Preview

Warren Mccleskey: Supreme Court Guilty Of The Death Penalty

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1049 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Warren Mccleskey: Supreme Court Guilty Of The Death Penalty
Suzette Guijosa
US History
Research Paper
01-18-13

When a person is found guilty of murder and they are given the death penalty, and later it is found that the person is innocent, you cannot correct it and bring them back to life. Is that justice? Every day in school we recite the pledge of allegiance and it states that we have justice for all but did Warren McCleskey receive the right justice? In the Preamble of the Constitution, the first thing it states is to establish justice. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and they have the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Warren McCleskey received the death penalty after he was convicted of murder and the Supreme Court reviewed the case to figure out the proper sentence for Mr. McCleskey.
…show more content…
The death penalty, or capital punishment, may be prescribed by Congress or any state legislature for murder and other capital crimes.” (Death Penalty Law Law & Legal Definition.) “The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain” (DPIC, 1). Capital Punishment existed in the colonies since the founding of Jamestown. It has been part of our society since it was founded. The death penalty goes back to the 18th century B.C. Britain established the first death penalty laws. People would receive capital punishment for simple things like cutting down trees, stealing grapes and killing chickens. Warren McCleskey was tried and convicted for murder in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, on October 12, 1978 and received the death penalty for his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The establishment of the death penalty dates back to around the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. Over the years, the death penalty and its purpose has varied and changed. Furman versus Georgia is what sparked the modern day death penalty era. The Supreme Court Case dealt with an African-American man, William Henry Furman, in which he was convicted of murder. The decision that resulted from Furman versus Georgia enforced many states along with the national legislature to reevaluate their level of capital offense in order to guarantee that the death penalty would not be conducted in an unjust manner. The outcome of the decision from Furman versus Georgia triggered confusion concerning the death penalty. It led…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    McCleskey v. Kemp

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The case began with Warren McCleskey, an African-American man who was sentenced to death in 1978 for killing a white police officer during the robbery of a Georgia furniture store. McCleskey appealed his conviction and sentence, relying on the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection to argue that the death penalty in Georgia was administered in a racially discriminatory -- and therefore unconstitutional--manner.…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Everybody believes that capital punishment is wrong, but when they look at certain cases, they are quick to say, “Put them to death”, or “scream capital punishment.”” Jeff Lindsay. Capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as a punishment for a crime. It has been around since time itself. In the 1700’s, The Code of Hammurabi was the first known written document there were twenty-five crimes that were punishable by death such as adultery, and helping slaves escape. Only the most heinous of those warranted such a stringent sentence. And while there are many methods that may take a prisoner's life, there are also alternatives. One must ask though, “Do those options do justice to the unspeakable acts these criminals have…

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    While the death penalty was later reinstating and ruled constitutional by the supreme court, there is no longer an arbitrariness to the death penalty and states have reevaluated their status for capital offenses and have reduced juror discretion.…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty was greatly used for a wide variety of crimes, including “offenses such as striking one's mother or father, or denying the ’true God.’ " Later, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill for capital punishment to be only used for the crimes of murder and treason, but it was defeated by one vote. Abolitionist movements began during colonial times and gained large support to the point where states began to abolish the death penalty completely. “In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason. Later, Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for all crimes” (“Introduction to the Death Penalty,” n.d., para…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hanging was still a common method of execution, along with boiling, burning at the stake, drawing and quartering, and beheading. By the 1700s, the number of crimes punishable by death rose to 222, which later would induce reforms to Britain’s death penalty statutes during the 1800s. Britain has a long history of the use of the death penalty with American ideals at its foundation. Although death sentences have been carried out throughout human history, the first execution in the United States was of “Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain.”…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty has been a criminal sentence imposed in America for hundreds of years, but it have been extremely controversial as Evan Mandery illustrates in “A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America.” Today, the death sentence is strictly used in murder cases and in thirty-two out of the fifty states in America. In these states, it is completely legal to use the ultimate punishment of death to incapacitate a criminal from committing any further harm to society. Throughout American history, many individuals have supported the death penalty because they believe it is an effective way to deter crime and is a form of retribution. Others have strongly advocated against capital punishment because it is not morally correct and it not applied fairly. Also, some argue that it is unconstitutional to use the death penalty because it violates the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eight Amendment written in the United States Constitution.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty was one of the main ways a person was punished. The first person executed for murder was John Billington. He had shot and killed a man during a quarrel. After the incident he was accused of murder and was…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof. We should be vigilant to uncover and avoid such mistakes. Our system of justice rightfully demands a higher standard for death penalty cases. However, the risk of making a mistake with the extraordinary due process applied in death penalty cases is very small, and there is no credible evidence to show that any innocent persons have been executed at least since the death penalty was reactivated in 1976... The inevitability of a mistake should not serve as grounds to eliminate the death penalty any more than the risk of having a fatal wreck should make automobiles illegal..."…

    • 1611 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty dates as far back to the eighteenth century B.C. during the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. During the fifth century B.C., The punishment for all crimes was death. Executioners executed offenders creatively, including crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. In the tenth century A.D., hanging was the preferred method of execution in Britain. By the sixteenth century, the British Government executed people who married Jews, who failed to confess to crimes, and who committed treason. By the 1700s, over 200 crimes were punishable by death in Britain, such as stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren (The Death Penalty, 2012). However, many juries at that time felt as though crimes like these were not serious enough to warrant the death penalty, leading Britain Government to eliminate the death penalty from over 100 crimes in the early and mid 1800s. Britain influenced America’s use of the death penalty. The first recorded execution was in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, where Captain George Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain. The death penalty evolved differently in each colony. In the New York Colony, for example, judges followed Duke's Laws of 1665 (The Death Penalty, 2012). Under this law, offenses like hitting someone’s mother or father, or denying the “true…

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    America was greatly influenced by Great Britain to use the death penalty, capital punishment was brought by the Europeans who came into the New World, which made the execution of Captain George Kendall in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608 for being a spy for Spain, to be the first recorded execution. The Virginian Governor, Sir Thomas Dale, imposed the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws in 1612, in which the death penalty, was given for even the most minor offenses.…

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty in the U.S. has been and continues to be a controversial debate between citizens. Debate regarding the policies, laws and if the death penalty is the best way to punish offenders who commit violent crimes. The history of the death penalty in the United States dates back to the late 1970s. Between 1968 and 1977 there were no executions in the United States. In the Supreme Court case of Furman v. Georgia, the court ruled that capital punishment, as it currently employed on the state and federal level is unconstitutional (Jones, 2006). The Eighth Amendment states that any form of capital punishment qualifies as “cruel and unusual punishment.” The use of executions during this time was primarily based on race and was considered by the Supreme Court as “arbitrary and capricious.”…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unjust Conviction

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many unjust convictions have shown that there are serious flaws in the Justice System, which have lead to innocent people being lead down death row. As a nation, we are coming up with more ways to fix the system so those who are innocent do not suffer, but many do still think that the death penalty should not even be a possibility should an innocent individual be found guilty. The question that remains though is, Even with all the Flaws in The Judicial system, and all the innocent convicted, should the Death Penalty be used, and should it be used at…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Texas Death Penalty

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The death penalty has been and will always be one of the most controversial topics in life, with opposing sides for and against, the death penalty is still obscure to many. The official definition of death penalty is execution of an offender being sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of criminal offense. The terms capital punishment and death penalty are frequently used to mean the same thing, though some believe there is a small difference between the terms. Death penalty is referring to the penalty received while capital punishment is referring to merely the execution. Around the world, death penalty has been exercised thousands of times throughout many centuries, the first execution in America occurred in…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Capital punishment, known as the death penalty is punishment by death and is reserved for the most heinous of crimes. The first known death penalty execution in what would later become the United States, was in 1608, when Captain George Kendell was executed by firing squad for being a spy for Spain (Waksman, 2012).…

    • 2185 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays