Capital Punishment Essay - True Justice Through...

True Justice Through Application of the Death Penalty The death penalty, as administered by states based on their individual laws, is considered capital punishment, the purpose of which is to penalize criminals convicted of murder or other heinous crimes (Fabian). The death penalty issue has been the focus of much controversy in recent years, even though capital punishment has been a part of our countrys history since the beginning. Crimes in colonial times, such as murder and theft of livestock were dealt with swiftly and decisively (The Death Penalty...). Criminals were hanged shortly after their trial, in public executions. This practice was then considered just punishment for those crimes. Recently though, the focus†¦show more content†¦Conversely, one of the main arguments for the death penalty is that it does deter crime. U. S. Department of Justice F. B. I. statistical data supports this point by highlighting the fact that most criminals released back into society commit additional felonies. Indeed, two out of thre e death row inmates had prior felony convictions, and one in twelve actually had been convicted of prior homicides (Snell). Removing any chance of further contact with innocent human beings, by carrying out the sentence of death, effectively assures us that this criminal will not commit another crime (Fabian). The crimes he or she would have perpetrated on future victims have essentially been deterred. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine who these spared victims are, yet the statistics just mentioned support the assumption that more heinous crimes will be committed if these criminals are not dealt with in the most permanent fashion - by execution. The death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment. Authors of the United States Constitutions 8th Amendment related cruel and unusual punishment to methods used in ages past. There were many ways of carrying out the death penalty then that are not acceptable now. The 8th Amendment was created to outlaw such practices as burning criminals at the stake, boiling them in oil, or drawing and quartering, whereas the convicted felon was tiedShow MoreRelatedThe Death Penalty : Costly, Counterproductive, And Corrupting1678 Words   |  7 PagesBright, Stephen B.: The death penalty as the answer to crime: costly, counterproductive and corrupting; 35 Santa Clara Law Review 1211 (1995) Summary paragraph: In Stephen Bright’s article, â€Å"The Death Penalty as the Answer to Crime: Costly, Counterproductive, and Corrupting† Bright asserts that capital punishment does not work because it is racially biased, the quality of the lawyers and attorneys supplied by the state to poor defendants is unfair, and that the law system currently in place doesRead MoreCapital Punishment: Right or Wrong? Essay1837 Words   |  8 PagesCapital Punishment: Right or Wrong? All punishment is based on the same simple truth: there must be a penalty for wrongdoing. 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