Capital Punishment

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Introduction

Capital punishment is punishment by death for committing a
crime. Since the early 1800's most executions have resulted from
convictions for murder. The death penalty has also been imposed
for such serious crimes as armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and
treason. There is a lot of conflict between people about whether
or not capital punishment is effective in discouraging crime.
In the early 1990's, 36 states of the United States had laws
that permitted the death penalty. These laws were greatly
influenced by a 1972 decision of the Supreme Court of the United
States which had banned the death penalty as it was then imposed,
describing the carrying out of the death penalty as cruel and
unusual punishment. But the court left open the possibility that
the death penalty might be imposed for certain crimes and if it
was applied according to clear standards.
After this decision was made, new capital punishment laws
were made to satisfy the Supreme Court's requirements. These
laws limit the death penalty to murder and to other specified
crimes that result in a person's death. These crimes include
armed robbery, hijacking, and kidnapping.
Many countries, including most European and Latin-American
nations, have abolished the death penalty since 1900 - including
Canada, which did so in 1976. In the early 1990's, the United
States was the only Western industrialized nation where
executions still took place.

History

Capital punishment was common among all ancient
civilizations. It was used for a variety of offenses that today
aren't crimes at all, like stealing the keys to someone's wine
cellar.
There were many different methods of executions, and they
all had a barbaric quality. Some of the more vicious methods
were stoning, impaling, boiling in oil, burned alive, and being
stretched on the rack.
One of the most notorious ways of executions was being
beheaded by a guillotine. This machine, invented by Joseph
Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), became the official instrument of
execution in France during the French Revolution. It dropped a
huge knife that cut off the victim's head. It was regarded as
quick and merciful. The guillotine was used until 1981, when
capital punishment was abolished in France.
The death penalty was a popular method of punishment in
England. Imprisonment was hardly ever used. In the 15th century
there were eight capital crimes: treason , petty treason,
murder, larceny, robbery, burglary, rape, and arson. Other
crimes were soon added to the list, so that by the year 1780
there were 350.
Executions were common enough to require gallows in every
district of London. Bodies were sometimes left hanging as a
warning to other would-be criminals. If the hangman were so
inclined, he might give the convicted brandy to dull his senses
or pull on his legs so he would die quicker.
It was estimated that between the years 1805 and 1810, 3,000
death sentences were handed out. At this time, however, the laws
were not strictly enforced. A large number of criminals were
never executed because of royal pardon or the "benefit of
clergy".
The benefit of clergy was originally designed to give
lighter sentences to clergymen. Gradually this benefit was
extended to all who could read, since the only proof that a
person was ordained was literacy. All that was required was the
ability to read one particular verse from Psalm 51 of the bible,
known as the "neck verse". This name was given to it because it
had the ability to save one's neck. Most offenders learned this
verse by heart. It wasn't long before this benefit became
meaningless.
As a result, executions in this century averaged only 70 per
year.
In the year 1819, the number of capital crimes was reduced
to 220, including shoplifting items above five shillings, cutting
down trees in a park, or shooting a rabbit.
Many capital crime offenders were pardoned on the condition
that they agreed to be transported to the american colonies in
North America. American colonies at that time also used capital
punishment. The number of capital crimes varied from one
jurisdiction to another. The Massachusetts colony was noted for
executing people for the suspicion of witchcraft.
All executions in England were public until the mid-1800s.
Great crowds came to view them. It was believed that pickpockets
were busy among the spectators. In 1868, public opinion turned
against the idea of executions as spectacles, and it was decided
that they should be carried out in private. At this time the
number of capital crimes were reduced drastically. By 1861,
there were only four: murder, treason, arson, and piracy with
violence.
From the 1930s to the mid-1950s, people campaigned for the
abolition of capital punishment. Following a number of
controversial executions, a statute was put into effect in 1957
that restricted the death penalty to murder. All other offenses
were punished by imprisonment.
After objections to this new law, an act was passed in 1965
abolishing the death in its entirety. This act remains today in
England.
In the United States the existence of the death penalty is a
matter of state law. Although it was never used as much as
England in the 18th century, between 150 and 200 persons were
executed each year in the decade before World War II. After the
war, the number of executions declined to 50 per year. Doubts
about whether the death penalty was constitutional during the
1960s led to a series of Supreme Court decisions. In 1976 it was
decided that laws making the death penalty automatic were
unconstitutional. This led to different statutes in different
states. This meant that an offence that required the death
penalty in one state, might not be necessary in another.

Arguments Against The Death Penalty

Many people oppose the death penalty, mainly because they
consider it cruel. There is also the risk of executing innocent
people who were mistakenly convicted. There have been cases
where people have been executed and evidence found after their
death proved their innocence.
For example, Roger Coleman's volunteer attorneys uncovered
evidence of his innocence after his conviction for murder.
However, his appeal based on this newly discovered evidence was
filed three days late, and because of this error, made by his
attorneys, the Virginia state courts and the federal appeals
courts refused to hear the new evidence. Roger Coleman was
executed on May 22,1992. Another example is the case of Leonel
Torres Herrera, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the
1982 murders of two police officers. Some years after his
conviction, an attorney who had represented Herrera's brother
came forward with evidence that Herrera's brother, Raul, who had
died in 1984, had confessed to the murders. In addition, Raul's
son, who was nine years old at the time of the killings, gave a
sworn statement that he was an eye-witness to the crime and saw
his father commit the murders. Because Texas law says that any
new evidence must be presented within 30 days of the conviction,
Herrera's motion was denied. Leonel Herrera was executed on May
12, 1993.
This possibility of error, where an innocent person might be
put to death, disturbs the public more than any other issue posed
by capital punishment. This is the number one concern about the
death penalty in our country. Since 1900, 23 people who we know
to be innocent have been murdered by the state and 350 people
have been found not-guilty while on death row awaiting execution.
Opposers of the death penalty refer to it as "simple murder".
The end result is the same...one more dead body, one more set of
grieving parents, one more cemetery slot. Every time someone is
executed, opposers feel that we as a society sink to the same
level as the common killer.
According to some, the death penalty is viewed as cruel and
unusual punishment. They compare it to a criminal imprisoning
his victim for years, and every day informed him of the date of
his death. Furthermore, they feel that the methods of executing
people have all been found excessively cruel. It often takes ten
minutes or more to die in the electric chair, for example.
The question about whether or not the death penalty really
deters crime is another issue. For example, the United States is
the only Western nation that still allows the death penalty, yet
it has one of the highest crime rates. During the 1980's, death
penalty states averaged an annual rate of 7.5 criminal homicides
per 100,000, while abolition states averaged a rate of 7.4 per
100,000. That means murder was actually more common in states
that use the death penalty.
These are some of the negative aspects of the death penalty,
but like everything else, this subject has both negative and
positive aspects.

Arguments For The Death Penalty

Many people favor capital punishment. Their reasons are
deterrence, retribution, and prevention.
In what is considered to be proponent's strongest argument,
they state that the death penalty is a great deterrent against
potential offenders, especially those who are not discouraged by
the threat of life imprisonment.
People in favor of capital punishment argue that an
execution is the only sure way to prevent a murderer from
committing more murders. If the convicted is put in prison,
there is a risk to the community that the person may escape, be
pardoned, or be paroled. In addition to this is the fact that
these murderers could pose a great danger to prison staff and
fellow prisoners.
Proponents further argue that the death penalty is the only
fair way of retribution. The criminal should die because he has
committed a horrible crime, and only his death would satisfy the
public. It is also said that there is no substitute in giving
retribution than the death penalty, that "...to deprive the
criminal of the like of which he has proved himself to be
unworthy...is the most appropriate as it is certainly impressive
mode in which society can attach to so great a crime...".
Criminologists have as of yet failed to produce evidence on
many of these arguments since they involve personal conviction.


Methods Of Execution

Electric Chair

Electrocution is a means of killing a person by the use of a
strong electric shock. It is one of the legal methods of
executing criminals. A prisoner is brought into a special room
called a death chamber, and strapped into an electric chair.
Metal plates called electrodes are attached to the crown of the
prisoner's head and to the calf of one leg. An electric current
is then passed from one electrode to another through the
prisoner's body. This literally would burn you to death
internally - and you would feel it, for many long seconds.
Afterward, your body would likely be fouled by urine, feces, and
vomited blood. It will be too hot to touch for several minutes,
and the smell of cooked flesh will permeate the execution
chamber.

Gas Chamber

The first execution by lethal gas in the United States took
place in Nevada in 1924. During World War 2, the Nazis of
Germany used huge gas chambers to kill Jews and other minorities
in concentration camps. Today the gas chamber is a legal means
of execution in some states of the United States. The condemned
person is strapped in a chair in an airtight chamber. Glass
globes containing cyanide drop from beneath the chair and break
in a crock containing sulfuric acid. The two chemicals mix and
form deadly hydrocyanic acid gas. The person usually dies within
five minutes, and during this time a terrifying sensation of
strangling and sharp pain in the arms, shoulders, back and chest
may be experienced.

Hanging

Hanging is also a legal means of execution in some states of
the United States. The condemned person stands on a platform
with a noose of rope around his or her neck. A trap door opens
under the person, and the person falls until jerked to a stop by
the rope. The sudden jolt breaks or dislocates the bones of the
neck, causing almost immediate loss of consciousness. Death
usually occurs within a few minutes.


Lethal Injection

Some people believe that lethal injection is more humane than
other means of execution, such as the electric chair and the gas
chamber. Opposers of the death penalty, however, argue that any
method of execution is inhumane. Most condemned prisoners who
have had a choice between lethal injection and other methods of
execution have chosen the injection. This is the most frequently
used method of executing criminals in the United States. A fast-
acting sedative is first injected to put the prisoner to sleep.
Two additional drugs are then injected to stop the prisoner's
breathing and heartbeat. Death usually occurs within minutes
after the injections. Although you may not experience much
physical pain, you will experience the psychological agony of
being strapped to a table while waiting to die.

Firing Squad

One other means of execution used in the United States is
firing squad. The only two states which use this method are Utah
and Idaho.

Conclusion

While writing this essay, I found a lot of different
arguments both for and against capital punishment. After
weighing both sides of the issue, I came to the conclusion that
capital punishment isn't a good idea. There are too many risks
involved - such as executing an innocent person. Many people
feel that if someone murders another person, then he too deserves
to be killed. But murdering another person won't bring the other
one back, and two wrongs don't make a right. I think it would be
worse to spend the rest of your life in a cell than to go through hell
for a few minutes but then be
over with it forever. Therefore, I think that a good
alternative to receiving the death penalty would be a life
sentence in prison with no chance of parole.