The Death Penalty has been a long standing part of the American justice system. For many years, the death penalty went without opposition, but as of recently it has gained it’s long overdue mass opposition. The Death Penalty is barbaric, and is costing our nation obscene amounts of money. While one would think that modern-day American citizens would have done away with this method, a good portion of Americans reason that it lowers the crime rate and it provides closure (or rather vengeance) to families of victims. For one, the Death Penalty is inhumane and borderline unconstitutional. The sole reason for why it doesn't violate the 8th Amendment is because the new death penalty law has "objective standards to guide, regularize, and make rationally reviewable the process for imposing the sentence of death”, as stated by Congress. While this answer makes it seem as if the inmates are being executed in these said “rational” manners, this is not the case. The whole point of the lethal injection was to execute the inmates in a painless, humane manner; but in actuality, the lethal injection is nearly as gruesome as a firing squad. For instance, in the case of Charles Walker, an inmate that suffered for two hours, “gurgling” and “gagging” due the executioner’s error in injecting the medicine. His death was so appalling that one witness fainted, disgusted after watching their loved one literally gasp and sputter for their life, for more than an hour. Most states use a combination of three chemicals to kill the inmate, one that knocks them unconscious, followed with one that paralyzes their body, and then finally with an injection that kills the inmate, causing excruciating pain if the medicines are not injected in a precise manner and order. Too often records shows that the injections malfunction, leading to a slow, agonizing death. Not to mention the fact that lethal injection is supposed to be the new, “painless” method, meanwhile states such as Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and South Carolina still leave ancient methods such as a firing squad, the electric chair, and even hanging as legal options of execution. If our new method is nearly worse than our old ones, shouldn’t that we do away with it
Since 2012, the use of lethal injection has been legal in 31 states, to contaminate a convict. 1,423 people innocent and guilty have died from the death penalty since 1972. I strongly believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional being that it violates the Eighth Amendment, irreversible, and executes a large amount of hypocrisy.
Each county was responsible to carry out executions on their own until in 1923, when the state implemented a law saying executions should be done through electrocutions in Huntsville (Champagne). This violated the Eighth Amendment because the criminals felt the pain of being electrocuted. As a result, in 1977, the state required that lethal injection be the sole method of execution in Texas (Champagne). Although the lethal injection was to be painless and that it was created for the benefit of the criminal, it still violates The Eighth Amendment because it is inhumane. The crime done by the prison cannot be justified by taking the prisoner’s life. Capital punishment takes the like of a person, and what can be taken can never be taken back anymore. In 2011, the drug they used in the lethal injection had to be changed from sodium thiopental to pentobarbital because of the international attention and protestations it received in the United States (Champagne). The issues concerning pentobarbital as part of the three-drug cocktail in the lethal injection arose when officials did not want to say the source where they are getting their pentobarbital from (Dart). When Texas had to execute a man this April using new batches of pentobarbital, protestors claimed that because of the source’s lack of authenticity, it was possible that “an excessively painful execution”
Historically, executions have been around for a long time. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. but didn’t make an appearance in the United States until 1608 (Part 1, n.d.). Death penalty is seen as a form of accountability for someone’s action. Most easily understood when you take a life, you lose your life--an eye for an eye. Nonetheless, over time people have started humanizing the situation and creating controversy. The Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty, until the early 1960s, when it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore arguing it as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Part
“And despite scientific efforts to implement capital punishment in a "humane" fashion, time and again executions have resulted in degrading spectacles, including the botched lethal injection in April 2014 that took more than 40 minutes to kill Oklahoma inmate Clayton Derrell Lockett and prompted Glossip v. Gross” (Heyns and Mendez). Capital punishment is an inhumane and outdated way for punishing criminals. The use of capital punishment is hundreds of years old in America. It is used as a punishment for criminals who have committed a violent crime in which they physically harm others. The point of the death penalty is to show that these kinds of crimes are not tolerated, and to deter criminals from committing these kinds of crimes. Unfortunately
Lethal injection was first adopted in 1977 in the state of Oklahoma and was first administrated in the state of Texas in 1982 (Crider, 2014). Before lethal injection methods like hanging, gas chamber, firing squad, and electric chair were used to execute. The United States has tried to find an alternate method that will not be considered inhumane and painful to the inmate. The effect of lethal injection is now being questioned if it is constitutional, arises medical professionals controversy, and the shortage of drug substance.
The 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 punishment for the worst crimes. However, through diversified religions and a growing sensitivity to criminal rights, the death penalty is increasingly under more scrutiny in regards to the 8th amendment, which bans the implementation of cruel and unusual punishments. In Furman v. Georgia, three inmates challenged the legality of their sentences, bringing light to the questionable relationship between capital punishment and the Eighth Amendment. In order to appease this realization that the death penalty was too gruesome, many states have changed their execution methods from hangings and electrocution to lethal injections that create a more seemingly peaceful death. “In fact, death penalty opponents often argue against the use of lethal injections on the grounds that this method makes executions more palatable to the public by creating the appearance that the inmate is simply being put to sleep” (Radelet, Borg 54). However, though lethal injections are far less violent compared to
There are many methods for executing an inmate on death row and lethal injection is one of them. This method is stated to be a painless injection of different chemicals that eventually stop the heart. unfortunately that has not been the case. Over the years there has been numerous cases were cruel and unusual punishment has been witnessed. Countless of times there have been inmates that have gasped for air, been several punctured wounds with needles trying to find a vein, also clenched their fist in pain. Many people may not see this as a problem but no human being, even criminals, should be like this. Lethal injections shouldn't be conducted if they are not going to be done the proper way. Because of some cases, they changed the way they proceed with lethal injection but to this day inmates are still having complications. With all the complications that have occurred with Lethal Injection, they should banned them from be practiced.
There are diverse capital punishment, the death penalty is one of them. Considered as a deviant and barbaric act, the use of this method reflects the opposite view or the wrong message of what the society teaches us. Encouraging the death penalty is not different from encouraging a murder and by operating in such a way actually violates a fundamental law set forth by the federal government which is “ Murder is an illegal crime”.
The reason why people have been critical about the death penalty is that maybe the commonly used three drug cocktail is a painful death. The cocktail consists of 3 drugs administered by a needle, the first is meant to incapacitate you then paralyze your muscles then to finally stop the heart. Many are saying this painful. How much more painless can it get. And do the convicts that commit such a horrible crime deserve to be painlessly executed? In China the common execution is one bullet to the back of the dead. In America that is unheard of and if anyone were to propose such a thing they would be considered cruel and twisted. Some of have been exposed to the other forms of executions used in America. One of them is electrocution which is solely used in Nebraska. A story is that a man was to be executed in Florida and a officer noticed that the sponge on the man?s head was torn so they got a new one but the new one was
The death penalty is an issue that is debated across America and throughout the world. As of November, 2016, there are 31 American states with the death penalty and 19 states without it. This divide in America is largely due to the perceived constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the death penalty. Some people think that capital punishment is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”, while others do not. Despite the controversiality of capital punishment, it should still be a legal method of justice under the US Constitution. The death penalty is the most appropriate punishment for those who have committed heinous crimes. It is also administered very carefully so that innocent people are not
The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment because it is a vivid reminder of slavery, branding, and various corporal pains were common. It is an inhuman tradition that should not have any part in a civilized society. Nonetheless, only the United States in the whole western industrialized nations still holds the Capital punishment. The prosecutors who are 98% white choose randomly a sampling of convicted criminals would receive a sentence of death, where the prosecutor does not have to consider any constitutional laws or criteria. Simply, the discretions of the narrowly minded persecutors whose concerns might solely be their personal and political gains.
While the death penalty has had its fair share of successful executions, this punishment has gone too far more than once. According to an article from “Death Penalty Information Center”, there were 276 botched executions between the years of 1890 to 2010. Even though this is not a large number , there were still 276 people who suffered and were technically tortured by the government. Regardless of the crime, our eighth amendment right states that it is unconstitutional for the government to commit cruel and unusual punishment to any accused party. If the person being executed did not pass away the first time, they would reset and try again. That is cruel and unusual punishment. Forcing that person to feel that excruciating pain over and over.
According to Deathpenaltyinfo.org, as of July 1st, 2017 there were approximately 2,817 prisoners on death row. CNN.com says that, as of now, the death penalty is only legal in 31 out of the 50 states. Did you know that the average death row inmate will spend roughly 15 years in prison before they meet their final day; nearly a quarter of death row inmates die of natural causes while waiting for execution, and exhausting all of their appeals? How about that in Virginia death row inmates are now able to play games, watch TV, send emails, and have physical contact with visitors along with much more? Death row is for criminals that have committed heinous crimes and have been convicted by 12 unanimous jurors to death. So, why give them that many privileges?
The Death Penalty law in the United States continues to be a very controversial topic that will heavily be debated for a long time to come, which is one of the main reasons why I am so interested in it. Since the beginning of time, there has always been a sort of rules connecting punishment to people who break the law. Almost every nation around the world either has a form of capital punishment currently or once practiced it at one point in time. America’s death penalty first came about in 1608 and is still practiced, to some extent, today.
The death penalty is a prosecute that is used to kill criminals that have committed crimes that are so bad they should not be left alive. The idea of putting another human to death is hard to completely fathom. The physical mechanics involved in the act of execution are easy to grasp, but the emotions involved in carrying out a death sentence on another person, regardless of how much they deserve it, is beyond my understanding. Knowing that it must be painful, dehumanizing, and sickening. The Eight Amendment says” Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Constitutions). And for the article Changing Views on\\e rate has gone down at a steady from the 1990 to now and that they death penalty is sometimes necessary, and it is our responsibility as a society to see that it is done.