8th Amendment Bars Cruel And Unusual Punishment
Hundreds of Americans are wrongfully sent to death row. This means that hundreds of people die innocently. Killing people for killing others is wrong in any situation. Though some people say when murder is punished with death, less people will commit the crime, murdering is uncivil, especially when the person is wrongfully accused. Killing someone for killing someone else is not an appropriate punishment. According to the Constitution the death penalty is uncivil. The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment. Several people say the death penalty is cruel. People that have family members killed are not usually wanting the other person killed, just locked up. In 2015, Dylann Roof opened fire in a church and killed nine people. Melvin
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Graham was one of the victim’s brother, he said, “Even the ugliest of criminals should not be killed by the state.” Not only is the death penalty uncivil, many people get wrongfully accused. Numerous people are wrongfully accused and sent to death row. That means innocent people are murdered. Studies have shown that the evidence used to convict people is often faulty. Eyewitness testimony is used in countless murder convictions without any physical evidence. It has led to many misidentifications. There are 266 prisoners that have been exonerated by DNA evidence and three-fourths of them have been wrongfully convicted based on mistaken eyewitness identification. Decades of life is stolen from people on death row. Anthony Ray Hinton figured he had one or two years until he was executed. They made him wait 30 years for something he did not do. The innocent people wait on death row for decades for a crime they did not commit. However, a lot of people don’t think the death penalty is wrong. Many people say when murder is punished with murder fewer criminals will kill.
Less than a year ago a man from Canada checked if Illinois still used the death penalty. When he found out they did not, he murdered a woman. The question that people ask is if the death penalty was still in effect would she still be alive? The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment. In the case Glossip v. Gross they said lethal injections did not violate the Amendment. In a lengthy dispute Justin Stephen Breyer argued that it is time for a “full meeting on a more basic question: does the death penalty violate the Constitution? Since 2007 seven states have abolished capital punishment. According to a news reporter, Kent Faulk, Ronald B. Smith was still slightly conscious when they gave him his lethal injection. Smith was gasping for breath, heaving, and coughing for 13 minutes. The people that inject the prisoner need to make sure the person is unconscious first. The death penalty is wrong and it should no longer be …show more content…
used. People think that when murder is punished with death, fewer people will murder.
But the death penalty is uncivil, particularly when the person is wrongfully accused. The death penalty has left many innocent people dead. It is not right to punish someone when they are innocent. Work Cited
Bedau, Hugo A., and others. "Reasonable Doubts: The Growing Movement Against the Death Penalty." American Prospect Vol.15 No.7, Jul 2004, pp. A1-A23. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Filipovic, Jill. "Dylann Roof is Evil. Don't Kill Him." CNN Wire Service, 13 Jan 2017, SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Heyns, Christof, and Juan Mendez. "Time to Kill the Federal Death Penalty." Wall Street Journal, 05 Nov 2015, pp. A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com
Jacoby, Jeff. "When Murder is Punished with Death, Fewer Criminals Will Murder." Boston Globe, 26 Aug 2016, pp. K.5. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Parks, Peggy J. Current Issues: The Death Penalty, Current Issues: The Death Penalty, 2012, SIRS Issues Researcher,http://sks.sirs.com.
Vox, Ford. "We can no Longer Mask the Barbarity of the Death Penalty." CNN Wire Service, 10 Dec 2016, SIRS Issues
Researcher,http://sks.sirs.com.
Wolf, Richard, and Kevin Johnson. "Decades of Life Stolen from Men Facing Death." USA TODAY, 16 Sep 2015, pp. A.8. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Graham was one of the victim’s brother, he said, “Even the ugliest of criminals should not be killed by the state.” Not only is the death penalty uncivil, many people get wrongfully accused. Numerous people are wrongfully accused and sent to death row. That means innocent people are murdered. Studies have shown that the evidence used to convict people is often faulty. Eyewitness testimony is used in countless murder convictions without any physical evidence. It has led to many misidentifications. There are 266 prisoners that have been exonerated by DNA evidence and three-fourths of them have been wrongfully convicted based on mistaken eyewitness identification. Decades of life is stolen from people on death row. Anthony Ray Hinton figured he had one or two years until he was executed. They made him wait 30 years for something he did not do. The innocent people wait on death row for decades for a crime they did not commit. However, a lot of people don’t think the death penalty is wrong. Many people say when murder is punished with murder fewer criminals will kill.
Less than a year ago a man from Canada checked if Illinois still used the death penalty. When he found out they did not, he murdered a woman. The question that people ask is if the death penalty was still in effect would she still be alive? The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment. In the case Glossip v. Gross they said lethal injections did not violate the Amendment. In a lengthy dispute Justin Stephen Breyer argued that it is time for a “full meeting on a more basic question: does the death penalty violate the Constitution? Since 2007 seven states have abolished capital punishment. According to a news reporter, Kent Faulk, Ronald B. Smith was still slightly conscious when they gave him his lethal injection. Smith was gasping for breath, heaving, and coughing for 13 minutes. The people that inject the prisoner need to make sure the person is unconscious first. The death penalty is wrong and it should no longer be …show more content…
used. People think that when murder is punished with death, fewer people will murder.
But the death penalty is uncivil, particularly when the person is wrongfully accused. The death penalty has left many innocent people dead. It is not right to punish someone when they are innocent. Work Cited
Bedau, Hugo A., and others. "Reasonable Doubts: The Growing Movement Against the Death Penalty." American Prospect Vol.15 No.7, Jul 2004, pp. A1-A23. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Filipovic, Jill. "Dylann Roof is Evil. Don't Kill Him." CNN Wire Service, 13 Jan 2017, SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Heyns, Christof, and Juan Mendez. "Time to Kill the Federal Death Penalty." Wall Street Journal, 05 Nov 2015, pp. A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com
Jacoby, Jeff. "When Murder is Punished with Death, Fewer Criminals Will Murder." Boston Globe, 26 Aug 2016, pp. K.5. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.
Parks, Peggy J. Current Issues: The Death Penalty, Current Issues: The Death Penalty, 2012, SIRS Issues Researcher,http://sks.sirs.com.
Vox, Ford. "We can no Longer Mask the Barbarity of the Death Penalty." CNN Wire Service, 10 Dec 2016, SIRS Issues
Researcher,http://sks.sirs.com.
Wolf, Richard, and Kevin Johnson. "Decades of Life Stolen from Men Facing Death." USA TODAY, 16 Sep 2015, pp. A.8. SIRS Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.