The Death Penalty is a punishment by execution to someone convicted of a capital crime or first degree murder. Since the beginning of America’s Death Penalty history, over 17,277 people have been legally executed. “Efforts to abolish the death penalty in America go back over one hundred years and have continued to the present day” (Galliher, Ray, and Cook, 1992; Haines, 1996)(Wozniak,1). The death penalty is the most disputed and controversial punishment in history. One side seen of the death penalty is that it is thought of as a humane way to put to death the most evil criminals and to deter others from committing those heinous crimes. The other side is that it is inhumane, cruel and unusual, and does not deter people from committing crimes,
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As stated in the Death penalty information center, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. In the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore extremely unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. It is kind of appalling that the United Nations enacted a universal Declaration of Human rights in the late 1940’s and yet it was still being practiced and not even being questioned until years later. The death penalty violates the eighth amendment because killing someone is considered cruel and unusual under the law in many ways. The Eighth amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”(Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)) If we as a country persecute killers then why are we as a country, …show more content…
Death Penalty is still a huge topic right now because we in the United states still have states that execute based on crimes. This causes a problem because we are still executing the innocent. This human right violation violates number three of the universal Declaration of Human rights. Article three states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”(Universal Declaration of Human Rights) The Death Penalty violates article three because if everyone has a right to life then why are we killing as a punishment. The Death Penalty also violates Article Five of the Declaration of Human Rights. Article Five states, according to the Declaration of Human rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article Five is very similar to the Eighth amendment with cruel treatment or
As stated in the Death penalty information center, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. In the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore extremely unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. It is kind of appalling that the United Nations enacted a universal Declaration of Human rights in the late 1940’s and yet it was still being practiced and not even being questioned until years later. The death penalty violates the eighth amendment because killing someone is considered cruel and unusual under the law in many ways. The Eighth amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”(Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)) If we as a country persecute killers then why are we as a country, …show more content…
Death Penalty is still a huge topic right now because we in the United states still have states that execute based on crimes. This causes a problem because we are still executing the innocent. This human right violation violates number three of the universal Declaration of Human rights. Article three states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”(Universal Declaration of Human Rights) The Death Penalty violates article three because if everyone has a right to life then why are we killing as a punishment. The Death Penalty also violates Article Five of the Declaration of Human Rights. Article Five states, according to the Declaration of Human rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article Five is very similar to the Eighth amendment with cruel treatment or