Capital Punishment - Essay Example

Capital Punishment Introduction Capital punishment is one of the many things that society has to agree to disagree. Over the years, it has been debated on whether or not capital punishment is constitutional or ethical, and if it should still be used today. With each year, new arguments, concerns, and decisions arise and are made in concerns with the reliability that capital punishment has as a method of punishing criminals. However, very little has changed regarding the statistics that show that people support or oppose capital punishment, despite all of the argument over it.

Summary According to Robert Ruby’s “Capital Punishment’s Constant Constituency: An American Majority,” capital punishment has long since been a heated topic of debate of fairness and of constitutional rights and ethics. Between the years of 1972 and 2007, the Supreme Court has gone through many moments of indecision in concerns of the capital punishment, though the thoughts and views of Americans have hardly changed. While capital punishment has long since been deemed “cruel and unusual punishment because states have been imposing it in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner,” it still rears its ugly head in the states where it is legal.

The unwavering statistics of who is or is not against capital punishment shows that people have remained unmoved regardless of the evidence and opposing arguments that have been made. This may play a big part in the fact that capital punishment is something that continues to go in and out of fashion on a yearly basis. Some states are strong in their standing on whether or not they condone capital punishment, yet there are those states that seem unable to make up their minds about where they stand.

If they allow capital punishment, then it goes against the opposing group, though if they do accept capital punishment, it goes against those that support it. Throughout the years, while the statistics for both sides have moved, it has not been an incredibly noticeable amount. As of 2001, between sixty-four and sixty-eight per cent are supportive of capital punishment, while twenty-four to thirty per cent oppose it. At the beginning of 2007, the numbers had not significantly changed; instead, the numbers are following the same pattern as it had for years.

Despite all of the controversy and the rather stationary statistics, there have been fewer deaths by capital punishment, as well as more cases where the capital punishment was pardoned. It is unknown whether these pardons and lack of rulings have to do with the opinions of citizens, or for the fact that capital punishment had already been termed unconstitutional. The survey One of the biggest flaws that can be found in the way that the survey was conducted is the fact that opinions were reached based on what a person was, as opposed to what they actually felt and believed in regards to the capital punishment.

Religious and political preferences were looked at during the statistical portion of the research, though those bits of information can hardly scrape the surface of what people think. It was assumed that due to these standings, specific beliefs were automatically held. The survey was more focused on groups, organizations, and cultural beliefs, than those of individuals were. What was good about the survey was that it did consider varying groups of people and did not limit itself to just one specific section.

However, what were not made clear were the reasons that these people had for being for or against capital punishment. Very little was spoken of the methodology actually involved in capital punishment, so it was unclear about what citizens were agreeing or disagreeing to, and why. Conclusion Whether capital punishment is a good path to take with criminals or not is entirely up to individuals, including those that have the power to do something about keeping capital punishment around or ridding of it entirely.

It has already been stated that it is considered unconstitutional, yet very little seems to being done about defending or agreeing with that given claim. It should also be considered that, in further studies, individual opinion be noted, and not just what is based on religious or political reference. An individual person speaks louder than the beliefs they follow as a group. Reference Ruby, Robert. (2007). Capital punishment’s constant constituency: an American majority. PewResearchCenter Publications. Online. Available http://pewresearch.

org/pubs/523/capital-punishments-contant-constituency-an-american-majority. Retrieved 4 June 2008.