The Massachusetts Constitution does not expressly prohibit the imposition of the death penalty. However, the state of Massachusetts as at now has no death penalty following the declaration of the same death penalty as unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court. The State Constitution as amended in the year 1982 reads in Article CXVI and XXVI of part 1 of the constitution that no provision of the constitution shall be construed as proscribing the imposition of a death penalty. It adds that the general courts may authorize the imposition of the death penalty for protection of the general welfare of the public. However, the State Supreme Court in the case of Commonwealth v Abimael Colon-Cruz on October 18, 1984 held in a 4-3 majority that the state law authorizing the death penalty was unconstitutional. Therefore, as it currently stands, the State of Massachusetts does not have a death penalty as no law has been enacted by the state to this effect.
The Federal Bill of Rights as enshrined in the Ten Amendments to the constitution provides for the rights and freedoms of individuals. The 8th amendment to the constitution forbids the imposition of punishments that are cruel and inhuman. Several legal scholars have put forward the argument that the death penalty is cruel and inhuman and thus violated the 8th Amendment. The first execution that was conducted in Massachusetts was done in 1630 when John Billington was hanged for the murder of John Newcomen. The last executions were done in the year 1947 with the law changing in the year 1951 to give the jury, discretion on sentencing after considering the mitigation of the accused. A number of rulings in the decades between 1970 and the 1990 finally knocked the death penalty off from the law and practice of Massachusetts. There have been several attempts to reinstate the death penalty in the state of Massachusetts with little success. The latest of the attempt was earlier in the year 2013 in April after the Boston bomb attacks.
The status of the death penalty at present at the federal level is unclear. The 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any punishment that is cruel and inhuman. However, it would seem that the drafters of the constitution did not envisage outlawing of the death penalty. The 5th Amendment to the constitution provides that a person shall not be deprived of the death penalty without due process of law. It would seem that the constitution by implication contemplates a death penalty as sanctioned by the law.
Works Cited
Harvey, Joseph M. "Mass. Death Penalty Ruled Illegal,". Massachusetts, 21 8 2012.
Rogers, Allan. Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts. Massachusetts: Ubiversity of Massachusetts Press, 2008.
