The history of the death penalty in the United States dates back to the 17th century when Captain George Kendall was executed in Jamestown Colony, the first-ever permanent English settlement in North America.
Kendall was charged and convicted for being a spy for Spain, which at the time was considered a capital offense. Even seemingly minor offenses like killing chickens, stealing grapes, or trading with Indian natives were all punishable by death.
Today, the death penalty remains a highly controversial topic. Some states have outlawed the practice, while others still uphold it in their laws. This article explores the ins and outs of capital punishment, the arguments for and against it, and which states have it embedded in their laws.
Death Penalty Statistics
According to data from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) database, there have been a total of 1,534 executions between January 1977, after the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment, and June 2021.
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center indicates that 60 percent of respondents favor the death penalty for individuals convicted of murder crimes, while 78 percent fear that there’s always the risk of an innocent person being put to death for a crime they did not commit.
The same survey also showed that 63 percent of Americans believe that capital punishment does not deter individuals from committing serious offenses.
Capital Punishment vs. Corporal Punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, refers to the practice of executing an individual who is found guilty of murder. In some countries across the world, crimes like rape and adultery are also classified as capital crimes and are punishable by death.
The corporal punishment definition refers to the use of physical force to inflict injury, pain, or discomfort for a crime or what would otherwise be deemed unacceptable behavior. Popular examples of corporal punishment include flogging, caning, whipping, mutilation, branding, amputation, and blinding. A broader definition of the term denotes the act of disciplining a child in school or at home by spanking, slapping, beating, or pinching them.
Corporal punishment for legal crimes no longer exists in the US criminal justice system. The last flogging in the country happened in Delaware in 1952 before being abolished entirely 20 years later.
While corporal punishment is explicitly outlawed by various international human rights conventions, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Convention on Human Rights, many prisons still covertly administer this form of disciplinary action to detainees.
The historical rationale behind the use of corporal punishment has been that the injury, pain, degradation, and humiliation it inflicts on the offender deters them from committing a similar offense in the future.
However, this claim has since been refuted by empirical evidence showing that offenders subjected to corporal punishment were more likely to commit the same crimes they were convicted of compared to those who were imprisoned for their offenses.
Corporal Punishment for Children
Spanking and other forms of physical reprimand administered at home are technically legal in all 50 states. While the statutes may vary from state to state, their common denominator is that corporal punishment needs to be “reasonable and not excessive.”
In 2014, a New York court ruled that a father using his open hand to slap or spank his eight-year-old child is considered a “reasonable use of force.”
On the educational front, only 19 states allow the use of corporal punishment in public and private schools.
Arguments for Punishment and Retribution
Before diving into the arguments for and against capital punishment, here’s a quick reminder of the reasoning behind punishment and retribution in general.
- Individuals found guilty of committing a crime deserve some form of punishment.
- Only guilty people should be punished.
- The punishment administered to a guilty person should be proportional to the severity of the crime.
The singular premise of these arguments is that real justice can only be served if people suffer for their wrongdoing and in a manner that’s appropriate for the crime committed. That being said, below is a brief overview of the arguments for and against the death penalty.
Arguments for the Death Penalty
- When someone commits murder, they effectively give up their human right to stay alive.
- The punishment should fit the crime, meaning if someone takes away another person’s life, they deserve to lose theirs as well.
- Administering the death penalty to a killer stops them and deters others from committing similar crimes in the future.
- The very small likelihood of executing an innocent person is balanced by the benefits society gets by deterring potential offenders from committing murders.
Arguments Against Death Penalty
- Capital punishment goes against the most basic of all human rights – the right to life.
- Death by electrocution or lethal injection isn’t always painless and doesn’t always go as planned; the individual may die a painful death.
- No tangible statistics prove that the execution of murderers deters others from committing similar crimes.
- The criminal justice system is not perfect, and an innocent person may end up getting wrongfully executed.
What Crimes Get the Death Penalty
Federal capital offenses punishable by death usually involve murder committed under special circumstances involving children, multiple crimes, or protected classes. Here are a few examples of crimes that get the death penalty.
- A civil rights offense that results in death
- First-degree murder
- Murder committed during kidnapping or hostage situations
- Murder of a member of the Supreme Court, Congress, or the Executive
- Murders committed during drug-related, drive-by shootings
- Murders committed using a firearm during drug-trafficking offenses
Which States Have the Death Penalty
According to the latest statistics from the DPIC database, there are a total of 27 death penalty states and 23 non-death penalty states, including the District of Columbia. Capital punishment is legal in:
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Alabama
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Montana
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Nevada
- Nebraska
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Wyoming
The death penalty is also permitted within the US military and at the federal level. It’s important to note that while capital punishment may be legal in the jurisdictions listed above, many of those states have not had an execution in over a decade. Some state governors, including those for Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California, have even imposed formal moratoriums on capital punishment.
The Death Penalty and Criminal Justice Reform
Several criminal justice reform organizations across the country continue to fight relentlessly against the death penalty, arguing that racial disparities are deeply rooted in the legal system. They’re calling out the “tough on crime” policies that have led to the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people, which has had no impact on the reduction of violent crime.
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