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A Wild Justice: The Death And Resurrection Of Capital Punishment Essay

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A Wild Justice: The Death And Resurrection Of Capital Punishment Essay
The death penalty has been a criminal sentence imposed in America for hundreds of years, but it have been extremely controversial as Evan Mandery illustrates in “A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America.” Today, the death sentence is strictly used in murder cases and in thirty-two out of the fifty states in America. In these states, it is completely legal to use the ultimate punishment of death to incapacitate a criminal from committing any further harm to society. Throughout American history, many individuals have supported the death penalty because they believe it is an effective way to deter crime and is a form of retribution. Others have strongly advocated against capital punishment because it is not morally correct and it not applied fairly. Also, some argue that it is unconstitutional to use the death penalty because it violates the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eight Amendment written in the United States Constitution. …show more content…
Georgia decision, Mandery reveals that Justice Stewart and White met and agreed to join the majority to repeal the death penalty. According to Mandery, White told Stewart that he will not vote against the death penalty on moral grounds, but will write an opinion if it’s struck down on procedural grounds only. The decision of Furman V. Georgia was a deemed unconstitutional because of it was arbitrary, which caused states to rewrite their laws about the use of capital punishment. Mandery explains that 37 states passed death penalty laws after the Furman decision. For example, some states made the death penalty mandatory for all capital offenses in order treat all murders the same. In addition, states adopted some guided discretion and aggravating factors for the use of the death penalty. After the decision of Furman V. Georgia, the public support for capital punishment rose and Mandery notes that this occurred because of the increase of violent crimes in
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