Proponents of Capital Punishment - Essay Example

Capital Punishment In USA. Introduction Capital punishment also known as the 'Death Penalty' is a sentence punishableby death. It is a punishment for offences that are considered vitally or fatally harmful (David, R.D. & Mark, D 5). In the United States of America 38 states, the millitary and the Federal government authorize capital punishment. The mode of execution and the criteria for deciding which offenses qualify for capital punishment as well as the age limit vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is usually the discretion of the state judicial system. However homicide is universally punishable by death [Daly M, Wilson M. 36]. Other capital offenses include treason, aggravated rape, espionage, large scale drug trafficking and aggravated kidnapping among others. Capital punishment has been a subject of much debate in recent times. The reasons that form the basis of this debate are crosscutting and include moral, religious, practical, philosophical and emotional. Proponents of capital punishment argue that it acts as a deterrent to crime, purges dangerous criminals from the society and that it is definitely more economical to execute than to keep criminals in prison [Megivern, James J 93]. Opponents of capital punishment argue that it does not deter crime, cheapens human life and discriminates along racial and social lines [Lane, Brian and Wilfred Gregg 12]. Others have argued that killing a person for killing another is hypocritical since it brings the state to the same level as the criminal. However, previous research as well as the statistics on crime tends not to support the argument that capital punishment deters criminal activity. On the contrary studies have shown that incidences of homicide are lower in states that do not sanction capital punishment than those that do [Harries KD 22]. This paper examines the practice, the effects and whether or not capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime. Capital punishment statistics in the US According to the SP file there have been about 15,000 capital punishment executions in the United States since 1600. Over 4,500 of these executions occurred between 1930 and 2000 with an almost 70% of these occurring between 1930 and 1955 [Gall T 15]. The military courts executed 160 errant officers between 1930 and 1961. A massive mass execution occurred on December 1862 where 38 people were killed by hanging in Mankato, Minnesota. Out of the 38 states that sanction capital punishment, Texas has had the largest number of executions - 378 since 1979 to November 2006 [Amnesty International-1997 Executions]: The Federal government has reported less activity in regard to executions and has executed only 3 people for the last 27 years. The Legal Process Once an offender is convicted of a crime that qualifies for the death penalty, the legal course involves four stages: - 1. Sentencing - involves trial like proceeding where a jury decides on the appropriate sentence though it's the judge's discretion to make the final decision [Kerr, Norbert L. and Robert M 33-75]. 2. Direct review. After the sentencing stage the case moves to the direct review level. Here the process is similar to that of an appeal. This court evaluates the decision of the sentencing court to establish the validity of the judgment. If this court does not find fault with the previous judgment from the sentencing hearing, then it ratifies the judgment. If it does find fault then it can void the judgment and/or order a repeat haring. The decision by the court is considered final. 3. The Collateral review. This is the only way that a judgment by the direct review court can be upset. Most states have this form of review. The purpose of collateral review1 is to allow the defendant to dispute the previous decisions on grounds of previously unavailable evidence. 4. Federal habeas corpus. This is the fourth level and is the only exclusive way that a state capital defendant can challenge a death penalty in a Federal court. It exists for the purpose of ensuring that the state courts have done a thorough job and the judgment does not breach the defendant's Federal constitutional rights. Does capital punishment deter crime Traditionally capital punishment has been almost universally adopted by several societies to act as a deterrent to crime. The rationale has always been that since no same person wishes to be executed then the punishment of death would serve to discourage anyone who might think of committing capital offense. The mates of execution have been different in different societies and they had their purpose in deterring criminal activity. Some more crude modes include stoning, crucifying, hangings among many others. In modern times though debate has been rife whether capital punishment still acts as a deterrent for criminals. There has been no evidence in research to relate capital punishment with reduction in crime, neither is there evidence that capital punishment encourages capital crimes. However, some2 have attempted to link crime statistics to the existence of capital punishment. For instance a recent study by Amnesty International suggested that homicide rate is higher in states that sanction capital punishment than in those that are without it. Opponents of capital punishment argue that it does not deter crime in any way [Freedman, M. E. 23]. One of the arguments for this point of view emanates from the fact that the incidences of capital offenses are not higher in states without capital punishment. They argue that this would have been natural outcome if capital punishment served to discourage offenders. Capital punishment is supposed to warn those who would engage in capital crimes. This is the underlying reason why several nations still retain capital punishment. However this opinion is refuted by a counter argument that offenders at the time they are contemplating a capital crime rarely concern themselves with what would happen when they are caught but rather just consider the risk of being caught. Thirdly opponents argue that capital punishment takes away the value of human dignity [Megivern, James J 76]. Executing a person for the offense of killing another does not add value to the victims' dignity. The argument that capital punishment does not deter crime is strengthened by the fact that of recent research that shows that there is no reduction in capital crime or homicide in countries with death penalty as opposed to those without. On the contrary research has revealed that crime incidences are significantly lower in countries without that abolished capital punishment than in those countries that retain it. Other studies have suggested that human beings derive some pleasure from enacting punishment on wrong doers [Everitt, David 16]. This pleasure is not related to whether or not there are any benefits received. Ken Follet reflects this revelation in the novel pillars of the earth where a community has formed a tradition of savoring public executive. Pertinent issues arising from Capital Punishment There has been growing concerns by proponents of the due process in the administration of justice about the issue of people who might inadvertently be sentenced to due for offenses they are innocent of. This concern stems from the fact that more than 70 people previously sentenced to death have been found innocent by higher courts since 1972 and subsequently acquitted [Helen, P. (1993]. This means that there are or have been those who have not been as lucky and died for crimes they never committed. Another issue has been the use of more humane ways of execution. This has been the trend in modern times with the most modern democracies moving towards less painful and less painful ways that are considered more dignified than some of the methods than have traditionally been used. Discrimination along racial, economic lines has also been issues that have elicited much debate in regard to capital punishments in America. Mitigating circumstances. This is an argument that people who end up committing vitally harmful crimes are people with very poor social background like living through domestic violence in childhood, neglect and lack of parental love. These backgrounds produce a lack of aspects of humanity and thus they are not wholly to blame for their crimes. Other pertinent issues pertaining to the death penalty include the length of the legal process, the length of stay on the death row as a condemned prisoner the absence remedial consolation for victims of vicious crimes. Conclusion Despite the fact that there is no evidence that capital punishment deters crime, opinion polls continually reveal that it enjoys support from the majority of the American population. The opponents of the age old kind of punishment have raised important points to support their opinions while proponents seem to cling to an un-provable notion that the retention of capital punishment deters crime. The debate rages on about the penalty with no end in sight with different cases arising that move the American people on either side of the spectrum. References. Daly M, Wilson M. Homicide. New York, NY: Aldine De Gruyter; 1988. David, R.D. Mark, D. (2002). Machinery of Death. The Reality of America's Death Penalty Regime. Routledge, New York. Everitt, David. Human Monsters. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1993. 7-19 Freedman, M. E. (2006) Giarratano is a Scarecrow: The Right to Counsel in State Post Conviction Proceedings, 91 Cornell L. Rev. 1079, 1097 Gall T. Statistics on weapons and violence: a selection of statistical charts, graphs, and tables about weapons and violence from a variety of published sources. Detroit, MI: Gale Research; 1996. 12-17 Geberth, Vernon. Sex-related Homicides and Death Investigation. CRC Press, 2005. 12 27 Harries KD. Serious violence: patterns of homicide and assault in America. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd.; 1996. 18-25 Helen, P. (1993). Dead Man Walking. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75131-9. Kerr, Norbert L. and Robert M. Bray, eds. The Psychology of the Courtroom. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1982. 33-75 Lane, Brian and Wilfred Gregg. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. NY: Berkley, 1992. 8-14 Megivern, James J. The Death Penalty: A Historical and Theological Survey. Paulist Press, New York. Stuart, Banner (2002). The Death Penalty: An American History. Harvard University Press. Pp 3-7 Amnesty International-1997 Executions Read More