The death penalty has two meanings. It is notorious as the capital punishment …show more content…
of executions carried out by a government. In history, ruling monarchies have executed humans as long as humans have been recording history. A copious amount of ancient texts elucidate that originally, the death penalty was viewed as a price to pay for a crime rather than a punishment, this is also similar to the saying an ‘’eye for an eye’’ or a ‘’tooth for a tooth’’, which is Common Law including The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. For this reason, the original perpetrator did not necessarily have to be the one executed. Since then, however, it has evolved into a means of punishing the individual, ensuring he or she commits no other crimes, and, in many societies, as a way to bring closure to any people harmed by the criminal's actions. It has also been viewed as a means to deter people from committing more pivotal crimes, much in the way the threat of jail time is used to instill fear in "minor" criminals. Another meaning is that it is a form of punishment that involves executing a person after that individual has been found guilty of a crime by his or her legal system. Most countries have used this form of punishment at some point in modern times for different crimes, putting people to death in a variety of ways that have evolved with society.
The death penalty is one of the most crucial issue regarding the eight amendment in the bill of rights, though a profusion of people concur and don’t concur with death penalty.
For the people that do agree with it, there perspectives of the death penalty is that it is the ultimate warning, that criminals should not commit any crime to be ended up in that predicament. For example, ‘’ He may have no intention of killing anyone in the process of robbing them, but is much more apprehensive about the possibility if he knows he will be executed. Thus, there is a better chance that he will not break and enter in the first place’’. This example from the article is elucidating that if a criminal would just abide by the law and don’t commit any crime then he wouldn’t have to face any death penalty, and that this is why it is the ultimate warning. Another example of people’s perspective that agree with death penalties is that it provide closure for the victims making them complacent. For example,’’ Unfortunately, the murderer has deprived his family and friends of a loved one. Their grief begins with the murder. It may not end with the murderer’s execution, but the execution does engender a feeling of relief at no longer having to think about the ordeal—a feeling which often fails to arise while the murderer still lives on’’ . This example is delineating that if that individual does get executed it will make the victim satisfied, giving them their sense of relief. It also explain …show more content…
that if a system is in place for the purpose of granting justice cannot do so for the surviving victims, unless the murderer himself is put to death.
While the supporters of this infamous and controversial issue corroborate it, an abundance of people disagree with the death penalty.
For the people that don’t agree with death penalty there perspective is that it is unconstitutional and it violates the eight amendment. For example, ‘’ "Death is not only an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality, and in its enormity, but it serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment. I would set aside the death sentences imposed... as violate of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments." This example is explaining that the death penalty is cruel and unconstitutional from William J. Brennen perspective. Another example of peoples perspective of death penalty is it teaches the condemned nothing. If the criminals who are being sentence to a death penalty had a chance to rehabilitate their selves, learn from their mistakes then they could possibly change, however they won’t be able to change if they are deceased. For example, ‘’ His time in prison is meant to deprive him of the freedom to go where he wants anywhere in the world, and to do what he wants when he wants. This is the punishment, and most people do learn from it. In general, no one wants to go back. But if that child grows up and murders someone for their wallet or just for fun, and they are in turn put to death, they are taught precisely nothing, because they are no longer alive to learn from it. We cannot rehabilitate a person
by killing him or her’’.
The issue of death penalty not only argued against people, however in the legal playing field. For example, the case of Kennedy vs. Louisiana –June 25 2008. This case was about Petitioner Patrick Kennedy who was convicted and sentenced to death in Louisiana for the aggravated rape of his then 8 year-old stepdaughter. A Louisiana state statute authorized capital punishment for the rape of a child under 12. The State Supreme Court affirmed the statute, rejecting petitioner’s reliance on Coker v. Georgia, which prevented the use of capital punishment for the rape of an adult woman. The Supreme Court concluded that the Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim’s death. Another example, is the case of Base vs. Rez – April 16, 2008. This case was about Petitioners Ralph Baze and Thomas C. Bowling, convicted for murder and sentenced to death in Kentucky state court, filed suit asserting that the lethal injection protocol violates the Eighth Amendment’s constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishments. The state trial court upheld it as constitutional. Later, the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the lethal injection protocol was substantially safe from wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain, torture, or lingering death. The Supreme Court affirmed the lethal injection protocol as constitutional.
With this modern issue regarding the eight amendment in the bill of rights, it has advanced to a supreme court’s ruling. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, however, the Eighth Amendment does shape certain procedural aspects regarding when a jury may use the death penalty and how it must be carried out. Due to the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, the Eighth Amendment applies against the states, as well as the federal government . In addition, The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a penalty must be proportional to the crime; otherwise, the punishment violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. In performing its proportionality analysis, the Supreme Court makes a decision off of three things, consideration of the offense's gravity and the stringency of the penalty, a consideration of how the jurisdiction punishes its other criminals, and a consideration of how other jurisdictions punish the same crime. The death penalty is one of the most pivotal issue regarding the Eight Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Though the Supreme Court gave their ruling on the death penalty, the death penalty appears to be sufficient because it offers justice and adequate punishment depending on the crime for the victim and criminal. It would corroborate the concept of deterrence and its goal of preventing future crimes because the consequences would be too serious. This would actually corroborate and perhaps even prove the rational choice theory in which people will engage in delinquent and criminal behavior after the consequences and benefits of their actions. In conclusion, this infamous topic will always be controversial from the people of the United States perspective.