Capital Punishment
In 1972 the Supreme Court Case Furman v. Georgia outlawed the death penalty. The Supreme Court declared the death penalty to be cruel and unusual punishment, which is in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment states that "excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, not cruel and unusual punishments inflicted". Four years later that decision was overturned by the case of Gregg v. Georgia. This was also an Eighth Amendment case and in-turn legalized the death penalty yet again. There were many reasons why the Supreme Court set this precedent, the main one was that capital punishment is not in violation of the Eighth Amendment when murder or treason is involved. Capital punishment sets an example for others, is a way of self-defense for society, it prevents criminals from repeating their crimes, and when a criminal breaks the law they give up their basic rights which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Victims families deserve to know that the person that took their loved one away won't be able to do that to anyone else ever again. There is a wide-spread debate about whether capital punishment is right or wrong and I feel that capital punishment is needed here in The United
Another perspective to consider is the view of the victims family. I know that if I lost someone I loved at the hands of some lowlife criminal I would want justice. To me justice is the taking of the life of the person that committed the crime. I would rather have my tax money spent on their execution rather than keeping the criminal alive and well feed in prison. It isn't right that the person who did something wrong gets to wake up every morning while the victim will never wake up again. It is not possible to prevent every crime from being committed. If we can't prevent it from taking place then we as a society need to show criminals that when they do commit a crime, it won't be tolerated. If the government is lax on punishment it will show potential criminals that they will most likely get an easily served sentence. Society needs to show criminals that their actions won't be taken or dealt with lightly and that there are repercussions for their actions. Society can't let criminals get away with their crimes. The Eighth Amendment states that no cruel or unusual punishment will be inflicted. The Supreme Court set the precedent, capital punishment is not in violation of the Eighth when applied fairly, in the Gregg v. Georgia case. There are five methods of execution used in the United States. They include lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad. Thirty-four of the states use lethal injection as their form of execution. Two states use electrocution as their sole form of execution while seven states have electrocution as an option. Five states authorize the use of the gas chamber but use lethal injection primarily. Three states authorize the use of hanging but only if other methods are found unconstitutional. It is the same for the th
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Approximate Word count = 1212
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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