Death_Penalty

Death Penalty in America Anthony Aguilar PHI-200: Mind & Machine Diane Meza Date: 26 October 2011 The topic of death penalty is one that is greatly debated in the United States. The death penalty is known as capital punishment or “the infliction of death upon a person by judicial process as a punishment for a criminal offence,” according to Wikipedia. Some individuals consider the death penalty to be a deterrent for would be criminals and convicted criminals alike as it accentuates the idea of dying therefore lowering criminal activity in certain regions and the horrific crimes that come with these insidious crimes society faces today. While the cost to execute a criminal is extremely high, there are 38 states in the United States that allow the death penalty. Depending on the state, there are many different aggravating factors for capital punishment and those crimes are knows as capital offences. Capital punishment has been practiced in every culture at some point in history. The forms of punishment differed from stoning people, death by hanging, de-capitation, among many other lethal and gruesome ways of death. Lethal injection is the method of execution currently used in the United States. Ironically where the death penalty probably flourished much in the medieval ages and considered to be the ground-breakers of the practice of capital punishment this practice has all but been abolished in European and South American countries. The United States, along with the middle-east and far-east share the practice of capital punishment with little resistance from most societies. On the global aspect the United States has received much pressure globally from countries and human rights activists to abandon this method of punishment. The past two centuries the death penalty has fallen in and out of the public favor as it has been continually debated on the floors of our local, state and government platforms. An un-established country in North America had its first documented execution in 1622, over a century before our country was known as these great United States. As with any government trial and error in creating laws regarding many subjects namely capital punishment, were of big debate by the mass majority in the meantime while these laws and by-laws were on the senate floor up for debate the law of extreme prejudice and affirmation were the law of the land and executions occurred. During the 1700s there were laws put into order, and the bill of rights was ratified regarding the use of cruel and unusual punishment, but during that time capital punishment was universally accepted. After the American Revolution some legislators removed the death penalty as a punishment for many crimes. During the beginning of the 1900, government officials put an end to public hanging and reasoned that it was best to conduct execution in prisons, away from the public. Also, during this time the way to execute went from hanging to the “more humane” way, by electrocution. The periods following the Civil War and World War I included an increase of the number of states that allowed the death penalty as well as the number of people executed, but the reaction following World War II was extremely different. When the United States found out about the thousands of Jews who were put to death, the government felt wrong in putting its citizens to death. As the United States grew and acquired more diverse culture in our society, the debate of the death penalty became more racial. During the Civil Rights Movement African Americans sought to demolish the death penalty, feeling that they were being targeted and mistreated with this way of punishment and during the years of 1967 to 1972 there were no executions anywhere in the United States. In 1972, the death penalty was found unconstitutional, but the door was left open for capital punishment’s return. During the next few years following the ratification of this law, the death penalty wasn’t used often and if it was most states required that the state Supreme Court review the case for approval concerning all death sentences. In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty be a legitimate way of punishment. “Since 1979, there have been 681 executions in the United States. California and New Jersey restored the death penalty immediately, and thirty-eight of the fifty states now have capital punishment laws” (Trial and Error). Capital punishment is something that the federal government uses as well. The United States issued the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 and as a result of this act almost every homicide that occurs in the U.S. each year is now death-eligible under a federal court setting. People against the death penalty believe the death penalty is an irreversible denial of human rights causing a cycle of violence that is created by a judicial system that is riddled with economic and racial biases and tainted by human error. Some people believe the death penalty to be deterrent to a criminal in committing acts of murder. Of course there have been many different discussion, polls and studies regarding the death penalty and its effect on it being a deterrent. For those believing the death penalty to be a deterrent the proof in various social and economic studies conducted over the past several decades post re-enactment of the death penalty, have shown that it is not more of a deterrence than a sentence of life in prison. In some studies there was also evidence that punishments which are swift and decisive are most likely to be the best deterrents. Of course a subjective opinion as well as neutral position all plays a big factor on how these criminologists believe how the death penalty really affects on society in general. William Bowers believes that society is brutalized by the use of the death penalty which increases the likelihood of more murders (Death Penalty Information Center). In the United States, the 12 states that do not employ the death penalty have generally lower numbers of murders versus the other 38 states that employ the death penalty. These rates are not isolated to the United States. The amount of murders per capita that take place in a country that does not employ the death penalty is much lower than the United States which ultimately works in favor the argument to abolish the death penalty. The death penalty will deter the murder who is executed, but through scientific demographic polls and studies the death penalty has proven that it does not act as a better deterrent to other would be criminals but the act of spending life in prison is the real deal breaker for a criminal. Some believe the death penalty should be used when the cruelest and most heinous crimes are committed. In this case an offender should receive the worst punishment that society has to offer under the leadership of our legal system. Our society like many, believe in the concept an eye for an eye or a life for a life and see the death penalty as a way of getting justice or vengeance. A large argument for this is if you look at the other crimes committed, we do not torture someone who tortured another person, we do not rape a rapist, and then why do we feel that we should allow the death penalty for a murder. A third debate that is discussed in regards to an innocent person being put to death for a crime that they did not commit. In 1970, the United States placed new “safeguards” into the legal system so that innocent people would not get charged for crimes that they did not commit. Since the 1970s there is no proof of anyone being executed for a crime that was innocent. As one may argue that this is a false fact it is still a fact that has yet to be disproved. With the use of DNA and other scientific testing, most people who are found guilty are guilty. Now that we have the use of DNA testing, many of the older crimes that were committed are being reviewed so that they can ensure the guilt is true and absolute. There are many claims of innocence by people who have been released from death row but those are usually based on legal procedure, not true innocence. There are many other questions that are debated over the death penalty. Is it proper to execute a mentally retarded person if they are unable to understand his own fate' Should age be a factor in sentencing the death penalty, what age is too young' Does someone’s intelligence level play a part' It has been proven that a large number of people who are sentenced to death are illiterate, have a moderate intelligence level, in many cases were victims of abuse when a child, and they are poor. Some people will argue that these are factors to consider when sentencing a person to the death penalty, and yet many believe that most individuals know right from wrong. The argument stating a criminal’s economic status playing the exact role as to why they are in the predicament the lie in can actually have some merit or substance in an argument. Most know the world revolves around money and as for the guilty who are poor, well affording a lawyer to argue their case for life or death are at the mercy of the judicial system which is far from perfect. The court appointed lawyer is paid to show up and present legal defense, how hard that lawyer fights is up in the air. It’s a dog eat dog world the meek have no place in this society as of yet. Guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt has long been an abused term with implications that incidents and all cases are equal in nature with a cut and dry resolve. While evidence and circumstance play two of the highest regards when convicting a person to death, it is the inability for a justice system to concretely know without a verbal and written attest by a person of guilt. For this reason our judicial systems have long been counting on the scientific world to separate the truth in many cases. It is this new philosophy of justice that has brought the anti-death penalty protesters to a whisper in regards to their arguments of injustice and reckoning. It appears jurors seem to take sympathy for the families of the victims of these unspeakable crimes all the while in one’s sub-conscious the avocation of the death penalty is something that’s balanced in their decisions proven through hung juries and acquitted cases. Whether the death penalty constitutes a reasonable effort to prevent crime is considered from an economic standpoint. Resources directed toward this form of selective, legitimized killing of human beings are not available for crime prevention methodologies proven for their effectiveness. The death penalty I believe is a viable solution to the problem of violence in the United States regardless of the implications it brings about with its legality. True there are excessive costs of implementing and enforcing capital punishment as it may interfere with a spectrum of preventive programs that have demonstrated to work well, but for those many a mankind who refuse change and rehabilitation there is the ultimate answer of death by execution. Claims the death penalty and capital punishment carry with it fiscally are definitely in need of revamping and modification. To house a criminal on death roll or any status for that matter is costly to the taxpayer in the billions. With a better channeling system and expedient justice system executions could be carried out within months of the convicted and sentenced instead of years. In almost all cases the victim never had the choice of preparing for death psychologically or physically for that matter so it is merciful to the spirit of the deceased of a murder crime to have their accused killer put to death much, much sooner than later. To prove a point in my argument of fiscally positive measure to deter unnecessary costs in California, capital trials are six times more costly than other murder trials. The state of California spends over $90 million dollars annually above the ordinary cost of the justice system on capital cases according to "Death Row Often Means a Long Life," Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2005. Of the $90 million, $78 million is spent at the trial level. The California death penalty system costs the taxpayers more that $114 million a year beyond the cost of keeping the convicts locked up. Tax records show that Californians and federal taxpayers have paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars for each of the state’s 11 executions. To house a convict for more than a year is approximately $90,000, where each convict has a private cell and extra guards, unlike the general prison population. The additional cost per prisoner is around $57.5 million annually. The state of California would save $90 million per year if they were to utilize the death penalty in a more expeditious manner or abolish it altogether as a result of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers’ money according to a study done by the Sacramento Bee. Throughout the United States, police are being laid off, prisoners are being released early, the courts are clogged, and crime continues to rise. The economic recession has caused cutbacks to the backbone of the criminal justice system. The exorbitant costs and methods by which they use capital punishment are actually making America less safe due to badly needed financial and legal resources being diverted from effective crime fighting strategies. This could all be resolved by taking the loathing of it out and do it, if one is going to do it, then do it. Trust in the system, when it works, it works well. There is ongoing debate regarding the death penalty at this time more so than at any time the last couple of centuries. Citizens of the United States demand solid decisions with solid resolve to ensure safety from an ailing economy and social rebuilding. The death penalty is really worth its weight in justice if like all other processes it is used efficiently and correctly by its guardians of justice. It’s not about an eye for an eye, or how the every life is save able it is about justice and the idea that a individual so evil or foul who has been justifiably convicted and sentenced to death by execution then this is only a short life the criminal chose to live. I have seen death up close and personal as military man seeing the atrocities one can have in anytime regardless of wartime or not. Some people are inheritably evil by nature and when a person does evil things that hurt and kill other human beings it is death by execution I strongly believe in. An eye for an eye sound ok, when it’s someone you love dearly who dies'''' References Death, DNA and the Supreme Court: [Editorial]. (2010, October 18). New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. A.34.  Retrieved March 5, 2011, from Banking Information Source. (Document ID: 2164997041). Erry Sheridan.  (2011, January 5). 'Bad science' still convicting innocent people in the U.S.; Three-quarters of all wrongful convictions cleared by DNA evidence began with eyewitness errors. The Vancouver Sun, B.3.  Retrieved March 5, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2233660671). Killing killers won't end killing: David Erikson, Weare. (2011, March 4). Concord Monitor. Retrieved March 5, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2282263811). The High Cost of the Death Penalty. Dieter, Richard C. http://www.fnsa.org/v1n1/dieter1.html. Retrieved March 5, 2011 Trial and Error: Capital Punishment in U.S. History. Mc Freely, William S. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5420. Retrieved March 5, 2011.