The Death Penalty Research Paper
Andrew Cruz
Ms. Rachel Williams
Reading
28 April 2011
Research Paper on the Death Penalty The death penalty is a capital punishment that is put into effect for major crimes. The death penalty is a very controversial topic in the United States and throughout the world. There was a time period were the death penalty was banned for about four years in 1972-1976. Many feel that the death penalty is justice because it is retribution toward criminals who have committed heinous crimes. However the death penalty is inhumane and should be abolished in the United States. The death penalty has been around since the beginning of civilization. “Capital Punishment has been practiced in most known societies over the course of humans history” (Garland 30). The website Introduction to the Death Penalty states that the death was first established for 25 different crimes, however, over the years the laws have changed. Fortunately, only one-third of the world still uses this type of punishment. There are only a few developed countries that have the death penalty, such as Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The most recent countries that have abolished the death penalty because they deamed it inhumane are Burundi, and Togo in 2009, and Gabon in 2010. Unfortunately the U.S. is one of the few developed countries that still have the death penalty. Writer Scott Christianson says, “In the United States, however, serious consideration of abolition was slower in the coming, for political reasons. On the one hand, capital punishment had been used since the earliest days of exploration and Colonization; it was still legal in all but a few states” (176). In the U.S. only fourteen states have abolished the death penalty, the most recent states to abolish the death penalty are New York in 2007, New Mexico in 2009, and Illinois in 2011. Writer Michael Meranze says, “Europe redefined itself as a death penalty- free zone and seventy countries around the globe abolished the death
Ms. Rachel Williams
Reading
28 April 2011
Research Paper on the Death Penalty The death penalty is a capital punishment that is put into effect for major crimes. The death penalty is a very controversial topic in the United States and throughout the world. There was a time period were the death penalty was banned for about four years in 1972-1976. Many feel that the death penalty is justice because it is retribution toward criminals who have committed heinous crimes. However the death penalty is inhumane and should be abolished in the United States. The death penalty has been around since the beginning of civilization. “Capital Punishment has been practiced in most known societies over the course of humans history” (Garland 30). The website Introduction to the Death Penalty states that the death was first established for 25 different crimes, however, over the years the laws have changed. Fortunately, only one-third of the world still uses this type of punishment. There are only a few developed countries that have the death penalty, such as Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The most recent countries that have abolished the death penalty because they deamed it inhumane are Burundi, and Togo in 2009, and Gabon in 2010. Unfortunately the U.S. is one of the few developed countries that still have the death penalty. Writer Scott Christianson says, “In the United States, however, serious consideration of abolition was slower in the coming, for political reasons. On the one hand, capital punishment had been used since the earliest days of exploration and Colonization; it was still legal in all but a few states” (176). In the U.S. only fourteen states have abolished the death penalty, the most recent states to abolish the death penalty are New York in 2007, New Mexico in 2009, and Illinois in 2011. Writer Michael Meranze says, “Europe redefined itself as a death penalty- free zone and seventy countries around the globe abolished the death
Cited: Abolish the Death Penalty. Amnesty International. n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. Study Finds Flawed System for Poor. 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 4 May. 2011. Barry, John. “Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual?” Speak Out. Speak Out, 3 May 2000. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. Bedau, Hugo Adam. “The Case Against the Death Penalty.” The Case Against the Death Penalty. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. Bright, Stephen B. Counsel for the Poor: The Death Sentence Not for the Worst Crime but for the Worst Lawyer. Yale Law Journal. May. 1994. Web. 5 May. 2011. Christianson, Scott. The Last Gasp the Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber. Berkley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2010. Print. Dicks, Shirley, ed. Congregation of the Voices Against the Death Penalty Condemned. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1991. Print. Dieter, Richard C. Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center. July. 1997. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. Garland, David, Randall McGowen, and Michael Meranze, eds. America’s Death Penalty Between Past and Present. New York and London: New York University Press, 2011. Print. Introduction to the Death Penalty. Death Penalty Information Center. n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. “Issues of Fairness: Racial Bias and Quality of Legal Representation.” Capital Punishment. Ed. Kim Masters Evans. Detroit: Information Plus Reference Series, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. Kay, Jonathan. “Capital Punishment.” Commentary 113.6 (2000): 56. Web. Messerli, Joe. Should the Death Penalty Be Banned as a Form of Punishment. N.p. 10 Dec. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. Van De Kamp, John Van De. “California can’t Afford the Death Penalty.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 10 June. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.