Last year, in part because of the coronavirus outbreak, fewer people were executed than in any year in nearly three decades. Over the past two years, the share of Republicans who say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder has decreased slightly by 7 percentage points while the share of Democrats who say this is essentially unchanged (46% today vs. 49% in 2019). Capital Punishment in America: Race and the Death Penalty over Time by Martin G. Urbina. Mr. Lees final hours awaiting his fate were a result of his own lawyers choice to assert a non-meritorious objection at the last moment. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Until July, there had been no federal executions in 17 years. The recent executions reflect that consensus, as the Justice Department has an obligation to carry out the law. One year after the announcement federal executions resumed, and ten prisoners were executed by the federal government in the last six months of 2020. US Supreme Court Packing. Four of the eight inmates were ultimately executed, while four received stays of execution. With no legal ability to impose a punishment other than execution, some juries chose to hand down verdicts of not guilty, a trial outcome known as jury nullification. "violent crime has declined 11 percent, with murder showing the largest decline at even more than 22 percent. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Opponents counter that it is an immoral and costly practice that is particularly vulnerable to racial bias. Opponents of the death penalty have also focused their arguments on the mental capacity of those found guilty of capital offenses. Top 9 Pro Death Penalty Arguments. About eight-in-ten White Republicans favor the death penalty, as do about seven-in-ten Hispanic Republicans (69%). Lower Drinking Age. 14 Jan. 2015. Like earlier appeals in defense of the men's lives, this argument proved ineffective. As a result, survey results from recent online surveys are not directly comparable with past years telephone survey trends. The Court reasoned that the laws resulted in a disproportionate application of the death penalty, specifically discriminating against the poor and minorities. There are some crimes that are, frankly, so terrible that there is no other suitable form of punishment. Or do you think it should be abolished? Levi Pulkkinen Sept. 30, 2020. Mr. Lees lawyers also disregarded the cost to victims families of continued delay. Furthermore, a 2009 survey of criminologists revealed that "over 88% believed the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder.". Illegal Immigration. . It also gives four reasons as to why the death penalty is becoming less favorable: its not actually proven to deter murders, wrongly convicted people have been executed, it has become more expensive to carry out a death sentence than to impose a life sentence, and the shortage of lethal injection drugs has caused some states to turn to some shadier methods of acquiring drugs. People with four-year college degrees (68%) also are more likely than those who have not completed college (50%) to say that Black people and White people are treated differently when it comes to the death penalty. However, death penalty supporters decried the ban, arguing that judges should be able to decide if the death penalty is warranted based on the circumstances of each case. Eric Risberg/AP. States could only acquire the drug by importing it from abroad, sometimes improperly. The Mennonite Central Committee in the U.S. has an essay on "state killing. Among those with postgraduate degrees, a larger share say they oppose (55%) than favor (44%) the death penalty. Web. It then discusses the problems that the United States has had in procuring the drugs needed for lethal injectionsthe drugs supplied from Europe have been sold under the condition that they not be used for lethal injection. The deepest element of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is to protect human life, and is the requirement to show reverence and love for every person and the life of every human being.The assault on human life is a consequence of original sin. A 58% majority of 50- to 64-year-old Democrats favor the death penalty, compared with 47% of those ages 35 to 49 and about four-in-ten Democrats who are 18 to 34 or 65 and older. In your opinion, should pharmaceutical companies have the right to refuse to sell drugs for executions? The court's ruling is believed to have made proving racial discrimination more difficult. More than 14,000 people have been legally executed since colonial times, most of them in the early 20th Century. Overall, White adults are more likely to favor the death penalty than Black or Hispanic adults, while White and Asian American adults are equally likely to favor the death penalty. Why? Overall this article points out the flaws of the death penalty system in Texas, but does not take a stance against the concept of the death penalty in general. Both men were executed in Virginia in January 2021. The sources are credible, and the article also includes anecdotal support. Covering more than 160 subjects areas, ProQuest Central is the largest aggregated database of periodical content. And even though large majorities of both groups say there is some risk an innocent person will be put to death, members of the public who favor the death penalty are 24 percentage points more likely to say that there are adequate safeguards to prevent this than Americans who oppose the death penalty. Similarly, those who favor the death penalty are more likely to say it deters people from committing serious crimes. However, the court also determined that the death penalty does not violate the Constitution, capital punishment serves as a practical deterrent, and retribution provides a justifiable basis for execution. This relationship holds among members of each party. A solid majority of Americans (63%) still . For this analysis, we surveyed 5,109 U.S. adults from April 5 to 11, 2021. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992, focuses on providing legal services and DNA testing with the purpose of winning exoneration for wrongfully convicted prisoners. And if death sentences are going to be imposed, they cannot just be hypothetical; they eventually have to be carried out, or the punishment will lose its deterrent and retributive effects. This doesnt always mean that you have to get an article from a well-known news website or national newspaper, but that the article should be backed up with cited facts. Among Black adults, 53% of those without college degrees favor the death penalty, compared with 34% of those with college degrees. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax The death penalty remains a controversial political and legal issue in the United States. In 1999 state governments carried out ninety-eight executions, the highest number since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty. When researching a topic for an argumentative essay, accuracy is important, which means the quality of your sources is important. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. However, he backs up his emotional statements with statistics and links to studies that indicate that the death penalty is costly, doesnt necessarily deter murders, and is imposed on people who are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. The 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh, convicted for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, marked the first federal execution carried out since 1963, with Juan Raul Garza executed eight days later. Also, check with your teacher to see if you should be using a different type of citation style in your paper (such as APA or Chicago). A total of sixteen executions were carried out in the United States in 1989. A large majority of liberal Democrats (82%) and a smaller, though still substantial, majority of conservative and moderate Democrats (70%) say the death penalty does not deter serious crimes. The American people have repeatedly ratified that decision, including through the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 signed by President Bill Clinton, the federal execution of Timothy McVeigh under President George W. Bush and the decision by President Barack Obamas Justice Department to seek the death penalty against the Boston Marathon bomber and Dylann Roof. After America's Most Wanted aired a pro-gram about him, McDuff was arrested in 1992, convicted, and given two death sentences. By inflicting death on those who deliberately inflict death on others, the death penalty ensures justice for all. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Black Americans. Just over three-quarters of Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party (77%) say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, including 40% who strongly favor it. When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation. The rulings followed the appointment of five members of the conservative Federalist Society to the court in under a year. Is it morally wrong? Or is that still too harsh? An execution was scheduled for later that day, and a sense of foreboding filled the air. Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays. Among Republicans who oppose the death penalty, about half (53%) say this. These decisions allowed the reinstatement of state death penalty laws. Retribution also serves justice for murder victims and their families. As of January 2021, Black defendants accounted for 34.1 percent of all people executed in the United States since 1976 and over 40 percent of the country's death row population despite making up just over 13 percent of the general US population. 38 Death Penalty Information Center, State Studies on Monetary Costs (2017). The dissenting opinion argued that the defendant had, in fact, sufficiently demonstrated that the use of lethal injection in this case met the standards for an Eighth Amendment challenge previously established by the court itself. The United States Constitution expressly contemplates capital crimes, and Congress has authorized the death penalty for serious federal offenses since President George Washington signed the Crimes Act of 1790. Death penalty cases were required to strictly adhere to due-process rules, and during the late 1970s, the Supreme Court handed down decisions that expanded defendants' rights in capital offense trials and ruled that capital punishment could not be imposed for the rape of an adult, a decision that essentially limited the death penalty to charges of murder, treason, and the rape of a child. Since the countries that retain this punishment are home to over 60% of the world's population, an essay on death penalty should outline how national laws treat this topic. Among other factors, scholars determined that the races of both the victim and the defendant often influenced sentencing. Recreational Marijuana Legalization. The abolitionist movement to end capital punishment also influenced state legislatures. The death penalty remains a controversial political and legal issue in the United States. The 5 th and 14 th Amendments carry express approval of the death penalty: a person may not be "deprived of life, liberty or . Even if you have a firm opinion, you need to understand the other arguments out there so you can counter them. Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. Other states sought to carry out their scheduled executions using experimental combinations of drugs. As the hours wore on, Justice Department officials asked Ms. Longs father if he would prefer to wait for another day. The American people can decide for themselves which aspects of that process should be considered shameful.. You may feel like your teacher is giving you the death sentence by making you write this paper in the first place, right? This way no innocent lives would be sentenced to death. The death penalty has been abolished in 22 states and 106 countries, yet it is still legal at the federal level in the United States. Concepts of retribu-tion, deterrence, and just punishment are discussed in the most . Web. Emotional outburst disrupts death penalty trial in NY attack The sobbing father of a man convicted of killing eight people on a New York City bike path has apologized to victims and professed love for his son in the death penalty phase of the defendant's trial Feb. 22, 2023, 6:08 PM ET (AP) GOP Oklahoma lawmakers join call for death penalty pause As Ms. Longs stepmother later said, We just shouldnt have had to wait this long. The Supreme Court ultimately authorized the execution just before 3 a.m. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Those who oppose the death penalty, will ALWAYS state that the death penalty is given to more blacks, which in return makes it racially biased and unfair to the black community. Look at the information thats presented and think about what information may be missing that would make it more balanced. It then covers the popular opinions of death penalty sentences, and goes on to state and give statistics indicating that state executions deter anywhere from 2 to 20 murders within Texas annually. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 30 Oct. 2013. The death penalty is permanent, meaning if someone is wrongfully convicted, the effects are irreversible. He was finally executed in 1998.2 It includes many facts and dates about the shifts in procedures of the death penalty and gives more information than other death penalty articles about the lethal injection drug shortage. (Retribution) 3.05: 1.28: 2.88: 1.31: 0.78 The death penalty is a more effective deterrent than life imprisonment. States and Death Row. Pros and Cons of Abolishing the Death Penalty, The death penalty should be abolished because it violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against ". It can be used in both pro- and anti-death penalty essays. Check Out These Example Death Penalty Essays. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/learning/should-the-death-penalty-be-abolished.html, free digital access to The New York Times, Expedited Spree of Executions Faced Little Supreme Court Scrutiny, barring the execution of juvenile offenders, people convicted of crimes other than murder, The Death Penalty Can Ensure Justice Is Being Done,, free daily writing prompts for remote learning. They sought to obstruct by any means the administration of sentences that Congress permitted, juries supported and the Supreme Court approved. As John Duncan was dying of cancer in 2018, he asked family members to promise they would witness the execution on his behalf. It is important to make the distinction between the two ideas. The Federal Death Penalty Act prohibits the government from executing an inmate who is mentally disabled; however, in the recent executions of Corey Johnson, Alfred Bourgeois and Lisa. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public. While many are in favor of capital punishment, others still show compassion and mercy on the criminals, thinking that a human still resides in the monster that killed many souls. 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA But Democrats are divided over whether the death penalty is morally justified. In 2006, Dr. Paul Rubin professor of economics at Emory University testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the death penalty's "strong deterrent effect." The US Department of Justice (DOJ) authorizes federal death penalty cases, which are prosecuted in federal court. Cruel and Unusual. New Yorker. If you've looked for capital punishment essay topics, you're in luck! Here are the questions used for the report, along with responses, and its methodology. Despite comprising less than 15 percent of the US population, African Americans comprised more than half of the nearly four thousand people executed from 1930 to 1967. Since our nation's founding, the government -- colonial, federal, and state -- has punished a varying percentage of arbitrarily-selected murders with the ultimate sanction: death. This month, for the first time in 17 years, the United States resumed carrying out death sentences for federal crimes. Or is capital punishment cruel and unusual and therefore prohibited by the Constitution? 14 Jan. 2015. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), incarceration rates of racial minorities skyrocketed in the decade following the McCleskey decision. The divide in support for the death penalty between those with and without college degrees is seen across racial and ethnic groups, though the size of this gap varies. The shortage resulted in the postponement of several scheduled executions. 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