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Death Penalty, Is the Killing of a Person by Judicial Process As a Punishment for an Offense

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Death Penalty, Is the Killing of a Person by Judicial Process As a Punishment for an Offense y Introduction y Records y History y Surviving Executions y Methods y Religious views y Botched Executions y In arts and media y Innocence y y Reducing Philosophy Crime(Chart) y Murder Rates y Deterrence y Discrimination y Costs y Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the killing of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head. y Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societiesȄboth to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. In most places that practice capital punishment it is reserved for murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy in Islamic nations (the formal renunciation of the State religion). In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment and execution. Usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included formal apology, compensation or blood feuds. A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organised religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished." However, in practice, it is often difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Severe historical penalties include breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing (including crushing by elephant), stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, decapitation, scaphism, or necklacing. Anarchist guillotined in France in 1894 Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material (e.g. cattle, slave) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or blood money or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals. Blood feuds could be regulated at meetings, such as the Viking things. Systems deriving from blood feuds may survive alongside moreThe Christian advanced Martyrs' legal Last Prayer systems, by Jean-Leon Gerome (1883) Roman or be given recognition by courtsColosseun (e.g. trial by combat). One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the duel. y 16th Century BC: First death sentence occurs in Egypt. y 7th Century BC: Draconian Code of Athens provided the death penalty for all crimes. y 399 BC: Greek philosopher Socrates is executed by being forced to drink poison y 29 AD: crucifixion of Jesus Christ y 1279: 289 Jews were hanged y 1531: Boiling to death was accepted as a death penalty y 1840: failed attempt to abolish the death penalty y 1852-1853: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin abolish the death penalty y 1907: Kansas uses the DzMaine Lawdz and abolishes all slavery y 1924: First execution by cyanide gas took place in Nevada y 1930: Mrs. Eva Dugan was the first female to be executed in Arizona(sound button) y 1965: Iowa, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont ended the death penalty y 1987: Since this year, there have been 8 cases of innocent people being executed. y 1989: U.S. Court ruled that people that are retarded, but legally sane can receive the death penalty. Death Penalty Methods Method Hanging Firing Squad 3 deaths 2 deaths since 1976 since 1976 2 states 2 states Lethal Injection Lethal Injection is is an alternative. an alternative. Lethal Injection Electrocution Gas Chamber 781 deaths 37 states 152 10 states 11 deaths 5 states since 1976 and the U.S. Gov. since 1976 Nebraska is the since 1976 Lethal Injection is only state that an alternative requires this method. August 10, 1982 Virginia Frank J. Coppola was executed by means of electrocution. His head and one of his legs caught on fire. April 22, 1983 Alabama John Evans was executed by means of electrocution. The execution lasted 14 minutes and left Evans charred and smoldering. Apparently, the electrodes in Evans had caught in fire. June 28, 2000 Missouri Bert Leroy Hunter was executed by means of lethal injection. He had unusual reactions to the lethal drugs. He coughed repeatedly and gasped for air. He had violent convulsions. He suffered a violent and agonizing death. November 7, 2001 Georgia Jose High was executed by means of lethal injection. The execution lasted one hour and nine minutes. It took the doctors 39 minutes to find a usable vein. Eventually, the first Needle was stuck in Highǯs hand and the second between his shoulder and his neck. March 10, 1992 Oklahoma Robyn Lee Parks was executed by means of lethal injection.He suffered a violent reaction to the drugs. Two minutes after the drugs had been injected, the muscles in Robynǯs jaw, neck, and abdomen began to react spasmodically for about 45 seconds. He continued to gasp and violently gag until he died 11 minutes after the drugs had been injected. One problem with the death penalty is that there is no guarantee that the convicted is guilty. 35 Chart explanation A 30 1=Reducing Drug buse 2=more jobs 25 3=Simplifying court rules 20 4=longer sentencing 15 5=More police officers 10 6=Reducing guns 7=Expanding death penalty 5 The majority of the police 0 chiefs in the U.S. do not 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 believe that the death Percent penalty reduces crime. The South contains over 80% of the nationǯs executions, yet it has the highest murder rate. The Northeast has under 1% of all executions, yet the Northeast has the lowest murder rate. 8 6 4 Murder Rates per 100,000 2 0 South West Midwest Northeast National 90 84% of former and 80 present presidents of the 70 countryǯs top academic 60 criminological societies 50 say that the death penalty Percent does not act as a deterrent 40 to murder. 30 20 10 0 Yes No No Opinion 600 500 400 300 Race Executed 200 100 0 Black Hispanic White Other 98% of the chief district attorneys in death penalty states are white. 1% are black. Blacks receive the death penalty at a 38% higher rate. 96% of the states where there were reviews of race and death penalty, there was a pattern of race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both. In New York, it costs approximately $23 million per person. In Tennessee, the death penalty trials cost 48% more than a life sentence trial. In Kansas, the investigation cost is 3x greater. The trial cost is 16x greater. The appeal cost is 21x greater. 1982-1997: Throughout the U.S., the extra cost of capital trials was $1.6 billion. In Indiana, the total cost of the death penalty is 38% greater than the total cost of life without parole. y The most executions took place between 1990-1999 when over 17,500 people were executed in China. y In the United States, Texas is the state that has the most executions. Since 1976, Texas is accountable for 399 executions. Joseph Samuel was sentenced to hang for murder in Australia on Sept. 1, 1803. The execution failed when the rope broke. On the second attempt, the rope stretched so far that his feet touched the ground. The third attempt failed when the second replacement rope broke. Samuel was reprieved. Another man named John Lee, also survived three hangings. This occurred in Exeter, Devon(UK) in 1885 when the trap door failed to open all three times. Buddhism y There is disagreement among Buddhists as to whether or not Buddhism forbids the death penalty. The first of the Five Precepts (Panca-sila) is to abstain from destruction of life. Chapter 10 of the Dhammapada states: y Everyone fears punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Chapter 26, the final chapter of the Dhammapada, states, "Him I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. He neither kills nor helps others to kill." These sentences are interpreted by many Buddhists (especially in the West) as an injunction against supporting any legal measure which might lead to the death penalty.
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