Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment


Capital punishment is the legal infliction the death penalty. It is obviously

the most severe form of criminal punishment. (Bedau1)  Capital punishment is a

controversial way of dealing with violent criminals.  The main alternative to

the death penalty is life in prison.  Capital punishment has been around for

thousands of years as a means of eradicating criminals.  A giant debate started

between supporters and opposers of execution, over the morality and

effectiveness of the death penalty.  The supporters claim that if you take a

life you should pay with your life or "an eye for an eye".  Opposers of the

death penalty bring up the chance of sentencing the innocent and how the death

penalty is inhumane.  The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of

capital punishment and the moral viewpoints on the death penalty.


The first evidence of capital punishment is from Hammurabi's code, a book of

Babylonian law, from 1700BC. (http://www.schoolsucks)  The Bible mentions that

execution should be used for many crimes. (Bedau1) One example of the death

penalty in the bible is "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to

death." (Exodus 21:12).  The bible also suggests stoning a woman if she

unmarried sex and had "wrought folly on Israel by playing the harlot in her

father's house"  (Deuteronomy 22:21) England recognized seven major crimes that

called for execution by the end of the 15th century. These crimes were: murder,

theft (by  deceitfully taking someone  goods), burglary, rape, and arson.  As

time went by more and more crimes were believed to deserve the death penalty and

by 1800 more than 200 crimes were recognized as punishable by death. (Bedau2)


It was not long before capital punishment met opposition.  The Quakers made

first movement against execution. They supported life imprisonment as a more

humane justice.  Cesare Beccaria wrote On Crimes and Punishment, a book

criticizing torture and the death penalty, in 1764.  Cesare drove many other

philosophers, like Voltaire and Jerry Bentham, to question the validity of using

capital punishment. (Bedau2)


Contrary to what some may believe the process of sentencing a defendant is a

very arduous and time-taking ordeal.  After he has been arrested as the suspect

of a crime the defendant will either tried in a state or federal court system.

The lowest court that a litigant can be sent to is the Court of General

jurisdiction (state level) or the US District Courts (federal level).  Any time

in the trial the defense may choose to appeal.   Even if a suspect is sentenced

to a crime the case may be appealed for a variety of reasons.  The defendant's

lawyer could claim that the defendant's rights were violated when he was

arrested, that the defendant received an unfair trial, or new evidence that

could prove the defendant's innocence has surfaced. (Guernsey,16)  Next the

appeal is taken to the Intermediate Appellate Courts (state) or the US Courts of

Appeals (federal) who will decide if the trial court has erred in some way.  If

the appeal is granted In the state court system the appellate will be sent to

the State Supreme Court, or in the federal system, to the supreme.  From the

State Supreme Court the case may be appealed again to the Supreme Court.  Once

the case has reached the supreme court the verdict is final. (Guernsey,15) This

monotonous appealing process is the reason for the excess of inmates on death

row today.  An inmate can spend 6-10 years on death row during the appellate

process. (Guernsey, 20)  In fact only about one in 1900 prisoners (.053%) on

death row have served the death penalty. (http://www.hotsites)  "Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas have carried out about three-quarters of

all executions since 1976." (Guernsey,22)


There has been a controversy over the death penalty ever since the Quakers

fought for reform in the 1700's. (Bedau1)  This conflict has two sides: those in

favor of capital punishment, and those who view life without parole (LWOP) as a

more huma
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