|
Capital punishment is a moral issue
that has permeated American society throughout the twentieth century,
in particular. Our federal government has determined that the
death penalty should be a punishment reserved for application
by individual states. Currently, 38 states incarcerate inmates on death row; there are also death row inmates due to U.S. federal military and civilian
law. The methods of execution in the U.S. include lethal injection,
the electric chair, the gas chamber, hanging, and a firing squad.
So long as executions meet carefully guidelined standards, individual
states may continue to apply the death penalty if it exists as
a state statute. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
provides that '[n]o persons shall be held to answer for
a capital...crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a
Grand Jury...nor be deprived of life...without the due process
of law.' This clearly permits the death penalty to be imposed,
and establishes beyond doubt that the death penalty is not one
of the 'cruel and unusual punishments' prohibited by the Eighth
Amendment.
 *from "Frontline: The Execution"
The debate over the application
of the death penalty is based on both logic and passion, law and
morality. There are those who defend capital punishment on the
merits promoted by Hammarabi's Code of ancient Babylon: 'an eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' The American criminal justice
system defines this as equal retribution. There are others who
oppose the death penalty, claiming that it is indeed 'cruel and
unusual punishment.' The application of this punishment, some
say, is socio-economically and racially biased and costs United
States' taxpayers far more than the punishment of life imprisonment.
So what do you think? Are you a supporter of capital punishment, or not? Before continuing on, please take a moment to reflect on this question and why you feel the way you do.
|
