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Capital Punishment

Louis Thayer
His 104
5 May 2014
Professor Knoblauch
Capital punishment has always been an onoin issue in !mericas society" Many say it is
unethical but how can we be sure those offen#ers will not #o another horrific crime aain" $n the
beinnin of the twentieth century we can see that capital crimes are happenin an# especially in a
#e%elopin country at this time perio#" !s a criminal &ustice stu#ent this topic really rabs my interest
an# somethin worth tal'in about"
The tren# of capital punishment throuh the twentieth century can not be accurate as many
woul# thin' &ust from rea#in a raph or a chart" !s the First Measured Century says most crimes other
then mur#er were inclu#e# in the #emoraphic such as rape( 'i#nappin( treason( an# espionae
)*attenber+" ,rom opinion( capital crime shoul# be somethin more horren#ous then 'i#nappin or
rape" -nly those who commit capital crimes such as mur#er shoul# be sentence# to #eath" The ,urman
%s" .eoria court case rule# that such crimes ha%e to be of the e/treme on or#er to be sentence# to the
#eath penalty )*attenber+" 0%en thouh most e/ecutions happene# because of mur#er there are still a
percentae of those who were ta'en for other illeal acts" The tren# shows that between the twentieth
century there was a hih e/ecution rate in the 11203s )4ohm+" The main reason for this was
criminoloists belie%e# that this was an appropriate social measure" ,rom this time perio# many were
e/periencin such traic e%ents as The .reat 5epression an# Prohibition" This lea# to more e/ecutions
then any other time perio# in !merican history an# this century too" There was an a%erae of 167
capital punishments a year #urin the 11203s )4ohm+" !fter a hih in #eaths there was a slow #ecrease
in the use because of chanes in the law an# an ethical stan#point" The support for the #eath penalty
was #ecreasin as times were chanin but this #i#n8t stop people from committin serious crimes as
statistics shown )4ohm+"
*omen an# the #eath penalty was a topic that was not primarily important" There was only a
few that were sentence# but not many were actually oin to happen )*attenber+" !ccor#in to
statistics only about two percent of all e/ecutions ha%e only been women offen#ers )9treib+" This is not
shown to be a se/ists but &ust in fat how more fre:uent it was for men to be prone to the i#ea" There
was only one female sentence# in 1162 an# that was the first " !fter that in 1172 starte# the mar' for
more females bein e/ecute# )9treib+"
The #emoraphic chane of capital punishment was all o%er the map for the twentieth century"
The main causes of this were cost( leal prece#ences( an# ethical issues" $n 11603s there were
challenes in the courts that fun#amentally chane# the way we see the #eath penalty )4ohm+" 0ach
in#i%i#ual state ha# the riht to choose if they wante# to use capital punishment as a means of crime
control" !s P49 mentions( in 1172 fourteen states ha# abolishe# it an# others #i#n8t want to use it e%en
thouh they ha# a statue for it )*attenber+" $t was sueste# by the courts that usin this is %iolatin
our ;
th
!men#ment of the constitution which protects us from <cruel an# unusual punishment= but how
can we &ustify that base# on the means of what the offen#er #i# )4ohm+"
!fter the 11603s we see that almost nobo#y was e/ecute# in the 703s era )*attenber+ There has
to be a reason for such a #ecline in capital punishment" .oin bac' to the ,urman %s" .eoria case
there was a lot of aruments floatin aroun# )4ohm+" ,urman was aruin that it was completely
arbitrary for the #iscretion of &urors to i%e them the power to sentence the #eath penalty" This stirre#
up a lot of :uestions of the courts an# then e%entually the 9upreme Court ha# to step in to loo' o%er
e%erythin" The #eath penalty was suspen#e# until thins coul# be sorte# out which lea# to 621 #eath
row inmates off the hoo'" The 9upreme Court sai# that the e/istin statues were not %ali# anymore an#
ha# to come up with a better solution"
!fter the #eath penalty was reinstate#( new statues were in place to ma'e sure such instances as
seen in the ,urman case #i# not happen )4ohm+" Many a#%ocates of this belie%e# that this woul# en#
arbitrates of the system an# ma'e it better" Most states man#ate# that all capital crimes were followe#
by capital punishment an# 'eep the #iscretion out of the han#s of the &urors" 9ince this is a state issue
some of the chanes #i#n8t ha%e to be in their laws" There will be %ariations #epen#in on which state
it is but the 9upreme Court set the ultimate o%erloo' of these laws )4ohm+"
Capital punishment as a whole will always be an onoin issue rear#in leality an# ethical
stan#point" $t is sometimes har# to rasp that a o%ernment can ultimately ma'e a #ecision to ta'e a
persons life or not #epen#in on the crime that was committe#" The #emoraphic chane o%er the
twentith century is mostly #ue to outsi#e factors as mentione#( an# chanes in the law"
*or's Cite#
4ohm( >" ?Part $@ History of the 5eath Penalty"? DPIC" 5eath Penalty $nfo( 1111" *eb" 04 May 2014"
Ahttp@BBwww"#eathpenaltyinfo"orBpartCiChistoryC#eathCpenaltyDearlymi#E"
9treib" ?*omen an# the 5eath Penalty"? DPIC" 5eath Penalty $nfo( 2006" *eb" 02 May 2014"
Ahttp@BBwww"#eathpenaltyinfo"orBwomenCan#C#eathCpenaltyE"
*attenber" ?Capital Punishment"? PBS" P49( 1111" *eb" 04 May 2014"
Ahttp@BBwww"pbs"orBfmcBboo'B12crime2"htmE"

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