court said a punishment of death did not violate the Eighth Amendment under all circumstances. In extreme criminal cases, such as when a defendant has been convicted of deliberate murder, the judicious use of the death penalty may be appropriate if carefully employed.
1986: Ford v. Wainwright. Execution of insane persons is banned; however, people with a mental illness, which is legally distinct from insanity, still can be executed.
2002: Atkins v. Virginia. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of legally mentally retarded defendants violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
2020: The most recent federal execution was of John Gardner, who killed his wife in 2005 in Collin County, TX.
(cnn.com)
Controversy/varying viewpoints:
For Capital PunishmentSupporters believe those who commit murder, especially mass murders, have forfeited their own right to life because they have taken another. They also claim that it has a uniquely potent deterrent effect on potentially violent offenders for whom the threat of imprisonment is not a sufficient restraint. Some believe that it is possible to fashion laws and procedures that ensure that only those who are really deserving of death are executed. |
Against Capital PunishmentOpponents argue that by legitimizing the very behaviour that the law seeks to repress — killing — capital punishment is counterproductive. The cost of an execution is more expensive than the cost to hold someone in prison for life without parole. Some moral arguments claim every human, even murderers, still have the right to life. The death penalty is not always a more effective deterrent than the alternative long-term imprisonment. Poor and ethnic and religious minorities often do not have access to good legal assistance, so some people will receive the death penalty for crimes they did not commit. |
(britannica.com)
Recent developments:
As of May 31, 2019, capital punishment is legal in 29 U.S. states; 22 prisoners were executed in 2019 and 25 prisoners were executed in 2018.
(deathpenaltyinfo.org)
Public Opinion:
The 2016 Democratic Platform Committee called for the abolition of the death penalty, which it describes as “a cruel and unusual form of punishment” that “has no place” in the nation.
The 2016 Republican National Convention decries the “over-federalization of criminal justice,” says the constitutionality of the death penalty is “firmly settled,” and condemns the U.S. Supreme Court for what it calls the “erosion of the right of the people to enact capital punishment.
According to the Pew Research Center, 54% of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 39% are opposed. About three-quarters of Republicans (77%) currently favor the death penalty, compared with 52% of Independents and 35% of Democrats.
(deathpenaltyinfo.org) (gopconvention2016.com) (pewresearch.org)
