Capital Punishment in America

Introduction

In the United States there have been many hangings during the Salem Witch trials, and as years went by capital punishment was less horrid and somewhat more "humane" compared to in the past. Although it is less gruesome, capital punishment is not an effective form of punishment and therefore it should be removed from the justice system. Out of the many factors that play a role in capital punishment and why it is ineffective, innocence, deterrence, and cost are a few. Innocence plays an important role in capital punishment (Banner, 12-28), it makes capital punishment ineffective because occasionally the justice system can be incorrect and an innocent person can be put to death. Then later on it is determined due to DNA testing that it was in fact, someone else who had committed the crime and an innocent person had lost their life for no mistake of their own.

Historical Background

Capital punishment came to the United States in the seventeenth century during the colonial period. A major influence on capital punishment law in the United States was English law, which recognized eight major capital offenses: treason, petty treason, murder, larceny, robbery, burglary, rape, and arson. Throughout America's history, capital punishment has usually been reserved for the crime of murder. (One notable exception occurred primarily in the South after the Civil War, where the crime of rape—especially if the offender was black and the victim was white—was often punished by death.)

In 1793, Pennsylvania was the first jurisdiction to distinguish between different degrees of murder, with capital punishment being reserved for only first-degree murder, and only the most heinous offenders. During the nineteenth century, there was a trend away from mandatory death sentences and toward giving juries sentencing discretion—options for alternative punishments to the death penalty, such as life imprisonment. An abolitionist movement began in the United States early in the twentieth century and resulted in the repeal of death penalty statutes in nine states. Quakers, Unitarians, and other liberal Christians headed this movement; it ended abruptly as the result of a dramatic increase in crime during the 1920s and 1930s, and never fully resumed.

From 1967 until 1972, the United States Supreme Court debated on whether or not capital punishment is constitutional. On June 29, 1972, the Court ruled that a death penalty is unconstitutional because in some cases it can go against the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment protects citizens from a "cruel and unusual punishment". For nine years, from 1967 until 1976, capital punishment was in a state of national moratorium. It indicates that all states stopped all executions. In July of 1976, the Court upheld the death penalty as a reasonable punishment for some crimes.

For all of the murderers, thieves, drug lords, rapists and any other severe law perpetrator, there must be some form of control and it must be capital punishment. Any person who kills people with no regrets or rapes innocent victims continuously, does not deserve to live in a luxurious North American ...