Unconstitutionality of Capital Punishment - Research Paper Example

24 November UNCONSTITIONALITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT I. Introduction It has been a long standing debate for over thousands of decades whether ornot imposition of capital punishment is an effective means to deter commission of crimes. Advocates of capital punishment or death penalty makes reference to the biblical passage from Exodus 21:23-25, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a tooth for a tooth,” which means that for every wrong done, there must be a compensating measure of justice.

While on the other hand, the group who believes that capital punishment is severe, degrading, inhuman, brutal and cruel sentence, and it is only God who is the giver of life, shall be the one to take it. Death is truly grave punishment. “The calculated killing of a human being by the State involves, by its very nature, a denial of the executed person’s humanity. An individual in prison does not lose the right to have rights. A prison remains a member of the human family” (Mandery, 167).

Thesis: The capital punishment is unconstitutional since it is a violation of the right to life and has not been proven as an effective deterrent of crimes. II. Arguments/Discussions According to Justice Stewart, “death penalty sentences are cruel in the sense that they excessively go beyond, not in degree, but in kind, the punishment that the legislatures have determined to be necessary. It is equally clear that these sentences are unusual in the sense that penalty of death is infrequently imposed for murder, and that its imposition on rape for rape is extraordinarily rare.

The infliction of death penalty is impermissible in all circumstances under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments” (Mandery, 172). On the other hand, the report of Even Mandery stated that Justice White addresses the constitutionality of the capital punishment under the three (3) issues: 1. “The legislature authorizes the imposition of death penalty for murder or rape; 2. The legislature does not itself mandate the penalty in any particular class or kind of case, but delegates to judges or juries the decisions as to those cases, if any in which the penalty will be utilized; and 3.

Judges and juries have ordered the death penalty with such infrequency that the odds are now very much against imposition and execution of the penalty with respect to any convicted murderer or rapist. Thus, it must be considered whether its execution is in violation of the Eighth Amendment” (173). III. Conclusion Capital punishment is unconstitutional and has not been proven as an effective means to deter crimes. It is imposed discriminatorily against certain identifiable classes of people.

Evidence has shown that innocent people have been executed before their innocence or guilt has been proven. It has not been established as an efficient deterrent of crime. Mandery reported that “The United Nations Committee study shows that there is no correlation between the existence of capital punishment and lower rates of capital crime”(176). It is violative of the Eighth Amendment on the ground that it is not needed to achieve legitimate penal sanctions. It is a transgression of the Bill of Rights to guard the people against cruel and inhuman punishments.

“Death penalty wreaks havoc our entire criminal justice system and violates one’s right to life. It shocks the conscience and sense of justice of society” (Mandery, 178). Works Cited: Foley, Michael A. Arbitrary and Capricious: The Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the Death Penalty. USA: Praeger Publishers, 2003. Print. Gershman, Gary P. Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws and Documents. California, USA, ABC-CLIO Inc. 2005, Print. Latzer, Barry and David McCord. Death Penalty Cases: Leading U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Capital Punishment.

USA: Elsevier. 2010, Print. Mandery, Evan J. Capital Punishment: A Balanced Examination. Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publisher, 2005. Print. Mandery, Evan J. Capital Punishment in America. 2nd Ed. Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publisher, 2011. Print. White, Welsh S. The Death penalty in The Nineties: An Examination of the Modern System of Capital Punishment. USA: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Print.