History Of The Death Penalty

“California executed its oldest death row inmate, Clarence Ray Allen, minutes after his 76th birthday on Jan. 17, 2006. The convicted murder was blind and wheelchair-bound at the time of his execution and was the last to be executed in California” (ProCon.org). Over time, many people like this man have been put to death. In fact, “The death penalty in the U.S. dates back to the colonial times, when European settlers brought capital punishment to the New World. For centuries, hanging was the most common method of execution” ( see “Methods of Execution,” p.9). This form of punishment was used as an example to show the public consequences of their crime. After the death penalty was in the United States for a while, the government started to question
“Between 1602-2002, 143 U.S prisoners were executed by gunfire, were burned to death, 15 hung in chains to death, 14 were bludgeoned/broke on wheel, and one was pressed to death between two heavy objects”(ProCon.org). Also, “By the 1950’s, most states were using either gas chambers or electrocution” (The New York Times Upfront Magazine, p. 10). This shows how the government has used capital punishment in a variety of ways throughout time. In the past, it was normal to have executions because the government thought the death penalty was necessary to the safety and justice of everyone. However, recently, society has started to question the death penalty because they think it's inhuman to kill people. For example, “Atkins v. Virginia (2002) banned execution of the mentally impaired” (Junior Scholastic, pg. 7). The importance of this is that now the government will not allow mentally ill people to be executed because it's unconstitutional. They ruled that it is not just to kill someone if he or she has problems that affect the way they behave. In the past, this would not have mattered, and people would not have questioned the death penalty. However, the death penalty has changed, and it has greatly impacted our country historically throughout the
To begin with, “In examining 504 cases, Phillips found that defendants are six times more likely to receive death sentence if they kill the highest status victims (whites/hispanics who have college degrees and are married and have no criminal record), compared to those defendants who killed low status victims (black or Asian victims who were single, with a prior criminal record, and no college degree” (Death penalty Information Center). What they are trying to say here is that they judge the convict on whether they kill someone of white or hispanic race or they kill someone who is asian or black. Also they judge if you killed married college graduate with no criminal record as opposed to black or Asian victims who were single, with a prior criminal record, and no college degree. Racism takes place in these judgments but no matter what race they are the criminal should not get his or her life taken away from them. This gives a bigger reason to society to dislike capital punishment because they will be judged on their racial background not what the crime is. After all, “People who favor the death penalty argue that some crimes are so horrific, the only appropriate punishment is death. Many of them also say that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime. Those who oppose the death penalty argue that no one-including the state- has the right to