Capital Punishment Essay Research Paper Capital PunishmentIntroduction

Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper

Capital Punishment

Introduction

Capital punishment is punishment by death for committing a crime. Since

the early 1800’s most executions have resulted from convictions for murder. The

death penalty has also been imposed for such serious crimes as armed robbery,

kidnapping, rape, and treason. There is a lot of conflict between people about

whether or not capital punishment is effective in discouraging crime.

In the early 1990’s, 36 states of the United States had laws that permitted

the death penalty. These laws were greatly influenced by a 1972 decision of the

Supreme Court of the United States which had banned the death penalty as it was

then imposed, describing the carrying out of the death penalty as cruel and

unusual punishment. But the court left open the possibility that the death

penalty might be imposed for certain crimes and if it was applied according to

clear standards.

After this decision was made, new capital punishment laws were made to

satisfy the Supreme Court’s requirements. These laws limit the death penalty to

murder and to other specified crimes that result in a person’s death. These

crimes include armed robbery, hijacking, and kidnapping.

Many countries, including most European and Latin-American nations, have

abolished the death penalty since 1900 – including Canada, which did so in 1976.

In the early 1990’s, the United States was the only Western industrialized

nation where executions still took place.

History

Capital punishment was common among all ancient civilizations. It was used

for a variety of offenses that today aren’t crimes at all, like stealing the

keys to someone’s wine cellar.

There were many different methods of executions, and they all had a

barbaric quality. Some of the more vicious methods were stoning, impaling,

boiling in oil, burned alive, and being stretched on the rack.

One of the most notorious ways of executions was being beheaded by a

guillotine. This machine, invented by Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814),

became the official instrument of execution in France during the French

Revolution. It dropped a huge knife that cut off the victim’s head. It was

regarded as quick and merciful. The guillotine was used until 1981, when

capital punishment was abolished in France.

The death penalty was a popular method of punishment in England.

Imprisonment was hardly ever used. In the 15th century there were eight capital

crimes: treason , petty treason, murder, larceny, robbery, burglary, rape, and

arson. Other crimes were soon added to the list, so that by the year 1780 there

were 350.

Executions were common enough to require gallows in every district of

London. Bodies were sometimes left hanging as a warning to other would-be

criminals. If the hangman were so inclined, he might give the convicted brandy

to dull his senses or pull on his legs so he would die quicker.

It was estimated that between the years 1805 and 1810, 3,000 death

sentences were handed out. At this time, however, the laws were not strictly

enforced. A large number of criminals were never executed because of royal

pardon or the “benefit of clergy”.

The benefit of clergy was originally designed to give lighter sentences to

clergymen. Gradually this benefit was extended to all who could read, since the

only proof that a person was ordained was literacy. All that was required was

the ability to read one particular verse from Psalm 51 of the bible, known as

the “neck verse”. This name was given to it because it had the ability to save

one’s neck. Most offenders learned this verse by heart. It wasn’t long before

this benefit became meaningless.

As a result, executions in this century averaged only 70 per year.

In the year 1819, the number of capital crimes was reduced to 220,

including shoplifting items above five shillings, cutting down trees in a park,

or shooting a rabbit.

Many capital crime offenders were pardoned on the condition that they

agreed to be transported to the american colonies in North America. American

colonies at that time also used capital punishment. The number of capital

crimes varied from one jurisdiction to another. The Massachusetts colony was

noted for executing people for the suspicion of witchcraft.

All executions in England were public until the mid-1800s. Great crowds

came to view them. It was believed that pickpockets were busy among the

spectators. In 1868, public opinion turned against the idea of executions as

spectacles, and it was decided that they should be carried out in private. At

this time the number of capital crimes were reduced drastically. By 1861, there

were only four: murder, treason, arson, and piracy with violence.

From the 1930s to the mid-1950s, people campaigned for the abolition of

capital punish

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