History Of Capital Punishment

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Capital punishment has evolved its punishment tactics from being pressed between heavy stones and being burned alive, some events in the public, to more modern forms such as electrocution, lethal injection, the firing squad, electrocution, and gassing. In the seventh century people could be sentenced to death for almost anything, while today capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty, is becoming a controversial issue in which people argue its past history, the most common methods used, and also the laws that protect those accused of crimes that they could potentially be sentenced to death. Today, most people are put on death row for committing murder. In comparison, people back in the seventh century, people could be put …show more content…
Some examples are back in Rome, they would tie a person sentenced to death in a bag with a viper, cock, dog, and an ape and then throw them into water to drown. Another method that was used was torture. People would be put in their town square for everyone to watch, and then would be tortured to their death with everyone around. Their bodies would be left out there for days until they were too rotten to remain in the town square (Hood). Then in the 17th and 18th centuries, the death penalty was a punishment for a variety of offenses, just not used as much as it could’ve been. However, some countries were not comfortable with the death penalty, so they would banish one to another country where they would be executed. Many people in this time that were being sentenced to death would try to get out of it by claiming that they are priests, which would then lead to an investigation about their statement. If their statement was found to be true, the person convicted would then be given a limited amout of time in prison instead of death …show more content…
Baze had admitted to shooting and killing two men. He and his lawyer then argued to the court that he should not have to undergo the lethal injection because of a previous case where someone started to wake up from the anesthesia (“Current Events” 4-5). Baze stated, “‘from all accounts that I’ve read, this stuff is like liquid fire going into your veins.’” He felt that this was so inhumane, that the firing squad would be better than the lethal injection. His argument was then overruled because the Constitution is not being violated because the Eighth Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights that bans the federal government from establishing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments, which does include torture; does not require there to not be a pain in the time of execution (“Current Events” 4-5). This specific case relates to the reality of capital punishment and gives more information as to why people are against it, but also shows the severity of what a punishment is like for people like

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