There are many political topics that you don’t bring up at the dinner table due to everyone’s heated stances; the death penalty topic is one of those. Whether you believe in the statement “an eye for an eye” or that no human should be ethically killed based on their mistakes, your choice solely depends on your beliefs. That is why I am fascinated with this topic. Everyone has a right to their opinion; therefore, they should feel as if they can express it. Our nation, the United States of America, is one of the fifty-eight nations around the world to practice the death penalty. America’s death penalty first came about in 1608 and is still practiced, to some extent, today. When the Europeans came over to America, they brought more than just
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In his essay, he explains how criminals should be reformed, not punished. That no government should have the ability to take someone’s life, which explains why he is against the practice of capital punishment. Many scholars around the world became fascinated by his work. Beccaria’s essay On Crimes and Punishment actually inspired Austria and Tuscany to abolish their capital punishment statutes altogether. In the United States, the first attempt to reform the state of Virginia’s death penalty laws was proposed by Thomas Jefferson, while he was governor of Virginia at the time. He suggested that capital punishment only be used during the offense of first degree murder and treason; this attempt lost by one …show more content…
One of the landmark cases regarding capital punishment is Furman v. Georgia. This case reduced all death sentences to only life imprisonment. After the Supreme Court took out every capital punishment statute, a majority of states began passing new ones. In 1976, shortly after Furman v. Georgia, Gregg v. Georgia overturned all those capital punishment statutes that were just deemed unconstitutional. In 2002, Atkins v. Virginia deemed that the execution of mentally retarded inmates is unconstitutional. Similar to that, in 2005 another court decision found that offenders that were minors at the time of the crime cannot be
In his essay, he explains how criminals should be reformed, not punished. That no government should have the ability to take someone’s life, which explains why he is against the practice of capital punishment. Many scholars around the world became fascinated by his work. Beccaria’s essay On Crimes and Punishment actually inspired Austria and Tuscany to abolish their capital punishment statutes altogether. In the United States, the first attempt to reform the state of Virginia’s death penalty laws was proposed by Thomas Jefferson, while he was governor of Virginia at the time. He suggested that capital punishment only be used during the offense of first degree murder and treason; this attempt lost by one …show more content…
One of the landmark cases regarding capital punishment is Furman v. Georgia. This case reduced all death sentences to only life imprisonment. After the Supreme Court took out every capital punishment statute, a majority of states began passing new ones. In 1976, shortly after Furman v. Georgia, Gregg v. Georgia overturned all those capital punishment statutes that were just deemed unconstitutional. In 2002, Atkins v. Virginia deemed that the execution of mentally retarded inmates is unconstitutional. Similar to that, in 2005 another court decision found that offenders that were minors at the time of the crime cannot be