Death Penalty Case Study

RACHEL MELTON
PHILOSOPHY 1120
APRIL 15, 2019
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: A HISTORICAL TIMELINE

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Capital Punishment: A Historical Timeline

Different forms of the death penalty have been around for thousands of years. I will

discuss the history of capital punishment including the laws and how they have changed over

time, ways in which people have been executed as well as provide my personal opinion on the

subject.

18th Century B.C. Through 5th Century B.C.

The first recorded laws involving death penalty date back to the 18th century B.C. in the

Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. The code consisted of 25 different crimes that were

punishable by death, although murder was not one of them. The next recorded law was in the

14th century B.C. in the Hittite Code. The laws allowed for conditioning. Rather than putting

someone to death for a crime they sometimes allowed someone to pay a fine for harming

someone. The usual offenses that were punished by death were enslavement and forced labor.

The next recorded laws were in the Draconian Code of Athens. Athens is known for the creation

of democracy. They created laws that required that written laws be followed and enforced by the

court, which eliminated the aristocratic interpretation of oral/verbal laws. Draco was the man

who helped create these laws. He was known as a brutal punisher which coined the term

‘draconian’, which is equal to the laws he created. Death was the only punishment for all crimes.

Then in the 5th century B.C. The Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets were developed. These laws

were a set of laws that consisted of 12 bronze tablets. This was the beginning of a new view on

laws in which the laws were passed by the government and inscribed on the tablets so that all

citizen would be treated equally. Death without a trial was forbidden. The usual crimes

punishable by death were stealing, arson, treason, bribery, homicide and perjury. The ways in
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which people were punish to death were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive

and impalement. 1

10th Century A.D Through the Abolitionist Movement

In the 1066 A.D. William the Conqueror abolished the death penalty with the exception

during times of war. Criminals were still punished although by means of torture, binding or

castration. The ban of the death penalty was eventually reinstated by King Henry Vlll in 1108.

He increased the amount of crimes punishable by death. During his time as king there were over

72,000 people punished by death. The different methods of punishment included boiling, burning

alive, beheading, and being hanged, drawn and quartered.2

European settlers brought capital punishment practices to the United States. The first

documented execution in the new colonies was in 1608. Jamestown, Virginia Captain George

Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain. Laws initially varied from colony to colony. In

1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws because

the colony of Virginia was leaning towards a collapse. There were three men that were

responsible for the facilitation of the laws including Governor Sir Thomas Dale, Lord De La

Warre and Sir Thomas Gates. These laws encompassed three categories of colonist including

officers, laborers and farmers. There were thirty-seven laws that applied to all colonists. The

laws did not recognize English common law or jury trial. People were put to death for crimes

such as stealing grapes, killing livestock or trading with the Indians. These laws helped lower

crime rates and prevented the colony from collapsing. 3

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In 1665, The New York colony instituted the Duke’s Law of 1665, which was based on

English law. Offenses such as murder, lying, adultery, witch-craft, striking one’s mother/father

or denying the ‘true god’ were punishable by death.4

By 1700 Britain had 222 crimes punishable by death. Some of these crimes included

stealing, cutting down a tree or even robbing a rabbit warren. Many of the juries would not

convict defendants in less serious crimes, which lead to death penalty reform. 1

In 1767, Cesare Beccaria wrote an essay called, On Crime and Punishment, which

influenced change to facilitate the abolishment of the death penalty in Austria and Tuscany. This

change helped influence Thomas Jefferson. He was the first to attempt to revise the death penalty

to only murder and treason in 1778. This revision was outvoted by one vote. 1

In 1778, the U.S. Constitution was written. The Constitution was written in such a way

that allowed for certain forms of execution to be permissible if the government chose to legislate

those issues. Many people believe that the 5th Amendment (The right to life, liberty, property and

no double jeopardy or self-incrimination), the 8Th Amendment (protection from excessive bail,

and cruel and unusual punishment) and the 14th Amendment (equal protection for all U.S.

citizens) makes the death penalty unconstitutional.

Dr. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the

Pennsylvania Prison Society. He was influenced by Cesare Beccaria. He believed that the death

penalty increased criminal activity rather than prevented it. Benjamin Franklin and Attorney

General William Bradford supported rush and his beliefs about the criminal justice system.

These men helped to lead Pennsylvania to become the first state to consider different degrees of

murder. By 1794, the death penalty was repealed for all offenses except first degree murder. 1
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In 1834, Pennsylvania was the first state to carry out executions in state penitentiaries

rather than in public. In 1846, Michigan abolished the death penalty for all crimes except treason.

In 1852, Rhode Island abolished the death penalty. It was reintroduced in 1872 but was never

carried out. It was officially abolished in 1984. Many other countries also started to follow suit

including Venezuela, Portugal, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Brazil and Ecuador. 1

Even though some stated began to abolish the death penalty, most states continued to

allow capital punishment. In 1897, U.S. congress passed a bill decreasing the number of federal

death crimes. From 1907-1917 six states abolished the death penalty including Kansas,

Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, Arizona and Missouri. 5

Between the 1920’s-1940’s, there was an increase in executions due to criminologists

reporting that the death penalty was a necessary societal measure. There were more executions in

the 1930’s than any other time in American history with an average of 167 executions per year.

In the 1950’s certain societal segments began to disagree with capital punishment. The number

of executions began to fall, from 1960 to 1976 there were only 191 executions. 1

The Abolitionist Movement

The 1960’s was a decade that fought the legalities of capital punishment with the use of

the U.S. Constitution. In 1968, the U.S. v. Jackson Case held the Federal Kidnapping Act

unconstitutional. The U.S. congress adopted the act in wake of the Lindbergh kidnapping in

1932. The Federal Kidnapping Act would allow the death penalty for interstate kidnappers if the

jury recommends it. The act was found unconstitutional because it encourages the defendant to

waive their right to a jury trial to prevent death. In 1968, The Witherspoon v. Illinois case
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concluded that a juror can be disqualified as a juror if proven guilty that their view on the death

penalty would impede on their decision about the punishment. 6 7

In 1972, the Furman v. Georgia case was based on a man who burglarized a home. When

a family member of the home discovered him, Furman attempted to flee the home and in doing

so he tripped and fell which caused the gun he was carrying to go off and kill the resident of the

home. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He fought against this and won due

to the sentence violating his 8th Amendment that requires there should be no cruel and unusual

punishment inflicted on a person. The Furman decision contradicted death penalty statutes in

many states. After the events from the 1960’s-1970’s, thirty-five states changed their guidelines

and developed constitutionally acceptable statutes. The Supreme Court nullified 40 statutes and

changes the death penalty to life in prison for 629 inmates throughout the U.S. These

aforementioned issues caused a ten-year moratorium from 1967-1977. The death penalty was

reinstated with the execution of Gary Gilmore in Utah for committing a double murder. He was

sentenced to death by firing squad in 1977. 8 1

Current U.S. Death Penalty Laws

The U.S. currently has forty-one capital offenses punishable by death such as treason,

espionage, aircraft hijacking resulting in death and most other offenses including various forms

of murder. The U.S. has five legal forms of execution. There are thirty-three states that use lethal

injection, nine states that use electrocution, six states that use lethal gas, three states that use

firing squad and three states that use hanging. Many states use more than one form of execution

although lethal injection is the most common form of execution. Currently we have twenty states

plus the District of Columbia that have abolished the death penalty. 9 10
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There are some limitations on death penalty punishments. Some other major limitation

includes people with diminished mental capacity that are not competent to understanding what

they’ve done is a violation of the 8th Amendment. Race is another factor that plays into issues

with a fair trial due to discrimination. In many cases the Supreme Court does not recognize racial

discrimination unless it is a constitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Another

limitation is that those under the age of 18 when they commit a crime, cannot be put to death in

many states due to the 8th Amendment. There are currently 15 states that do not allow the

execution of a person who committed a crime as a juvenile. 11

Utah Death Penalty Laws

Utah’s crimes punishable by death are categorized as capital murder crimes. They use

two forms of execution which are lethal injection and firing squad. Lethal inject was legalized in

1980 and firing squad was legalized in 1850. The majority of individuals on death row will

receive lethal injection as their form of punishment, although if they were sentences before May

2004, they can choose either lethal injection or firing squad. Utah does have an option for life

without parole. They are also a state that does not have a minimum age to receive the death

penalty. 12

My Opinion on Capital Punishment

In my personal opinion, I believe that the death penalty is extremely inhumane. I do not

believe that “an eye for an eye” is a method that truly works to prevent criminal activity. Look

back in history at the laws and methods of the criminal justice system. Is it working? It doesn’t

seem to be getting any better. There may be punishments that are more humane, but it does not

signify development within our criminal justice system. I feel like our criminal justice system
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needs a redo and needs to incorporate rehabilitation techniques not only for prisoners, but for

children and adults who show signs and characteristics of a murderer (or someone who commits

crimes in general). Prevention is key and will always be key. We need a system that does not use

force or threat as a form of punishment. I do agree that the person who commits the crime needs

to understand that what they have done is terribly wrong, but their punishment doesn’t need to be

capital punishment. Our society needs more compassion, love, pity and understanding to help

facilitate some sort of rehabilitation system that allows a person different levels of freedom

depending on how well they can be rehabilitated. I want to naturally help others and have

compassion towards them to help them facilitate a better life. I have worked with criminals and

have always been interested in helping develop some type of program that will rehabilitate and

not cause harm to the individuals involved. Overall, I feel like our criminal justice system is

quite corrupt and we definitely need a paradigm shift in order for a rehabilitation system to

actually work.

1
(DPIC n.d.)
2
(Al-Khatib 2014)
3
(Service 2015)
4
(Courts n.d.)
5
(ProCon 2013)
6
(Justia n.d.)
7
(Oyes n.d.)
8
(Oyez n.d.)
9
(ProCon, US Federnal Capital Offenses Punishable By Death 2012)
10
(DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center: Authorized Methods 2011)
11
(DPIC, Limitations on the Death Penalty n.d.)
12
(FindLaw 2016)
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Bibliography

Al-Khatib, Talal-. 2014. A History of the Death Penalty. May 01. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://www.seeker.com/a-history-of-the-death-penalty-1768523159.html.

Courts, They Historical Society of the New York. n.d. "The Historical Society of the New York Courts." NY
Courts History. Accessed February 20, 2019. https://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-
new-york/documents/charters-duke-transcript.pdf.

DPIC. n.d. Death Penalty Information Center. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty.

—. 2011. Death Penalty Information Center: Authorized Methods. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution.

—. n.d. Limitations on the Death Penalty. Accessed February 20, 2019.

https://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/history/history-7.htm.

FindLaw. 2016. Utah Capital Punishment Laws. March 31. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://statelaws.findlaw.com/utah-law/utah-capital-punishment-laws.html.

Igor Primoratz, "A Life for a Life, " in Justifying Legal Punishment, (Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities
Press, 1989), p. 158-159, 161-166.
Justia. n.d. United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/390/570/.

Oyes. n.d. Witherspoon v. Illinois. Accessed February 20, 2019. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1967/1015.

Oyez. n.d. Furman v. Georgia. Accessed February 20, 2019. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/69-5030.

ProCon. 2013. A Historical Timeline: History of the Death Penalty. August 13. Accessed February 20,
2019. https://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000025.

—. 2012. US Federnal Capital Offenses Punishable By Death. September 9. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004927.

Richard Dieter, "Secondary Smoke Surrounds the Capital Punishment Debate, " Criminal Justice Ethics.
Vol 13, No.2 (Winter/Spring 1994), p. 2, 82-84.
Service, National Park. 2015. Historic Jamestown. February 26. Accessed February 20, 2019.
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/martial-law.htm.

Stephan Nathanson, "An Eye for an Eye?" in An Eye for An Eye: The Immorality of Punishing By Death, 2nd
ed. (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001), p. 72-77, 138-40, 145.