Capital Punishment
In the following pages, I will discuss the history, debate, past and current public opinion, and how it applies to American ideology and opposing values. Both sides have a fair amount of support and I have included direct quotes and paraphrasing from authors, celebrities, journalists, and ordinary people arguing both sides. The history of the death penalty goes back to the earliest civilizations where it was used to punish all sorts of crimes from robbery, to murder, to different forms of heresy. In the United States it evolved to just punish murder, treason, and some cases of rape. It has been an issue that has sparked a never ending debate that goes back to colonial times. The general public traditionally supported the death penalty in a majority with only a few politicians speaking out against it (i.e., Benjamin Rush, Ben Franklin and later on Horace Greeley). Once the U.S. gained independence, each state went back and forth in abolishing and reinstating the death penalty and methods of execution. The 1960's saw many trials concerning capital punishment cases that led to a ten year halt in executions. In 1965, the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) announcement of their anti-death penalty stance was a sig
In an article in New Republic, former New York City mayor Edward Koch gives an example of a confessed murderer Luis Vera. There was no doubt that the majority of Americans thought the death penalty was appropriate for him and other cases like his. These beliefs apply directly to the death penalty debate. This shift in public opinion was recognized by everyone, from Johnson's Commission on the Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to Justice Stewart and the Supreme Court. There are certain legal and constitutional issues that rise when discussing capital punishment. The support for the death penalty continued to remain low in comparison to modern support, although it rose a bit in the late sixties. The most compelling reason for the rise in support is the rise of the crime rate in proportion to it (Costanzo:122). An important point that supporters contend is that the death penalty doesn't apply to all murders, but just the especially horrific ones, so it might deter potential kidnappers and rapists from taking those extra steps. Public opinion must have really taken a big shift in the seventies. It is curious that this same influence doesn't affect the death penalty debate in the same way. The Supreme Court was not only persuaded by public opinion in this case, but came right out and sited public opinion polls as a reason for the court's decision. Many elements of the death penalty relate to ideology conflicts in American culture. So defendants from a lower class will not have the same defense as someone who can afford an expensive, prestigious lawyer.
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Acceptance Essays
