...Benchmark Assignment The Death Penalty Picot pg. 1 Keith e picot 3/28/2012 Criminal Procedure Benchmark assignment Mr. Jessie Torres The Death Penalty in America An unreasonable and Inhumane Deterrent The Death penalty has been a staple in U.S. justice system since its inception in 1608, when Captain George Kendall, in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia was ‘executed by firing squad for treason’. Even though controversial this punishment has no place in America. Death Penalty is unreasonable and inhumane deterrent for crime and should be abolished. First of all. data shows a racial bias towards black crimes against white victims. In addition, it is less expensive to house inmates than to execute them. Finally many countries have abolished the Death Penalty deeming it merciless I am a person that does not believe in the death penalty. The main thing we Question is, what purpose it serves for us to put another person on death row. By killing another human being it wont bring back that victim they murder. People against this method realize capital punishment does not stop criminals from killing or stop them from their mischief act. Many states that are against this method argue that the death penalty is both cruel and unnecessary that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who done great evil. Prosecutor need to take time out to make sure that...
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...for crimes they committed before they reach adulthood. The United States Supreme Court prohibits execution for crimes committed at the age of fifteen or younger. Nineteen states have laws permitting the execution of persons who committed crimes at sixteen or seventeen. Since 1973, 226 juvenile death sentences have been imposed. Twenty-two juvenile offenders have been executed and 82 remain on death row (Juveniles and the Death Penalty). On January 27, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether executing sixteen and seventeen year-olds violates the Constitution’s ban on 'cruel and unusual...
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...1998 that Canada had fully eradicated the death penalty for all crimes. After examining the facts of both the J. Kindle and G. Burns & A. Rafay cases, I have capital punishment will not return to Canada in the future. Joseph J. Kindler is found guilty of first degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. The jury on this case had recommended the death penalty as his punishment. While awaiting his sentencing he escaped prison and fled to Canada. After being found once again the U.S had asked for his extradition back to America. This was approved by the Minister of Justice but the Minister of Justice had failed to insure that...
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...number of people on death row. However, capital convictions there are frequently reversed on appeal and later reduced to life sentences because the county did not provide adequate representation to many defendants. According to a 2011 study by the Philadelphia Inquirer, 69 Philadelphia death penalty cases have been reversed or sent back by state or federal courts after findings that the defense attorney’s inadequate performance deprived the defendant of a fair trial. When these cases were retried, almost all of the defendants received a sentence less than death, and some were acquitted altogether. Maricopa County in Arizona ranks fourth among counties in the country...
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...There have been many cases that question whether or not the execution of minors and people with special needs is cruel and unusual punishment. In the year of 1993 a seventeen year old male named Christopher Simmons was sentenced to the death penalty after committing capital murder of a young woman. The penalty was sentenced soon after he turned the age of eighteen. After a series of appeals were sent to federal and state courts the case landed at the Missouri State Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court had opposite standings on the execution of Christopher Simmons, while the Missouri Supreme Court wanted Simmons to be executed still after multiple appeals and protests went on, the U.S. Supreme...
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...Andre Thomas case, I was first horrified by how critical Thomas' mental illness had become. The Texas tribune has listed a timeline of Thomas' life. It is clear that he had severe mental health issues and for whatever reason was allowed to be without care. The Pros and the Cons of the Death Penalty Morality is often at the center of the debate of the Death Penalty. Many believe that the death penalty is morally wrong due to the government's decision to take another life (Top). But, it's also morally wrong to commit the crimes that those on death row have committed. For example, Andre Thomas, although mentally ill, murdered his wife and family. It's also morally wrong to take innocent lives. The costs could also be a factor. While keeping a person in prison for life can be costly, the death penalty will keep control of the costs of tax payers (Top). Tax payers have to pay for the cost of living for the incarcerated, and with rising numbers, their are rising costs. The death penalty allows for...
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...be sentenced to this, all other states have a eighteen limit (Pros and Cons Part Two). It should be legal to have the death penalty for juveniles, because dangerous criminal juveniles deserve the same punishment as adults. Juveniles are equal to a grow adult when they break these severe laws. Dangerous criminal minors deserve the same punishment as anyone else. Countries that support these executions include the United States, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen(History of the Death Penalty, Linn). Ninety Seven children have been executed since the year 1900 (HIstory of the Death Penalty, Linn). These children are dangerous people and we cannot trust them again in a public setting. The counties that allow this penalty see them as criminals , there is no age limit for committing crimes. Another reason for juvenile death penalty would include how they would live the rest of their lives out....
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...During my first law school summer, I represented inmates on death row in Florida. The moment I met my first client, shackled head-to-toe, I knew that this is exactly what I would do for the rest of my life. Over the summer, I grew to understand that death row often consists not of the worst offenders, but of the most absolutely vulnerable members of our society. I built relationships with my clients that will stay with me forever. For example, I met one man who was so illiterate when he was sent to death row that he could not read his grand jury indictment. While on death row, he taught himself how to read and write. And during our final visit together he recommended to me the book Courting Death because it was the best book on the death penalty that he had ever read and he believed it would make me a better lawyer....
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...Paper Section 1 “Should The Death Penalty Be Legalized?” I. Although the death penalty is in decline, the “Golden Age’ of capital punishment in the United States peaked in the year 1999, where there were a total of ninety eight executions (“The Tide Shifts Against the Death Penalty” 1). This was the highest number seen since 1976. Advocates of the death penalty feel that the fear of death will make criminals think twice before committing a crime. However, opponents of the death penalty feel that innocent people are too often sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. As to any argument, there are pros and cons of the death penalty. Is the death penalty just a punishment? Do certain crimes cry out for the death penalty? Does it violate the United States Constitution? Does it deter crimes? As of January 1, 2008, the number of people on death row in the United States since it originated is 3,263 (“The Death Penalty in the U.S. 1976-2008” 1). II. The most common means of executing prisoners on death row is by lethal injection. Some claim that this violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (“The Tide Shifts Against the Death Penalty” 1). There are other methods of execution in the United States, such as firing squad and electrocution. There are thirty seven states in the U.S that use the death penalty (“Death Penalty Information Center Facts About the Death Penalty” 1). This includes the Federal Government...
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...Death penalty in America Death penalty debate has been a daily talk for quite some time now. This has been a very controversial that has engaged many organizations and countries in the debate. Some oppose this form of punishment based on moral and judicial grounds. These grounds include wrongful conviction base on DNA tests. Other grounds include wrongful conviction based on race. Those supporting death penalty argue that death penalty creates a feeling of safety since it instills fear in potential criminals. They also hold that those convicted despite their race actually did the crime they are convicted for. Some countries like Canada and New Zealand do not believe in the administration of death penalty as a means of punishment. Therefore, until today there is no agreed provision used by the judiciary to reach at a decision of such cases. United States, China and Japan among other countries believe that death penalty is a favorable sentence. United States has authorized death penalty in most federal governments, including the military. Some of the methods used in death penalty include the electric chair. Most of these procedures used in death penalty have been considered to be violating constitutional rights. Though fewer legislatures have been made to change these procedures, death penalty should be abolished. This is the position that is appropriate and offer should be supported. It is a racist tool of criminal punishment. Evidences explaining the reasons against this...
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...speaker once said, “Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all”. Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in the world. Punishment is only effective if it is constantly enforced, and capital punishment can't be enforced all the time. People who commit crimes of personal violence may or may not premeditate the crime. Death is irreversible and there is nothing that will make the victim come back to life. Since 1990, in the United States, there has been an average of more than four cases each year in which an entirely innocent person was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Notwithstanding, it can help control crime and in some cases, it can be just. It also gives closure to the families...
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...Historical Perspective: Justice Policy-The Death Penalty Patrice Green Dr. Humphress Politics, Policy, and Ethics in the Public Sector April 26, 2013 The first confirmation of the death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century in Babylon. Death penalty, legal infliction of death as a penalty for violating criminal law. The death penalty was codified for 25 different crimes. Such things carried out the death sentence as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement (Randa, 1997). The practice of the death penalty is as old as the government itself. The death penalty has not been considered controversial for most of history. Since ancient times most governments have punished a wide variety of crimes by death and have conducted executions as a routine part of the administration of criminal law. The Age of Enlightenment was the first significant movement to abolish the death penalty. Britain was very influential in America’s use of the death penalty. The European settlers that came to the new world are the one’s that brought the practice of capital punishment, death penalty. The first execution was recorded in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1608. The Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws were enacted in 1612 by the Governor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale. The death penalty was established for minor offenses such as killing chickens, stealing grapes, and trading with Indians. It was Cesare Beccaria’s 1767...
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...Flagler College History and Evolution of the Death Penalty in the United States Ethics of Judiciary and Sociology of Criminal Law The history of the death penalty is tumultuous, from the punishment being initiated to abolished, and then reinstated. The death penalty, initiated in the United States in 1622, continues to be exploited by 32 states, regardless of its integrity and use to discourage people from committing serious crimes. It is now being eroded again and the abolition of the death penalty seems to be inevitable. One problem with the death penalty is that it has been shown that many people have been executed when they have not committed the crime. Since 1973, hundreds of innocent people have been released from death row, after the evidence that sentenced them to death was found to be inaccurate. Many of these innocent people were victims of wrongful convictions based on confused witnesses, mistakes by lawyers and inaccurate forensics, while the person actually responsible for the crime was still free. Cases involving DNA evidence in court, such as Ray Krone's case, can be denied access even if life and death are on the ropes. Found guilty, Krone was sentenced to death for rape and murder in Arizona, even though DNA found on the victim did not correlate with his. Arizona argued that no submission of DNA evidence could interfere with the jury decision. A decade later, without a court order, a crime lab worker identified the person who actually committed the...
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...Death Penalty Since the creation of humans, crime has been prevalent in our history. The most heinous crime a human could commit is and will always be murder. For a long time, the death penalty was the go-to punishment for murder. Recent research and studies have concluded that the death penalty is cruel and ineffective. The death penalty is ineffective in many because ways there have been many cases of wrongful convictions. It does not lower crime, and it is way too costly. The death penalty is morally wrong “an eye for an eye makes the world blind.” The government cannot succumb to the same level of murderers. By killing those that murder, we become the same thing we fear, murderers. Furthermore, there is a chance that someone may be convicted wrongly and executed by the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, “Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions.” There are many factors that can lead to a false conviction, including inadequate legal representation, perjured testimony and mistaken eyewitness testimony, suppression and/or misinterpretation of mitigating evidence, and political pressure to solve a case (Amnesty International). One such case where there was a false conviction was that of Daniel Wade Moore in Alabama. Moore was originally found guilty for murder and sexual assault of Karen Tipton in 2002, and he was sentenced to death by the judge. However, he was acquitted...
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...Head: Death Penalty Larry Williams Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice CJA/313 University Of Phoenix Robin Rabiner May 10, 2009 Death Penalty There are crimes that take place throughout society. When crimes are investigated, and investigators have evidence that prove who were involved, there are consequences for their actions. In some cases, there are crimes that involve consequences such as the death penalty. This consequence can be one of the severe punishments that are placed in our judicial system. There are many people that are for, as well as those are against the death penalty. In many cases, the death penalty has its benefits, as well as its flaws. Unfortunately the death penalty seems to cause problems that leaves many mulling over. In this case, it seems that the flaws of the death penalty needs reinstituted. History The death penalty laws were founded in the early 1800s. This punishment was implemented for 25 different crimes. However, the death penalty establishment goes back as the early Fourteenth Century. “The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes.” (Death Penalty Information Center, 2009). As the centuries progressed, the number of death penalty crimes increased. By the early 1700s, there were over 200 crimes which systematize the death penalty...
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