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New York:
Oxford University Press.Is Capital Punishment Justified?
By
Eric Sissom
Introduction to Sociology
April 9, 2007
Abstract
The death penalty is used in 38 states as punishment for murder. Many people consider capital punishment as cruel; others consider it as justice served with the assumption that it prevents crime, but murder rates have not decreased when capital punishment is adopted. There were more than 4,500 people executed in the United States since 1930. Around 120 inmates on death row have been released since 1973 because of evidence of their innocence.
In 2005, the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for crimes committed by juveniles. There were 22 defendants executed for crimes committed as juveniles since 1976. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that it’s unconstitutional to execute defendants with mental retardation, which overturned a previous 1989 ruling. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the American Bar Association endorse an exemption of the death penalty for the severely mentally ill.
Lethal injection is the preferred execution method today for about 75% of executions. The electric chair, the gas chamber, hanging, and the firing squad are still used in some states. In 2006, there were concerns that people experienced extremely painful executions due to poor administration of the injections, which led several courts to review how lethal injections were conducted and set stricter standards for them. This paper will address both sides of the argument for and against capital punishment, looking at the issue from a neutral standpoint.
Introduction
The debate over capital punishment has been raised and discussed for years throughout history. In the 1800’s, most executions occurred for convictions for murder. Some people were executed for convictions of armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and treason. Pennsylvania was the first state to abolish the death penalty for robbery, burglary, and sodomy in 1786 and applied executions only for first-degree murder.
Capital punishment became widespread during the Middle Ages. From Rome to modern era, the death penalty was applied throughout Western Europe for more than two thousand years. England had more than 200 capital offenses in the 1700’s.
The call to abolish capital punishment started in the 18th century. Some of the first countries to abolish the death penalty included Venezuela in 1863, San Marino in 1865, and Costa Rica in 1877. Great Britain abolished the death penalty in 1965 and was permanently outlawed in 1969.
As of 2004, 81 countries had abolished capital punishment, including members of the European Union. But some other countries still use the death penalty only for treason and war crimes. Countries in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia have capital punishment for ordinary crimes. The United States and China apply the death penalty more frequently than other countries. Texas applies the death plenty more frequently than all the other states.
Christian conservatives, the Catholic Pope, and others have always and will continue to advocate against the death plenty. Capital punishment has been a debated topic for years. There will always be supporters for and against the death plenty.
Literature Review
Arguments against Capital Punishment
There are many arguments against capital punishment. One argument is that it may violate Eighth Amendment rights, which is against cruel and unusual punishments. That is the reason for introducing the electric chair in New York in 1890 as an improved method of execution over hanging. But that method has been debated because the electric chair is known to catch on fire and the thought of watching a condemned man burn to death is not humane. This same humanitarian argument was used for the execution method of lethal gas, which was introduced in Nevada in 1923. Today, the most widespread method of execution is lethal injection. Lethal injection is thought to include no bodily mutilation, no disfigurement, no delay, no odor, and no pain. But in 2006, it became recognized that condemned prisoners may have received extremely painful executions due to poor administration of the injections and it’s been argued and grounds for appeal of death sentences in court unsuccessfully.
Another argument against the death penalty is the risk of executing the innocent. Defendants are convicted for murder based on circumstantial evidence, false eyewitness testimony, and coerced false confessions during police interrogations. Defendants on trial for murder also receive poor legal council with little to no experience. The courts assume that public defenders who have experience only in insurance fraud and bank fraud type cases could handle capital cases. Public defenders also improperly handle appeals of death sentences. There has never been a rich person executed. Bedau and Cassell wrote on the issue, and said that “Support for capital punishment necessarily means accepting a punishment that is applied unequally and that largely condemns poor and disfavored defendants who are unable to obtain adequate legal assistance” (Debating the Death Penalty, 2004).
Two Justices on the United States Supreme Court actually publicly admitted on the pervasive inadequacy of appointed counsel in capital cases. Public defenders are also under paid and over worked. Over 80 percent of inmates with a death sentence were tried, convicted and sentenced to death with a public defender whose compensation was capped at $1,000. Therefore, public defenders usually don’t spend the necessary amount of time on a capital case to effectively defend the defendant. Bedau and Cassell conclude, “Death sentences are imposed in a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent” (Bedau and Cassell, 2004).
Another argument is that defendants of a different race are treated unfairly in the criminal justice system. A jury is more likely to convict a black defendant and sentence him to death for murdering a white victim than a white defendant for murdering a black victim. Many prisoners who were executed were mentally ill and some were juveniles at the time of their crime.
There are a number of moral arguments against the death penalty. Abolitionists believe in the value of human life and the respect for human life. Others believe the state has no right to kill any of its prisoners. Some see the death penalty as an affront to human dignity. Others believe the death penalty violates the offender's right to life. Some oppose the death penalty because of what it reveals about Americans in tolerating and not advocating these killings.
Arguments in favor of Capital Punishment
About 65% of Americans who responded to a survey are in favor of the death penalty. One argument in favor of the death penalty is the hope that it has a deterrent affect to prevent other people from committing crimes. This is a controversial argument. There have not been any noticeable decreases in homicide rates when the death penalty is in use. But the evidence is inconclusive if the death penalty deters or fails to deter people from committing murder. Bedau and Cassell wrote, “Imagine that every time someone intentionally killed an innocent person he was immediately struck down by lightning” (Bedau and Cassell, 2004). Now that might have a deterrent affect for would-be killers, but that’s wishful thinking.
There are three types of general deterrent effect: Logic, firsthand reports, and social science research. Logic deterrent suggests the death penalty is the most effective deterrent with reflection and thoughts by people with reasonable intelligence and unimpaired mental abilities to not commit murder. An example of firsthand reports is when criminals purposely choose a state that does not have the death penalty to commit their crimes over a state that has the death penalty. The death penalty also serves as a deterrent when an inmate is serving a life sentence for a murder conviction and kills prison guards or other inmates. The death penalty is the only punishment in those circumstances when the inmate is already sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Social science research shows that states that apply the death penalty more often have a reduction in murder rates since 1966. Bedau and Cassell wrote, “Controlling for numerous variables, the University of Colorado researchers found ‘a statistically significant relationship between executions, pardons and homicide.’ In particular, they found that each additional execution deters five murders” (Bedau and Cassell, 2004).
Another argument, called retribution, is when a person intentionally kills another person, that person deserves the death penalty. Bedau and Cassell wrote, “Intentionally taking the life of an innocent human being is so evil that absent mitigating circumstances, the perpetrator forfeits his own right to life. He or she deserves to die” (Bedau and Cassell, 2004). Anti-death penalty advocates confuse retribution with revenge. Retribution is not revenge. Retribution is the theory that the murderer deserves a punishment for the gravity of the crime.
Another argument suggests the death penalty saves innocent lives by preventing convicted killers from killing again. There is no question of the possibility of a killer killing again. A study reveals out of 52,000 prison inmates serving time for murder, about 810 previously convicted of murder had killed 821 persons following their convictions. Therefore, if these killers were executed after their first conviction, over 800 lives would have been saved.
Implications
There are many conflicting arguments with regard to the death penalty. Anti-death penalty advocates don’t want to see innocent inmates executed and have moral and religion reasons for being against the death penalty. Pro-death penalty advocates want capital crimes to stop and support the death penalty with the assumption that it deters crime and saves innocent lives. Regardless of how anti-death penalty advocates feel of the death penalty, it’s been known that convicted murderers kill again. Executing a condemned killer brings closure to the victim’s families and protects society. On the other hand, there is always a chance the person being executed is innocent. With the thought of the possibility of executing an innocent man/woman, the death penalty should only be used on serial killers and repeat offenders.
Recommendations
As with all controversial issues, there are a lot of opinions and views of capital punishment. The best solution is not to rush judgment. Just because somebody was convicted of murder doesn’t mean that he/she is actually guilty. It’s important that the right person(s) is punished for the crime. If an innocent person is executed, that means the real killer goes free. The police need to do better and not rely on confessions or coerce confessions from innocent people. The government needs to be 100% sure the right person is executed for the murder he/she committed. If there is any doubt, the execution should be delayed.
Conclusion
While the arguments are valid on both sides of the issue, 65% of surveyed Americans are in favor of capital punishment and the remaining 35% are not. There needs to be “Efforts to resolve the conflict between those who favor and those who oppose the death penalty will have to focus on resolving the conflict between those who hold to the notion that government is too weak to protect the individual and those who worry that government is too powerful” (Trying to Understand America's Death Penalty System and Why We Still Have It, 2003). Each capital punishment case is different and each case requires a thorough investigation to determine fairness and justice. With so many inmates on death row, you’ll have to wonder how many of them are innocent, how many of them are guilty that don’t deserve to die for their crime because they are able to be rehabilitated or have a mental problem or didn’t have good legal council, and how many of them truly deserve to die because they have no conscience and no remorse for their crime(s). There will always be a debate over capital punishment for years to come and there is not likely going to be a solution that will satisfy everyone.
References
Bedau, Hugo Adam, & Cassell,
Paul G. (2004). Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Case
Death Penalty Information Center. (2007, March 1). Death Penalty Facts Sheet. Retrieved March 5, 2007, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
Geraghty, Thomas. (2003). Trying to Understand America’s Death Penalty System and Why We Still Have It. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94(1), 209. Retrieved March 28, 2007, from Questia database.
Maloney, J.J. (1999, January 30). The Death Penalty. Crime Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from Crime Magazine. http://www.crimemagazine.com/cp101.htm
World Book Encyclopedia, The. (1975 ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation.
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Grade: 230/240 | This report was written by Eric Sissom, autism@ericsissom.com
