Capital Punishment In The United States Today

Definition and Facts

Capital Punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment; the killing of a person via judicial process of retribution or incapacitation.

The types of crimes which are punishable by the death penalty in the U.S. (capital offenses) usually involve aggravated murder. For example:

Multiple murders
Murder + rape
Murder + torture
Contract killing

A majority of nations in the world today have banned the death penalty as a form of punishment: Almost all of Europe, plus Canada, Mexico and Australia have abandoned capital punishment.

The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment" for crimes

A number of US states do not have the death penalty and instead use life imprisonment..

Studies have shown that factors unrelated to the crime itself- primarily pverty, race and gender- greatly influence who is executed and who is not.









Racial Bias


Again and again, studies show that racial bias permeates the criminal justice system and that African-Americans are arrested more frequently and punished more severely for the same crimes than are White Americans.

African Americans make up a far higher proportion of death row inmates than their proportion in the U.S. population

Studies also show that the race of the victim tends to greatly influence the penalty imposed. Those who kill a white person are more likely to receive the death penalty than those who kill an African-American, or Latino-American.









Economic Status

The quality of the legal representation: It is a chilling fact that you are more likely to escape the death penalty if you can hire a private attorney than if you are represented by a court-appointed lawyer.

While wealthy defendants who hire their own counsel are generally spared the death penalty, poorer defendants do not have that opportunity.









The Criminal Justice System

The death penalty is administered by the same underfunded and overworked court system which is responsible for administering all of our country's civil and criminal laws. This system can and does make mistakes.









Some Arguments for Capital Punishment

"The death penalty is an important tool and deterrent in fighting pre-meditated, and often violrnt murder."

*Some argue that the death of a criminal gives closure to the victims (if they are still alive) and their families.

*The death penalty serves as a deterrent to criminals who may be considering committing a capital offence.

*One of the main principals of punishment and the judicial system is that the penalty fits the crime. If someone violently murders another individual or numerous people, then it makes sense for the punishment to be death.

*Some anti-death penalty campaigners describe examples of people on death row, or people have already been killed have then been proved innocent. Today, the accuracy of modern forensics and DNA testing makes it very unlikely for an innocent person to be put on death row. Furthering this point, it is argued that the number of innocent people may be killed is equalized by the number of actual crimes that are set free.

*Putting people in prison, as opposed to executing them gives them a chance of parole (or the small chance that they escape) Capital punishment means there is no chance of the criminal committing another crime.









Some Arguments Against the Death Penalty

"The death penalty is a barbaric punishment which violates moral values."

*The financial cost of putting people to death, once you consider extra appeals, additional procedures, etc, can be often more than the cost of putting a criminal in prison for life.

*The death penalty violates the "cruel and unusual" clause of the Bill of Rights.

*It is simply immoral and barbaric to allow people to be killed by the state even if they have committed violent crimes.

*The appeals and additional procedures required to deal with criminals that have been condemned to death fill up the US legal system which could be put to better use.

*It can be viewed that, life in prison with little freedom and poor quality of life is a better punishment and deterrent to criminals than death row.

*There is always the possibility that innocent men and women are put to death without ever having committed a crime. There will always be failings in the judicial and conviction system