The Role Of The Death Penalty In The United States

Since 1976, the U.S. has executed approximately 1,439 people, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (2016). However, this is not a new issue in U.S. politics, as the death penalty has been a controversial form of punishment in America since colonial times. According to a PBS article by Michael H. Reggio, the use of capital punishment in the U.S. was a tradition brought over by the English settlers, with the first execution on American soil occurring in 1608 when the Virginia colony executed George Kendall for treason against the Crown (Reggio, 2014). Over time, other colonies began using the death penalty, death by hanging for specific crimes such as: “...murder, sodomy, burglary, robbery, rape, horse-stealing, slave rebellion, …show more content…
Other groups also oppose the death penalty, such as liberals, religious people, and well educated people. According to a 1998 study by the Michigan Law School, “race and sex [are] the two major demographic predictors of death penalty attitudes…”; 51 percent of African Americans supported the death penalty, while 75 percent of whites supported it in 1998 (Gross, 1998). Additionally, only 66 percent of females supported the death penalty, while 79 percent of males supported it (Gross, 1998). While a majority of Republicans support the death penalty, about 49 percent of Democrats oppose the death penalty (Jones, 2016). White Catholics, as opposed to other Christian denominations, are more likely to oppose the death penalty because they mostly hold “pro-life” opinions (Soss, Langbein, Metelko, pg. 407, 2003). Education makes a difference in the support of the death penalty. Shown in a 2003 study provided by The Journal of Politics, white people with higher levels of education “express significantly lower support for the death penalty” (Soss, Langbein, Metelko, pg. 408, 2003). Geography plays a part in which groups of people oppose the death penalty; typically people living in the coastal regions of the U.S. are more likely to oppose the death penalty than people living in other areas (Jones, …show more content…
will continue to be a complex and controversial issue far into the foreseeable future. Public opinion will also continue to guide states in whether or not to keep the death penalty or get rid of it. However, since public opinion continuously fluctuates, it will be difficult to judge how Americans view it in the future. Overall, several factors influence public opinion of the death penalty including crime rate, bipartisan support, and alternatives to the death penalty. If the current approval ratings continue to go down, then Congress, or the Supreme Court might be able to act on it. Either way, the future of the death penalty in the U.S. is questionable, and will continue to be a part of the partisan political system. In terms of democracy, the death penalty is a discussion that will continuously be debated and decided on as a reflection of public