Crime punishment and politics in the United States



Crime punishment and politics in the United States

Introduction

A crime is a serious offense against the public law. It is a problem that many countries throughout the world face today. It is not solely an economic concern but it's a reflection of society's political and economical issues. In order to find a solution to this problem you must understand a countries political history and what was the role that politics played in its historical economy. For example; in the United States of America the economy is politically motivated by those that are rich and those that are in power. Throughout these few pages I will focus on a few topics that can reduce the crime within the United States only if the political sector of the country would take a closer look at those deteriorated social issues that exist. A taboo subject for some, the death penalty has become a key subject in debate as to whether a person or persons have the freedom and right to play God in deciding if someone is to live or die. The death penalty violates the right to life and as such has no place in a modern judicial system. Fortunately, it has been a dying practice as of late and the figures, according to Amnesty International are as follows: countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. (Hudspith, Sarah, 2003)

62 countries retain and use the death penalty, most often as a punishment for people convicted of murder. At least 1,591 people were known to be executed in 25 countries during 2006. The true figure is certainly higher. 91 per cent of all known executions in 2006 took place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the USA. 1Taking someone's life for any crime is not justifiable. The fear of death and losing one's life may seem to be the greatest retribution; however such a system is primitive and barbaric. It is a biased, usually racist and at times costs the lives of those who are innocent. (Hudspith, Sarah, 2003)

Explanation

The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes.2 Since that time capital punishment has been adopted by many countries and their rulers with multiple ways of executing a criminal for petty, pathetic crimes that many would deem unreasonable. In the early times such barbaric methods like drowning, beating to death, burning alive, impalement and the famous crucifixion were used as methods to kill those sentences to death. As time progressed in the renaissance, politics and laws may have changed but the cruelty of the executions did not. In England, as in France, authorities had experimented with such “delicious” refinements as burning at the stake, boiling in oil, beheading and pressing to death in instances where major offences had been committed. (Hudspith, Sarah, 2003)

Gradually, however, all these “luxuries” gave way to ...