Is the death penalty fair or is it cruel and unusual punishment?
Capital punishment is fair when applied on stricter terms and case by case basis.It is only applicable to heinous crimes The punishment, however, should not be a preserve of the state but a decision that has to go through the federal courts (Bedau and Cassell 83). This is because various states have various degrees of determining how heinous a crime is in order to impose capital punishment. For instance, Texas is more than willing to hand over this sort of punishment for a crime that would attract 25 years to life imprisonment. Death penalty can only meet its legal and moral threshold if it is painless and not imposed on juveniles and the mentally disabled (Bedau and Cassell 117).
Explain at least three of the court cases that place restrictions on capital punishment and why?
Ford v. Wainwright, 1986- Ford was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder. His mental condition, however, deteriorated while on death row. This forced the Supreme Court to uphold the common law rule that disallows the execution of the insane (Gershman 194).
Coker v. Georgia 1977- Coker escaped from prison and broke into the home of Carver’s, raping Elnita carver and stealing the family’s car. He was convicted of armed robbery, rape, and other offenses. The courts sentenced him to death on rape charge. The death penalty was however done away with due to the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution that outlawed death penalty for rape crime (Gershman 174).
Roper V. Simmons 2005-Simmons, at the age of 17, conspired and committed murder. The state sentenced him to death after turning eighteen in 1994. It was only in appealing to the Missouri Supreme court that the court held that it was not constitutional to impose a death penalty for crimes committed while one was juvenile or to be precise under the age of 18 (Gershman 210).
Why is capital punishment such an emotional or financial issue?
Many states have linked their abolition of capital punishment to its financial implications. Capital punishment administration has been shown by studies to be more costly than life imprisonment. The costs manifest themselves through the intensive selection of the jury, appeals, and trails that can even take over a decade. Additionally, it is expensive to maintain death row inmates as their conditions warrant intense observation and separation from other prisoners. A study by The Economist established that between 1978 and 1999 death penalty took up $186m of the Maryland’s taxpayers’ money. The report further notes that a death sentence case in Maryland costs $3m as compared to $1m when death penalty was not sought.
Works Cited
Bedau, H. A., and P. G. Cassell. Debating the death penalty: Should America have capital punishment? : the experts on both sides make their best case. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.
The Economist. "The Death Penalty:Saving lives and money." The Economist [New York] 12 Mar. 2009: n. pag. Web. <http://www.economist.com/node/13279051>.
Gershman, G. P. Death penalty on trial: A handbook with cases, laws, and documents. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.
