For Capital Punishment - Article Example

William Schabas states that “Public opinion is frequently invoked in defense of capital punishment. Sometimes it presents itself as an excuse, relied upon by legislators and jurists who argue that they are personally favorable to the abolition of the death penalty but that they cannot move too far ahead of public opinion.”3Politicians use this seeming justification for postponing or retaining capital punishment. They say that it is a part of democracy, or that democracy rules in this present world that capital punishment continues – because it is the will of the people.

The question now is with enough knowledge through the availability of improved means of communication such as the Internet, is popular sentiment now for or against capital punishment? This question requires empirical data and therefore lacks support.This paper will discuss the question of crime and punishment in the context of legal issues and jurisprudential perspective. We will also attempt to answer the following questions: What should be the punishment for capital and heinous crimes plaguing society at present?

Is the legal system of the United States already and cleared of flaws that capital punishment must be imposed, and what should only be debated now is the question of morality? Does the death penalty violate the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause in the eighth amendment?We will discuss in this paper some interesting topics on capital punishment touching on the legal issues, the relation of law to morality, the nature of legal rules and legal concepts, the nature of judicial decision making, relation of law to the social sciences, and the eighth amendment.

There are arguments and counter-arguments. We know that all throughout history of the United States of America, even in the entire world, this is a hot issue.