America is in the midst of a massive debate in regards to the constitutionality of the application of the death penalty, and while the importance of the Constitution cannot be understated in regards to this discussion, other factors, such as social science evidence and the many different ways in which the Constitution can be interpreted, are equally important.
One of the principal arguments in favor of the use of the death penalty is that it acts as a powerful deterrent against capital crimes such as murder. However, empirically speaking, any causal relationship is highly dubious at best. The consensus in the social science community seems to be that there are far to many confounding variables to make any sort of meaningful determination in regards to the efficacy of the death penalty as a deterrent. As Durlauf, Fu, and Navarro discuss in “Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Understanding Disparate Results,” the moratorium on the death penalty established by Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), and subsequently ended by Gregg v. Georgia, 428 …show more content…
We need to look no further than the struggle to abolish slavery and the fight for civil rights, both of which were hindered by the government, as seen with the aforementioned decisions in Dredd Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), both of which represent dark stains on the record of the American legal system. It is important that the government recognizes that this is an issue of huge importance, and asks how history will judge the current legality of capital punishment. This is also an issue that must be resolved with the utmost exigency, as the longer we stall, the more the world evolves around us, and the darker the stain appears. However, while legacy is important, the abolition of the death penalty could potentially remedy serious contemporary
One of the principal arguments in favor of the use of the death penalty is that it acts as a powerful deterrent against capital crimes such as murder. However, empirically speaking, any causal relationship is highly dubious at best. The consensus in the social science community seems to be that there are far to many confounding variables to make any sort of meaningful determination in regards to the efficacy of the death penalty as a deterrent. As Durlauf, Fu, and Navarro discuss in “Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Understanding Disparate Results,” the moratorium on the death penalty established by Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), and subsequently ended by Gregg v. Georgia, 428 …show more content…
We need to look no further than the struggle to abolish slavery and the fight for civil rights, both of which were hindered by the government, as seen with the aforementioned decisions in Dredd Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), both of which represent dark stains on the record of the American legal system. It is important that the government recognizes that this is an issue of huge importance, and asks how history will judge the current legality of capital punishment. This is also an issue that must be resolved with the utmost exigency, as the longer we stall, the more the world evolves around us, and the darker the stain appears. However, while legacy is important, the abolition of the death penalty could potentially remedy serious contemporary