Death Penalty
The death penalty, or capital punishment, has been used all over the world for many years. In the past, over 100 people have been removed from death row due to DNA evidence because the legal systems got it wrong. The legal systems use the death penalty carried out by lethal injection, electric chair, and hanging to punish those who disobey the law in significant ways. Many think that a person who commits a heinous crime should be killed for their actions. Some people argue that the death penalty is constitutional and others say it is not. While the majority of Americans believe in the death penalty, the number has steadily fallen over the past two decades. Some people have even stated that life in prison is a more stringent penalty …show more content…
In 1968, the Court heard two different cases dealing with the prosecutor and the jury in capital cases. In the case Jackson v. U.S., the Supreme Court made a ruling about a part of the federal kidnapping statute which said, “that the death penalty be imposed only upon recommendation of a jury” (“Constitutionality … America”) . The Supreme Court ruled that this practice was unlawful because it encouraged the defendants to waive their right to a jury trial to make sure they would not receive a death sentence. In the case Witherspoon v. Illinois the Supreme Court ruled that a potential juror could not be automatically removed simply for having, “mere reservations about the death penalty” (“Constitutionality … America”). The most important recent Supreme Court case about the death penalty was Furman v. Georgia. This case specifically challenged the death penalty based on the eighth amendment because Georgia did not have clear rules and regulations for when the death penalty could and could not be used as a punishment. The Supreme Court ruled that 40 states did not have clear enough guidelines for when the death penalty could and could not be used. This commuted the sentences of 629 prisoners on death row (“Constitutionality … …show more content…
Our former president Barack Obama refers to capital punishment as “deeply troubling.” In a meeting with the Marshall Project he stated cases where people sentenced to death were later proven not guilty, and he also noted that “the death penalty had not been swift and painless but clumsy and gruesome”( Obama … death penalty). In May of 2014 President Obama raised outlooks about a possible change after an Oklahoma prisoner regained consciousness after receiving a lethal injection. He said that this event brought out concerns with capital punishment in the United States. The number of states carrying out executions continues to decrease. The federal government still has the ability to seek out the death penalty, even though they have not put an inmate to death since
The death penalty, or capital punishment, has been used all over the world for many years. In the past, over 100 people have been removed from death row due to DNA evidence because the legal systems got it wrong. The legal systems use the death penalty carried out by lethal injection, electric chair, and hanging to punish those who disobey the law in significant ways. Many think that a person who commits a heinous crime should be killed for their actions. Some people argue that the death penalty is constitutional and others say it is not. While the majority of Americans believe in the death penalty, the number has steadily fallen over the past two decades. Some people have even stated that life in prison is a more stringent penalty …show more content…
In 1968, the Court heard two different cases dealing with the prosecutor and the jury in capital cases. In the case Jackson v. U.S., the Supreme Court made a ruling about a part of the federal kidnapping statute which said, “that the death penalty be imposed only upon recommendation of a jury” (“Constitutionality … America”) . The Supreme Court ruled that this practice was unlawful because it encouraged the defendants to waive their right to a jury trial to make sure they would not receive a death sentence. In the case Witherspoon v. Illinois the Supreme Court ruled that a potential juror could not be automatically removed simply for having, “mere reservations about the death penalty” (“Constitutionality … America”). The most important recent Supreme Court case about the death penalty was Furman v. Georgia. This case specifically challenged the death penalty based on the eighth amendment because Georgia did not have clear rules and regulations for when the death penalty could and could not be used as a punishment. The Supreme Court ruled that 40 states did not have clear enough guidelines for when the death penalty could and could not be used. This commuted the sentences of 629 prisoners on death row (“Constitutionality … …show more content…
Our former president Barack Obama refers to capital punishment as “deeply troubling.” In a meeting with the Marshall Project he stated cases where people sentenced to death were later proven not guilty, and he also noted that “the death penalty had not been swift and painless but clumsy and gruesome”( Obama … death penalty). In May of 2014 President Obama raised outlooks about a possible change after an Oklahoma prisoner regained consciousness after receiving a lethal injection. He said that this event brought out concerns with capital punishment in the United States. The number of states carrying out executions continues to decrease. The federal government still has the ability to seek out the death penalty, even though they have not put an inmate to death since