The Death Penalty Of The United States - 1520 Words

The use of the death penalty in the United States has always been a controversial topic. The death penalty, also known as Capital Punishment, is a legal process where a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a heinous crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual enforcement is an execution (Bishop 1). Over the years, most of the world has abolished the death penalty. But the United States government, and a majority of its citizens, defend and support its continued use. There is evidence, however, that some attitudes about the death penalty are changing. The first known execution was in the colony of Virginia in 1622, by the 1800s the law in the United States not only accepted capital punishment but also required it (â€Å"Facts about the Death Penalty† 3). Execution was the automatic penalty for anyone convicted of murder or several other serious crimes. The debate has shifted from whether capital punishment is appropriate in a modern civilized society to questions about the fairness of the trials and the reliability of the results. These questions have contributed to the rise of citizens who oppose the death penalty (â€Å"Facts about the Death Penalty† 3). A divided United States Supreme Court also appears to be struggling with several important aspects of the death penalty. Especially vulnerable members of society like children, the mentally ill, and the mentally retarded who are viewed as undeservingShow MoreRelatedThe United States Of The Death Penalty894 Words   |  4 PagesThe United States of America has b een influenced by the Britain’s use of death penalty when Europeans first settled into the new world. Majority of the states still carry out executions, and there are hundreds of people that are on a death row sentence. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and Criminal Justice Legal Foundation are two opposing organizations. The NCADP is against the death penalty while the CJLF is for the death penalty. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death PenaltyRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of The United States1733 Words   |  7 Pagesanswer? Then why is there such thing as a death penalty? Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. This is what is stated in the 14th amendment of the Bill of Rights. So why is there still a death penalty in the United States? The first laws created towards the death penalty go as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which allowed the death penalty to be carried out for 25 different crimesRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of The United States948 Words   |  4 Pages The death penalty is a huge controversy in the United States. There are many different feelings regarding the death penalty. Some feel like it is the easy way out for people who have committed heinous acts, and others feel like it is the perfect justice for those individuals. An argument mad e by the website ListVerse explained, that people teach their children not to steal, or commit crimes because they will be sent to prison and punished (ListVerse). Completing their argument, the same websiteRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of The United States1746 Words   |  7 Pagesanswer? Then why is there such thing as a death penalty? Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. This is what is stated in the 14th amendment of the Bill of Rights. So why is there still a death penalty in the United States? The first laws created towards the death penalty dates back as far as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which allowed the death penalty to be carried out for 25 different crimesRead MoreThe Death Penalty And The United States3694 Words   |  15 PagesThe death penalty, as we know it today, didn’t exist in the United States until 1976. However, the American penal system ha s incorporated capital punishment since the earliest settlements were founded in the early 1600’s. The first recorded execution in the United States occurred in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia when Captain George Kendall was executed just one year after the Jamestown settlement had been established after he had been convicted of being a spy for Spain (Part I: History of the DeathRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of The United States Essay1631 Words   |  7 PagesUpon completing a forum post in a Sociology class this semester I was given the task to watch a documentary discussion the death penalty in the United States. After watching several short films that include testimonies of the death row exonerate s, I learned of just how easily these innocent people were almost murdered by a system that you and I are funding. The victims go on not only to tell of their own suffering but also the horror that their families endured. Many of them had several executionRead MoreThe Death Penalty O f The United States2912 Words   |  12 Pages The death penalty was introduced to The United States by Britain. There have been over 14,000 executions in The United States since 1608. In 2011, 36 states held 3,158 inmates under the death sentence. Hanging, firing squad, the gas chamber, the electric chair, and lethal injections are all methods that are and were used in the history of The United States. Many individuals do not realize what the prisoners go through before getting executed. They also do not know whatRead MoreThe Death Penalty And The Safety Of The United States1180 Words   |  5 Pagessystem was made to protect the rights and the safety of the citizens of the United States, It was created to have justice in the United States, But even then it has some flaws. Three of the faults I decided to discuss about are the death penalty, Issues within prison for example; weapons and riots, and high incarceration rates. The death penalty is just one of many faults in the justice system. It is legal in 31 states such as Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, FloridaRead MoreThe Death Penalty During The United States Essay2246 Words   |  9 PagesThe death penalty in the United States can be traced all the way to early American history when it was under the colonial rule of Britain. Though in early history the death penalty was used for even menial crimes such as burglary, capital punishment in the United States is currently used for only the most heinous crimes, such as first degree murder, rape, treason, or espionage. Because the nation was unified under similar Christian beliefs, there was no question of how death could be the worst punishmentRead MoreShould The United States Allowed The Death Penalty?962 Words   |  4 PagesWith all the jails in the United States being overcrowded with convicts with serious crimes, and doing life without parole. I start to wonder what the impact would be if the United States allowed the death penalty to be used in all fifty states? First, I needed to view into other countries and examine why they still allow to have capital punishment in their country. Out of 196 countries in the world only 58 of those countries still embrace capital punishment. China is at the top of the list that