The death penalty has been a punishment under the criminal justice system for capital offences. However, several human rights bodies argue that it infringes on the rights of human beings and are of the opinion that this penalty should be abolished. In the light of this, this essay will focus on the issue of death penalty through history, the present and future implications as relates to the criminal justice system.
Death penalty dates back to 1800 B.C when King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. Death sentences were done by such means as crucifixion, impalement, drowning, burning alive, and beating to death. Hanging was the usual mode of carrying death penalties in Britain in 10 A.D. William the Conqueror, later abolished execution of people except during wars in 11 A.D. In the sixteenth century however, around 17 000 people were reported to have been executed. The reasons for the executions were mainly as a result of treason, inability to confess a crime and intermarriage with Jews. By 1700, around 222 crimes were punishable by death in Britain. Later, reforms in Britain led to abolishment of death penalties for more than 100 crimes (Randa, 1997).
The use of death penalty in America was mainly influenced by Britain. Captain George Kendall was the first person in history to be executed in America. Daniel Frank was the next known person to be executed. He was killed in 1622 for stealing Laws on death penalties differed between colonies. The Massachusetts Bay Colony held its first execution in 1630. The New York Colony instituted the Duke’s Laws of 1665. These laws punished those guilty of beating one’s either parent, or denying the “true God,” (Randa, 1997).
A first attempt of reforms on death penalty in the United States was when a bill by Thomas Jefferson was introduced to revise the death penalty laws in Virginia. The bill sought to limit capital punishment to treason and murder charges only. Pennsylvania repealed capital punishment for all offences except first degree murder in 1794 (Randa, 1997). The movement that championed for the abolishment of death penalty gained momentum in the nineteenth century. During this period, many states reduced the number of crimes punishable by death and also built state penitentiaries. Pennsylvania started carrying their executions in correctional facilities away from open places accessible by the public. Later in 1846, Michigan reduced crimes punishable by death to include only treason. Later, Wisconsin and Rhode Island abolished death penalty for all crimes.
Though many countries like Venezuela, Costa Rica, Portugal and Netherlands, Ecuador and Brazil abolished death penalties in the nineteenth century, most states in the US have however retained capital punishment laws. Laws against mandatory death penalty were passed. These laws provided for guided discretion to impose death penalty. This was seen by the abolitionist movement as a very great milestone towards the end of the death penalty. Opposition towards the death penalty however reduced during the civil war as much of the attention was shifted to the movement against slavery. After the civil war, the execution method was modified to an electric chair. Between 1907 and 1917, six states had outlawed the death penalty. Some of the states however reinstated the penalty in 1920.
In 1924, the cyanide gas was the desired method of executing inmates considered as humane by Nevada. The death penalty later resurged in the 1940s when criminologists were of the opinion that death penalty was a rightful social measure. The public began to shun capital punishment in the 1950s which led to a dramatic drop in executions from 1289 in the 1940s to 715. A poll conducted by Gallop suggested that only 42% of the entire US population supported the death penalty.
The legality of the death penalty was challenged in the 1960s. The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty constituted a “cruel and an unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment”. Later, states enacted legislations in accordance to the Supreme Court’s objections. These developments led to a rise in a number of executions. The laws providing for mandatory death penalty were declared unconstitutional in 1976 after which the death penalty was struck off in 21 states. Those who were sentenced under the mandatory death penalty saw their charges changed to life imprisonment.
New laws on death penalty took place in 1977. This was when Gary Gilmore was killed by a firing squad. Some other executions were reported in 1981, 1982 and 1983. As from 1984, the executions increased dramatically. 1984 alone had 24 executions. Thereafter, averages of 10 were reported each year. A new federal death penalty law was enacted in 1988 for murder in the course of a conspiracy of a drug-kingpin. Six people have since been sentenced against this law. None has however been executed. President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994. Responding to the Oklahoma City bombing 2 years later, he signed Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Bohm, 1999). This Act restricts the review of the federal courts.
The United Nations Human Rights Commission passed a resolution that supported worldwide moratorium on executions in 1999, a move that was opposed by 10 countries including the United States, China, Rwanda and Sudan. This resolution requested countries which had not abolished the death penalty to restrict the use of the penalty. The Illinois Governor also declared a moratorium on executions in January 2000. The resolution was later supported by 76 UN states in April 2004 (Amnesty International, 2004).
Several recent developments on death penalty world over have taken place. In June 2004, the New York’s death penalty was declared unconstitutional by the high court. In March 2005, the US Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty to minors was a “cruel and unusual punishment”. In December 2007, the New Jersey General Assembly abolished capital punishment. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled electrocution, the sole method used for execution as “cruel and unusual punishment” thereby freezing all executions in the state. In Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the US Supreme court held that “capital punishment can not apply to those convicted of the rape of a child where no death occurs”.
The recent development on capital punishment puts doubt to the future of death penalty. The Supreme Court recognizes that someone who proves innocence will not be executed. Similarly, the stances held by religious movements mostly are of the opinion that death penalty should be abolished. Public support has also diminished dramatically from as high as 61% in 1936 to 46% (Gallup Poll News Service, 2004). These in addition to the global human rights groups which are opposing the death penalty seem to put more doubt to its existence in future. According to the research done, it is evident that those facing death penalties should have their sentences converted to life sentences since it is a “cruel and an unusual punishment”.
References:
Amnesty International. (2004). List of Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries. New York: Amnesty Interanational.
Bohm, R. (1999). Deathquest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States. New Jersey: Anderson Publishing.
Randa, L. (1997). Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty. New Jersey: University Press of America.