Preview

dealth penalty

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
665 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
dealth penalty
DEATH PENALTY REACTION

Course Title

Instructor’s Name

Date

What is Capital Punishment?
Capital punishment is a practice where wrongdoers get executed when convicted of committing a capital crime. Capital crime refers to a crime deemed so immoral such that it is punishable by death penalty. The mostly used name for capital punishment is “death penalty”. This punishment came up as a result of the human feeling that some crimes deserve a more serious punishment (Franklin, 1997). Some felt that those who committed these crimes no longer deserved to live with other human beings since they were a threat to other humans live.
Explain whether you are for or against capital punishment
According to my personal feeling, capital punishment should be abolished. This is because it denies people one of the basic rights to live. Every human being is entitled to live. Only God should take ones live since He is the giver of this live. I, therefore, strongly oppose capital punishment (Black, 1999).
Eighth Amendment and its relevance to the death Penalty, and death penalty timeline
The Eighth Amendment to the constitution bars imposition of punishments termed as “unusual and cruel.” This amendment came up as a result of a hypothesis made by Justice Marshall. In carrying out the hypothesis, he evaluated the relevance of public opinion as an element in finding and deciding the constitutionality of the death penalty. Even though, this amendment was made, it has no clear meaning since the extent of cruelty is not defined. The constitutional statement is that ambiguous (Ewer, 1980).
The main target of the Eighth Amendments was to check the extent to which capital punishment was practiced. It was meant to put a limit and ensure even though the punishment was given to the prisoners, it was never done in an inhuman manner. The capital punishment according to this amendment was supposed to be done in a reasonable manner. So many critics have come



References: Black, P., (1999). Do Circumstances Ever Justify Capital Punishment? Theological Studies, Vol. 60 Issue 2, p338. Coker v. Georgia 433 U.S. 584 (1977). BRENNAN - Cornell University. Ewer, P. A., (1980). Eighth Amendment the death penalty. journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol. 71 Issue 4, p538-546 Franklin, H., (1997). Billy Budd and capital punishment: A tale of three centuries. American Literature, Vol. 69 Issue 2, p337.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution requires that the government impose no punishment that is “cruel and unusual.”1 One question that rises from this amendment is whether or not a sentence is unconstitutional if it is disproportional to the crime committed. In recent past, the United States Supreme Court has struggled with this issue and with coming to a consensus on how to view proportionality in the Eighth Amendment.2…

    • 3052 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main focus point and argument regarding both the Stanford v. Kentucky and Roper v. Simmons case rely mainly on the eight amendment. Throughout both cases, the eighth amendment played a key factor in determining the court’s decision, regarding whether or not Simmons or Stanford would be facing the death penalty. Both “The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.” The eighth amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” While both the eighth and fourteenth played a key factor in determining the court’s decision, the decision was more so based on the eight amendment. Both cases predominately focused on the phrase, “nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. As of 2010, methods permitted for use include beheading, electric chair, gas chamber, hanging, lethal injection, and shooting.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cruel and unsual punshiment is the eighth Amendment to the Counstitution of the United States. Anyone that has convicted of a crime have the right to be free of Curel and unsual during the time of jail or even prison. The eighth Amendment is almost the same as part of the 1689 English Bill of Rights. The amendment was written in because of a man named Titus Oastes lied and hurt many innocent people because of it. James Madison also know as “Father of the Constitution” wrote this amendment in 1789 the amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791.…

    • 99 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Does the death penalty violate the sixth and eighth amendment was a question that was asked, “Although there is substantial research about the nationwide operation of capital punishment, empirical research on Delaware’s death penalty is modest in amount”. The Delaware supreme court concluded that because the mercy statute” delegates to jury and judge uncontrolled discretion the imposition of the death penalty there is room for that caprice, whim, and discrimination in the imposition of the death penalty that now stands condemned by the United…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Week 1 Assignment Crt 205

    • 633 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The eighth amendment of the Constitution clearly states that individuals will not have cruel or unusual punishment inflicted on them (U.S. Constitution). However, today many of those opposed consider capital punishment to be the cruelest form of punishment. Unfortunately, for it to be unconstitutional it would need to be cruel and also unusual. The founders, undoubtedly, did not consider capital punishment unusual as it was commonplace in the day for crimes of treason and murder. When given as a sentence in regard to vicious crime, capital punishment is a guarantee that the criminal will not escape and again commit these acts.…

    • 633 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Furman V. Georgia

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Georgia. Was capital punishment a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment? The majority of the Court deemed it was not since “Capital punishment accords with contemporary standards of decency, capital punishment may serve some deterrent or retributive purpose that is not degrading to human dignity, and in the case of the Georgia law under review, capital punishment is no longer arbitrarily applied” (Gregg v. Georgia, 1976, p. 1). The difference between this case and Furman v. Georgia is that previously the Court had ruled that the death penalty methods as administered back then were unconstitutional, not the actual idea of the death penalty…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Opponents of the practice most often utilize moral or legal grounds as the basis for their arguments or in some cases a combination of the two. Most often cited in the arguments against the use of the death penalty are the contentions that the use of the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment as prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This argument is the one which was used in the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia which alleged that Georgia’s death penalty statutes constituted cruel and unusual punishment and led to a temporary moratorium on the use of the death penalty until state legislatures came up with concise procedures, in the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger, “legislative bodies may seek to bring their laws into compliance with the Court’s ruling by providing standards for juries and judges to follow in determining the sentence in capital cases or by more narrowly defining the crimes for which the penalty is to be imposed” (Banner…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Capital punishment is the ultimate sentence administered by the government for committing dangerous offenses. The word “capital” derives from the Latin word “capitalis,” meaning “of the head.” Original instances of capital punishment included beheading and hanging, leading to the use of word “capital” today. Through history, communities have considered some types of crimes so terrifying that the death penalty has been enacted for them. Over time, changing moralistic values and notions on government authority have limited the number and sorts of crimes considered worthy of death. Many countries have eliminated capital punishment totally, dismissing it as an inhumane reaction to criminal…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Eighth Amendment restricts against “cruel and unusual punishment”. This makes people think that the death penalty should also be restricted, however capital punishment was sometimes declared lawful. 6. Define the following concepts: democratic theory, republicanism, pluralist theory, majoritarianism, and the elitist…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution states, Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. We know what excessive bail is and excessive fines, but what exactly cruel and unusual punishment? In the middle ages there were many forms of punishment. Some may result in death while others would permanently scar and disfigure someone for the rest of their life. Before the Americas were settled, England used many different forms of punishment, some of which were brought to the Americas. These included flogging “or whipping”, stocks, and the pillory. These acts were considered the norm. This was due greatly to the fact…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    8th Amendment Essay

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution reads: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Since the wording in this amendment is general in regards to what is cruel and unusual punishment, the Court was left to decide whether they would adopt a strict constitutional perspective consistent with the framer’s definitions of “cruel and unusual,” or use a living constitutionalist approach, meaning the definitions of “cruel and unusual” would evolve alongside society’s definition of the words. According to the casebook, “cruel and unusual” was “derived from the English Bill of Rights of 1689, originally understood to refer to such ancient practices as branding, drawing and quartering, burning alive, and crucifixion.” After understanding the framer’s definitions, the Court decided in Trop v. Dulles that the Eighth Amendment should derive its meaning from the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” This decision carries through to the precedents that follow, especially in the death penalty cases. The Court must then choose a criteria or way of determining the “evolving standards” without overstepping their judicial power. As seen in Roper v. Simmons, the Court uses state laws and international agreements to support their notion of society’s evolving definition of what is “cruel and unusual…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    8th Amendment

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The death penalty is an archaic procedure which operates on a rampant racial bias. Its use is not only tremendously expensive but also ineffective in complying to its purpose : deterring crime and controlling criminal behavior. The courts have struggled to define “ cruel and unusual,” because the term is ultimately vague and the definitions applied to terms like cruel and unusual change over time. Customs also change over time as societies viewpoints and ideologies adapt to into the future. An example of changes in the definition about the 8th amendment is seen in the landmark case of Weems vs United States (1910), where Weems was imprisoned for falsifying a public and official document and as a result was sentenced to 15 years. On top of his…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    8th Amendment Essay

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Beginning with the history of capital punishment, this paper will explore the Supreme Court cases, which have addressed issues such as whether the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment.…

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Capital punishment, known as the death penalty is punishment by death and is reserved for the most heinous of crimes. The first known death penalty execution in what would later become the United States, was in 1608, when Captain George Kendell was executed by firing squad for being a spy for Spain (Waksman, 2012).…

    • 2185 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays