Capital Punishment
History of Capital Punishment in the
United States
Early History
• European (especially English) settlers influenced
our nation’s use of the death penalty
• First recorded execution: Captain George
Kendall Jamestown, Virginia, 1608
• First woman executed: Jane Champion, 1632
• Crimes punishable by death: stealing grapes,
striking your Mother or Father
Colonial Times
• Cesare Beccaria's 1767 essay: On Crimes and
Punishment
• Thomas Jefferson’s proposed bill
• Dr. Benjamin Rush, founder of the Pennsylvania
Prison Society, challenged the use of the death
penalty
– brutalization effect: having a death penalty actually
increased criminal conduct
• 1794: Pennsylvania abolishes the death penalty
for all offenses except first degree murder
19th Century
• 1846: Michigan abolishes death penalty
for all crimes except treason
• Most states retained death penalty rights
• Some states expanded crimes punishable
by death (especially crimes committed by
slaves)
• Introduction of discretionary death penalty
statues
• 1888: New York builds the first electric
chair
Early 20th Century
• 1924: cyanide gas as a more humane
form of execution
• 1920-40s: resurgence in death penalty
after a short-lived lull
– Criminologists wrote that the death penalty
was a necessary social measure
– Prohibition and the Great Depression
– More executions in the 1930s than in any
other decade in American history
Mid-Late 20th Century
• 1950s: public opinion turns against capital
punishment
• 1940s: 1,289 executions
• 1950s: 715 executions
• 1967-1977: voluntary moratorium
• January 17, 1977: moratorium ends with
execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad
• Also in 1977: Oklahoma became the first state to
adopt lethal injection as a means of execution
Constitutionality
• Prior to the 1960s: Fifth, Eighth, and
Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted
as allowing the death penalty
• Early 1960s: suggested that the death
penalty was "cruel and unusual"
punishment
Other Laws
• 1994 - President Clinton signs the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
expanding the federal death penalty
• 1998: Northwestern University National
Conference on Wrongful Convictions and
the Death Penalty
59 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2004, bringing the
year end total to 944 executed since the use of the death
penalty was resumed in 1977.
Over 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of
January 1, 2005.
38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law.
The death penalty is also provided under US federal military
and civilian law.
State Name
Texas
Virginia
Florida
Delaware
California
Current
Death Row
Population
414
23
388
19
648
Can a
Yes
defendant get
death for a
felony in
which s/he
was not
responsible
for the
murder?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Number of
Innocent
Persons
Freed From
Death Row
8
1
21
0
Method
Injection
Choice of
Injection or
Electrocution
Choice of
Injection or
Electrocution
Injection / Choice
of Hanging if
Choice of
sentenced
Injection or
before 6/13/86
Gas
3
 The song “Hurricane” by Bob
Dylan made a huge difference in
the life of Rubin “Hurricane”
Carter.
 Carter was sentenced to life in
prison for the murder of 3 white
people who were gunned down at a
bar in Paterson, New Jersey on
June 16, 1967. Police were looking
for 2 black men and pulled over
Carter and his friend John Artis.
They were sentenced to life in
prison.
An innocent man?
• 8 years into his incarceration, Carter
sent Dylan a copy of his autobiography.
Dylan visited him in prison, and
convinced of his innocence, wrote
"Hurricane."
• Dylan went to Carter's prison in 1975
as a show of support. The visit brought
a lot of attention to Carter's case.
Raising attention and money
• Touring with the Rolling Thunder
Revue, which featured Joan Baez, Joni
Mitchell and Roberta Flack, Dylan
raised over $100,000 for Carter's
defense at a Madison Square Garden
concert the day after visiting his prison.
A month later, they held another charity
concert, Hurricane II, in the Astrodome.
• Dylan's efforts brought new publicity to
Carter's case, getting him a new trial in 1976,
where he was again convicted, with
prosecutors claiming he killed the men in
retaliation for a murder of a black man earlier
that night. Carter was not freed until 1984,
when his conviction was finally overturned.
Pro Capital Punishment
Gallup Polls
Are you in favor of the death penalty
for a person convicted of murder?
Public Support
• Except for a period during the 1950s and 1960s,
a majority of Americans have supported
capital punishment.
• Recent support has been high. A 1988 Gallop
Poll reported that 79% of Americans supported
the death penalty, and that percentage rose to
80% in 1994.
For
Against
No
Opinion
2005 May 2-5
74%
23%
03%
2004 May 2-4
71%
26%
03%
2003 Oct 6-8
64%
32%
04%
2003 May 19-21
70%
28%
02%
2003 May 5-7
74%
24%
02%
2002 October 10
70%
25%
05%
2002 May 6-9
72%
25%
03%
2001 Oct 11-14
68%
26%
06%
2001 May 10-14
65%
27%
08%
Once a Criminal…Always a
Criminal
• Of the 3,452 inmates on Death Row as of January 1,
2004…
– 65% had a prior felony conviction at the time of
the murder
– 8% had a prior homicide conviction at the time of
the murder
– 8% had criminal charges pending at the time of
the murder
– 27% were on probation or parole at the time of the
murder
– 4.5% were incarcerated or had escaped from
incarceration.
Philosophical View
•
•
Utilitarianism-the right action is the one that
produces the greatest good.
The most common defense of capital punishment
is based on Utilitarian ground…
1. Prohibits the criminal from offending again
2. Deterrence for would-be offenders
•
Both of these contribute to creating a greater
balance of happiness in society, thus supporting
the Utilitarian view
John Locke
•
•
He argues a person forfeits his
rights when committing even minor
crimes
His support for Capital Punishment
is based on 2 views:
1.
Retributive: Criminal deserves
punishment as retribution for his
act
2.
Utilitarian: Punishment is
needed to protect our society by
deterring the crime through
example
It’s the right way…
• The death penalty is morally just. When a
person commits murder, the only appropriate
way for a criminal justice system to respond is to
demonstrate the outrage of society. The
sacredness of human life must be reinforced. If
outrage for each murder is not conveyed, the
value of life is cheapened. Therefore, the
sanction for murder should be proportionate
justice: if one takes a life, one must die too.
What’s more humane?
• Is the death penalty less humane than life
imprisonment?
– The prisoner suffers by rotting in prison for the
rest of his life, while the death penalty is
instantaneous in comparison (8 yrs. vs. 30-40 yrs.)
– Prison is more torturous and degrading than
execution, as your freedom is taken and you’re
essentially locked-up in a cage (much like an
animal)
– Physical torment (which we all know about)
Cost of Imprisonment
New York City's Correction Department
spent an average of nearly $59,000 per
inmate in the 2003 fiscal year.
• But when all city expenses are factored in insurance and pension benefits for
correction staff, for instance, as well as more
than $150 million for jail medical care - the
yearly per-inmate cost is closer to $100,000,
according to the city's Independent Budget
Office. (As reported by NY Times)
•
• $240,000,000,000 per year in New York
The Bargain of the Death Penalty
• Opponents claim that Life Without Parole should replace
the Death Penalty
• The life without parole alternative to the death penalty
keeps criminals in prison on avg. 30-40 yrs. With the
national cost of incarceration between 40-50 thousand
dollars annually.
• 35 yrs. X $45,000 = $$$$1,575,000
• The average time on death row for those executed from
1973-1994 was 8 yrs.
• 8 yrs. X 45,000 = $360,000
• Average savings per execution: $1,215,000
Put that towards the National Deficit!!!
Options for Execution
– Murderers who are executed are given an option of how they’d like to be
executed (options vary by state), a luxury that wasn’t afforded by their
victims
– CHOICES MAY INCLUDE:
•
•
•
•
•
Lethal injection (81% since 1976)
Electrocution (16%)-9 states
Lethal Gas (1.1%)-Only available in Arizona, California, Missouri & Wyoming
Hanging (0.3%)-Only available in Delaware, New Hampshire, & Washington
Firing Squad (0.2%)-Only available in Idaho & Oklahoma
AMA and Lethal Injection
• The American Medical Association has
decried the participation of doctors in
executions as a clear violation of medical
ethics. Nonetheless, since all 38 states
with the death penalty use lethal
injections, doctors are needed -- and
doctors do participate.
Bottom Line
• The Death Penalty Incapacitates The Offender.
Capital punishment eliminates the threat of convicted
murderers killing again. An example of this possibility is
provided by James W. Marquart and Jonathan R.
Sorenson, sociologists at Sam Houston State University.
They examined the histories of all those re-sentenced
after the Supreme Court emptied state death rows with
its Furman decision. Seven of those released prisoners
committed another murder after leaving prison.
• The recidivism rate for capital punishment is zero. No
executed murderer has ever killed again. You can't say
that about those sentenced to prison, even if you are an
abolitionist.
Against Capital Punishment
Cons of Capital Punishment
• It does not deter crime
• The U.S. has been unable to prevent accidental
execution of those wrongly accused and convicted
• Race plays a central role in who is executed and who
is not
• Often the actual facts of the case are not used to
determine if the death penalty is applied
Cons of Capital Punishment
• Almost every religion condemns the death penalty
• Most other developed countries have abolished the
death penalty
• Executions are expensive to taxpayers
• The money saved from executions could go to
families of the victims
Cons of Capital Punishment
• Incompetent counsel is a problem in more than half
of all trials that result in the death penalty
• The alternative (life without parole) is better for all
parties
(deathpenalty.org)
$2,000,000 Million
• Estimated cost for CA taxpayers per
execution
• Costs more ($90,000) to house inmates on
death row than in the general prison
population
(
1993 Study by UC Berkeley
Professor
• Capital punishment trials are different
than other trials
– Juries are prepared differently
– Dual trial for defendant
– Automatic appeal if convicted
More Reasons to Abolish Capital
Punishment
• Purported to be for protection of
society and deterrent to future
criminals
• Cannot reform criminals because their
lives are effectively cut short
• Capital Punishment is irrevocable and
errors cannot be fixed once committed
The U.S. Compared to the Rest of
the World
• Since 1976 (the year the U.S. reinstated the death
penalty) an average of 3 countries/year have
abolished the death penalty
(amnestyinternational.org)
• 75 countries have abolished the death penalty
altogether on grounds that it is cruel and unusual
punishment
• "The forfeiture of life is too absolute, too irreversible,
for one human being to inflict it on another, even
when backed by legal process. And I believe that
future generations, throughout the world, will come
to agree.“ - Kofi Annan
• 86 countries and territories have abolished the death
penalty for all crimes
• 11 countries have abolished the death penalty for all
but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes.
• 25 countries can be considered abolitionist in
practice: they retain the death penalty in law but have
not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or
more and are believed to have a policy or established
practice of not carrying out executions
 Over 40 countries have abolished the
death penalty for all crimes since 1990.
 They include countries in Africa (recent
examples include Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal),
 The Americas (Canada, Paraguay,
Mexico), Asia and the Pacific (Bhutan.
Samoa,
Turkmenistan)
 And Europe and the South Caucasus
(Armenia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Greece,
Serbia and
Montenegro, Turkey).
Death sentences and executions
 During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in
25 countries and at least 7,395 people were sentenced
to death in 64 countries.
 In 2004, 97 percent of all known executions took
place in China, Iran, Vietnam and the USA.
 Iran executed at least 159 people, and Vietnam at
least 64.
 There were 59 executions in the USA, down from 65
in 2003.
Sources
•
•
•
•
•
www.deathpenalty.org
www.amnestyinternational.org
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/bldeathpenalty.htm
http://www.closeup.org/punish.htm
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/dpusa.htm