"The death
penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to
sea. We hear about shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships
the lighthouse guides safely on their way. We do not have proof of
the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the lighthouse down."
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DEATH PENALTY:
I. History
II. Statistics
Concerning the Death Penalty in the US
III. Application
of the Death Penalty By State - a wonderful ABC
news site giving state by state information
image courtesy of Industrial
Auctioneers
The issue of arbitrariness of the death penalty was brought before the Supreme Court in 1972 by Furman who argued that capital cases resulted in arbitrary and capricious sentencing. The Court held that Georgia's death penalty statute, which gave the jury complete sentencing discretion without any guidance as to how to exercise that discretion, could result in arbitrary sentencing. The Court held that the scheme of punishment under the statute was therefore "cruel and unusual" and violated the Eighth Amendment. Thus, on January 29, 1972, the Supreme Court effectively voided 40 death penalty statutes, thereby commuting the sentencing of 629 death row inmates around the country and suspending the death penalty because existing statues were no longer valid.
A massive change occurred in order for death penalty statutes to be
deemed valid. A detailed appeals process was ensured. It is
harder now than it ever was to gain a death row sentence. (In fact,
since 1967, there has been one execution for every 1600 murders,
or 0.06%.)
Public Support of the Death Penalty
courtesy of EmpFamEd
"Most of us continue
to believe that those who show utter contempt for human life by committing
remorseless, premeditated murder justly forfeit the right to their own
life."
-- Alex Kozinski, U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicteds of murder?
Throughout the years the American people have supported
the use of the death penalty both for punishment and appropriate
retribution for the horrendous crimes that have been committed by these
men and women. Support of this method has been unwavering for the past
70 years, even though more recently the practice has become a topic of
debate that has garnered much negative press. As long as the punishment
is continued to be applied in a just manner the public will stand behind
the practice that protects the innocent from criminals that could
potentially threaten their existence, while providing them with much needed
piece of mind. To see statistics concerning American support of the
death penalty click HERE
.
Death Penalty as a Deterrent
courtesy of CNN
Death penalty opponents state that the death penalty is not an effective enough deterrent to criminals, therefore it should be abolished.
Our response: The test for deterrence is not whether it produces
lower murder rates, but produces fewer murders. The question we must
ask, therefore, is, "Does the death penalty prevent murders?" Unfortunately,
statistics cannot be gathered for something that has not occurred.
However, there are some numbers that we are able to look at.
- 10, 000 people have been murdered since 1971 by
people who have previously murdered
This shows that by not incapacitating murderers, we are allowing innocents
to be murdered. Take, for example, Arthur James Julius. In
1972, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In 1978, he was given a brief leave from prison, during which he raped
and murdered a cousin. He was sentenced to death and executed in
1989. Unfortunately for his cousin, he had worked the system well
enough to be freed to murder again. Julius is not a lone exception.
There are numerous cases where a murder is sentenced to prison time instead
of death, is released (for whatever reason), and murders again.
For examples, go to
Murders
That Could Have Been Averted by Capital Punishment.
The human rights of victims and future victims are constantly
ignored. It is always necessary to err on the side of saving innocent
life instead of sacrificing innocent life. This is why the death
penalty, even if it's deterrent value is minimal, should remain.
Criminal surveys have shown, to a 5:1 ratio, that the death penalty is
deterrent enough to keep them from murdering their victims during a crime.
And, when sentencing time comes and the death penalty becomes real, murderers
fear it the most. Maybe we should consider that one innocent life...
the child, the grandmother, the police officer...who might be saved by
convicting a murderer the first time and not allowing him to go free.
The death penalty is undeniably a deterrent. There is one simple
fact that proves it : during the moratorium on the death penalty from 1974
to 1977, murder rates increased 100%. If that isn't proof, then what
is?
Justice
"When there has been brought home to anyone, by conclusive evidence, the greatest crime known to the law; and when the attendant circumstances suggest no palliation of the guilt, no hope that the culprit may even yet not be unworthy to live among mankind, nothing to make it probable that the crime was an exception to his general character rather than a consequence of it, then I confess it appear to me that to deprive the criminal of the life of which he has proved himself to be unworthy--solemnly to blot him out from the fellowship of mankind and from the catalogue of the living--is the most appropriate as it is certainly the most impressive, mode in which society can attach to so great a crime the penal consequences which for the security of life it is indispensable to annex to it." --John Stuart Mill ethics.acusd.edu
Let us again revisit Murders that Could Have Been Averted by Capital Punishment . In 1952, Allen Pruitt was arrested for the knife slaying of a newsstand operator and sentenced to life in prison. In 1965, he was charged with fatally stabbing a prison doctor and an assistant prison superintendent, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. In 1968, his 1952 conviction was overturned on a technicality by the Virginia Supreme Court. He was re-tried, again found guilty, but given a 20 year sentence instead of life. Since he had already served 18 years, he was awarded time off for "good behavior" and was released. On December 31, 1971 he was arrested and charged in the murder of two men in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Why should a man like that have been ever let out of prison? If he had been sentenced to the death penalty, he would have at least been sentenced to life imprisonment after an appeal, and would not have gotten out on any type of parole.
It is often said that murders are the criminals least likely to repeat their crimes. Does that statistic matter if you become the victim of the exception?
courtesy of Criminal Justice: Opposing Viewpoints editor Jill Karson.
The risk of executing the innocent.
Opponents claim that 69 "innocent" death row inmates have been released
since 1973. This seems to imply that there must be a death toll for
some innocents who were already executed. True, pre-Furman vs. Georgia,
and in the early history of the United States, there may have been some
false executions. But, since 1900, there has been no conclusive evidence
of any innocents murdered.
Information courtesy of ProDeathPenalty.com
