Purpose and Background
Death penalty laws date back to the Ancient Laws of China as a method of punishing criminals. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), the first recorded execution in the English American colonies was in 1608 when Captain George Kendall of Virginia was executed for plotting against the British with the Spanish. The first legal execution occurred in 1622 when criminal Daniel Frank was convicted of theft. Currently the death penalty is legal in thirty two states including Florida and Kansas. It is illegal in eighteen states including Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
Capital punishment is one of the most debated topics in the United States and the world today. Capital punishment is often seen as a …show more content…
Children who were accused of terrible crimes, for instance murder, were tried as adults in the 1907s. Until recently in 2005, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Roper v. Simmons that the death penalty cannot be applied to individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time that the crime was committed (Adelman, 2005).
The mentally ill and insane are also exempt from the death penalty. In the Ford v. Wainwright case of 1986, the Supreme Court banned the execution of insane persons. However this was reversed in Penry v. Lynaugh (1989), when the Court decided that the execution of people who suffered from mental illness did not violate the Eighth Amendment. This case was rebutted in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), where the Court finally held that the nation was in opposition to the execution of the mentally ill and decided that it violates the Eighth Amendment 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Support vs. …show more content…
For example, race, gender, class and age have a significant effect on how the trial will be conducted, and the choice of jury. Race also influences the sentencing of convicted individuals. A study discovered that racial prejudice can be found in the process surrounding death penalty cases (Richey, & Feldman 2005). Richey and Feldman discovered that in two capital cases, racial biases were found in the selection of the jury. Both cases were later appealed and both defendants were released due to the fact that the jury panel was biased and did not include their peers. Another study conducted by Michael Radelet, a sociologist at the University of Colorado found that when controlling for the race of a victim, the race of the defendant impacted the prosecution and sentencing in murder cases (Radelet,
Death penalty laws date back to the Ancient Laws of China as a method of punishing criminals. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), the first recorded execution in the English American colonies was in 1608 when Captain George Kendall of Virginia was executed for plotting against the British with the Spanish. The first legal execution occurred in 1622 when criminal Daniel Frank was convicted of theft. Currently the death penalty is legal in thirty two states including Florida and Kansas. It is illegal in eighteen states including Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
Capital punishment is one of the most debated topics in the United States and the world today. Capital punishment is often seen as a …show more content…
Children who were accused of terrible crimes, for instance murder, were tried as adults in the 1907s. Until recently in 2005, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Roper v. Simmons that the death penalty cannot be applied to individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time that the crime was committed (Adelman, 2005).
The mentally ill and insane are also exempt from the death penalty. In the Ford v. Wainwright case of 1986, the Supreme Court banned the execution of insane persons. However this was reversed in Penry v. Lynaugh (1989), when the Court decided that the execution of people who suffered from mental illness did not violate the Eighth Amendment. This case was rebutted in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), where the Court finally held that the nation was in opposition to the execution of the mentally ill and decided that it violates the Eighth Amendment 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Support vs. …show more content…
For example, race, gender, class and age have a significant effect on how the trial will be conducted, and the choice of jury. Race also influences the sentencing of convicted individuals. A study discovered that racial prejudice can be found in the process surrounding death penalty cases (Richey, & Feldman 2005). Richey and Feldman discovered that in two capital cases, racial biases were found in the selection of the jury. Both cases were later appealed and both defendants were released due to the fact that the jury panel was biased and did not include their peers. Another study conducted by Michael Radelet, a sociologist at the University of Colorado found that when controlling for the race of a victim, the race of the defendant impacted the prosecution and sentencing in murder cases (Radelet,