Death Penalty Policy

The death penalty is a federal punishment that is given to a criminal that has committed a grave crime. Crimes such as murder, extreme, malicious torture, and/or rape cases whether or not the victim survives are some examples of this (HG.org Legal Resources, 2020). More than half of America still support this form of punishment, though a growing number of the American population is no longer in support. Many find it unethical, though others feel it’s the most justified way to appropriately punish one for committing such horrid crimes. 

Though it used to happen pretty often within the last century (with varied ways of execution, such as electrocution and gassing), now, only “about 60 prisoners are on the federal death row…three federal executions have been carried out in the modern era, all by lethal injection, with the last occurring in 2003” (Death Penalty Information Center, 2019). Also, a court ruling was issued after Furman v. Georgia in 1972, where the number of eligible offenses for the death penalty, which was declared unconstitutional, was expanded to about 60 in the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 (Death Penalty Information Center, 2019).

There are varied opinions about the death penalty in the United States. Some people feel the death penalty helps give some sort of consolation and ease for the victim’s loved ones with a death sentence as opposed to the criminal on parole and still a potential threat. In other cases, some feel it “serves the ends of justice and acts as a deterrent” (HG.org Legal Resources, 2020). Some, rather, feel the potential risk of executing an innocent person falsely accused of committing a heinous crime, which, sadly, has happened many times. 

With this being said, there have been significant modifications. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty cannot be given to mentally disabled offenders in Atkins v. Virginia, 2002, juvenile offenders in Roper v. Simmons, 2005, or to “those convicted of raping a child where death was not the intended or actual result” in Kennedy v. Louisiana, 2008. In addition, the court has mandated that “juries and not judges find facts that make a defendant eligible for capital punishment (Ring v. Arizona, 2002), and impose a sentence of death (Hurst v. Florida, 2016)” (McInnes, 2020).  

In conclusion, there is much controversy and criticism in regard to the death penalty, whether or not it should be a form of punishment given, to whom it should be given and for why, and so forth. The death penalty has long been present in America, and though modifications to ways in which people are killed have been made and criteria have been adjusted to make it more just and ethical, many still feel it should not exist at all.

References

Death Penalty Information Center. (2019, December 7). Federal Death Penalty. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/federal-death-penalty 

HG.org Legal Resources. (2020). Capital Punishment Law - Guide to Death Penalty Law. https://www.hg.org/death-penalty.html 

McInnes, K. (2020, March 24). States and Capital Punishment. https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/death-penalty.aspx