The Application of the Death Penalty - Report Example

? [Supervisor Death Penalty Introduction For as long as there have been records of written law, there have been records of the use of death as the ultimate penalty. Put most simply, the death penalty is the right of the governing authority to take one's life as punishment for the commission of a criminal offense. For example, in 18th century B.C.E., the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon called for persons to be put to death for 25 specific crimes ranging from murder to theft. Perhaps most notably, the Draconian Code of Athens (7th century B.C.E.) deemed death the only punishment for all crimes. However, as societies have evolved and changed, so has the application of the death penalty, including restrictions upon the types of offenses and offenders that it can be applied to? One particular area of contention has been the application of this most severe punishment to children (Williams,Mary,2002). Arguments in Opposition to Capital Punishment Opponents of capital punishment argue that there is little evidence to support a deterrent effect, and that any net balance that may be theoretically achieved through its use is offset by a variety of ethical and practical problems. Opponents also argue that capital punishment disproportionally targets minorities (particularly African Americans), and on average costs more than life imprisonment (Williams,Mary,2002). Lack of Proof of Deterrent Effect In response to the argument that capital punishment deters crime, opponents point to a substantial body of research that suggests otherwise. Prior to Ehrlich's work and the subsequent application of econometric methods to the question of deterrence, few criminologists believed that there was strong evidence to support this argument. Recent surveys of criminologists have found that they still overwhelmingly believe that capital punishment does not deter crime; in 2009, a study of leading American criminologists found that 88 percent thought the death penalty was not a deterrent (Henningfeld,2006). Critics point out that a large number of studies on the topic have found no deterrent effect, and that the attitudes of criminologists reflect this evidence. Sellin's work on the deterrent effect in 1959 was one of the first primary studies that compared states with similar populations and crime rates, and found that those with the death penalty had, on average, no significant decreases in homicide rates. This work was followed by dozens of published studies that compared states with or without the death penalty, and notably after 1972, compared homicide rates before and after the halting of executions within specific states, and concluded there was little deterrent effect. Beginning in the 1970s, there has also been a substantial body of work that has focused more extensively on rebutting the methodologies and findings of Ehrlich and later econometricians. In response to Ehrlich's findings, the National Academy of Sciences appointed a panel of experts to review his work and concluded in 1978 that his methodology was flawed, and his conclusions were not sustainable. Critics have pointed out that his findings were largely dependent upon the specific variables he chose to include in his studies, as well as the specific time frames he focused on, and even minor changes to these inputs and parameters have resulted in radically different outcomes. More recently, the work of Jeffery Fagan and several colleagues has demonstrated that the use of econometric methods by researchers who have found a link between executions and deterrence are equally susceptible to large variances through small changes to variables or time frames. Aside from the argument that capital punishment does not deter crime, critics also argue that the death penalty does not in fact result in increased justice for either victims or society. Many critics are opposed to the idea of retribution on moral or religious grounds, and argue that for a variety of reasons, the death penalty constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Another common argument against the use of capital punishment as a morally or socially necessary form of recompense is the fact that for centuries, modern Western societies have substituted other forms of punishment in lieu of the specific types of offenses committed by criminals. When a person is found guilty of rape, they are not raped in return. Nor do arsonists have their houses burned down. In this sense, critics see capital punishment as nothing more than a thinly veiled form of vengeance. Wrongful Convictions and Social Inequality To the degree that retributive theories of justice demand that the guilty, and only the guilty, be punished, critics also point to numerous cases where those on death row have been exonerated, or in a smaller number of cases, found innocent after they have been executed. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, over 100 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States, and at least 10 have been found to be innocent after they were executed. Concerns over the execution of the innocent were central to the decision of Illinois Governor George Ryan to commute 156 capital sentences in 2003, calling the death penalty system in that state “arbitrary and capricious.” Here, critics frequently point to judge William Blackstone's famous dictum in the late 18th century that it is “better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” The argument that capital punishment disproportionally targets minorities, and in particular African Americans, is most immediately related to social inequality in the United States, but as many legal theorists have argued, it also intersects with retributive theories to the degree that they assume a requisite net balance of justice. Critics point out that since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 35 percent of those executed have been black, within a general African American population of about 13 percent in the United States. Moreover, since 1976, data on interracial homicides suggests that blacks who kill whites have received the death penalty on average 15 times for every time a white person has killed a black person. Moreover, critics point to the concentration of executions in U.S. states since 1976, with approximately 80 percent of all executions occurring in the south. In this respect, data on the disproportional use of capital punishment on black and other minorities, particularly when the race of victims is taken into account, demonstrate a continuance of a two-tiered system of justice that critics argue stretches back to slavery. Such a two-tiered system not only impugns the legitimacy of the death penalty, but more broadly the concept of a net balance of justice itself (Friedman,Lauri,2006). Finally, critics argue that capital punishment is, contrary to popular belief, more expensive that life imprisonment. They point to numerous studies on individual states such as California, Indiana, and North Carolina, as well as comparative studies, which have found that on average, the costs of initial capital trials, lengthy periods of incarceration on death row, mandatory appeals, and the execution itself generally exceed those of life incarceration (Blume,2009). Work Cited Bedau, Hugo Adam, and Paul 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. Blume, John H., and Jordan M. Steiker. Death penalty stories. New York, NY: Thomson Reuters/Foundation Press, 2009. Print. Friedman, Lauri S.. The death penalty. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2006. Print. Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. The death penalty: opposing viewpoints. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print. Williams, Mary E.. The death penalty. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Print. Bibliography Banner, Stuart. The death penalty: an American history. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002. Print. Dudley, William. The death penalty: an opposing viewpoints guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press/Thomson-Gale, 2006. Print. Elster, Jean Alicia. The death penalty. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Print. Friedman, Lauri S.. The death penalty. San Diego, CA: Daniel A. Leone, 2007. Print. Isenberg, Irwin. The Death penalty. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1977. Print. Mitchell, Hayley R.. The death penalty. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Print. Randa, Laura E.. Society's final solution: a history and discussion of the death penalty. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1997. Print. Read More