Death Penalty 3

There are many aspects of the stages in the Capital case that are designed to protect the rights of the accused.  The accused can't just be sentenced to the death penalty, there first needs to be sufficient evidence that this person could have committed the crime for a case to even exist. The accused is given a lawyer to defend him in court. He must plead his case and rebut the prosecutors statement in trying to prove him guilty. In the "Penalty Phase Trial" of the case, mitigating circumstances are looked over in order to give the accused the most fair fair trial possible. Mitigating circumstances are facts that do not justify or excuse an act or offense, but may reduce the degree or moral culpability, and thereby reduce the penalty. Ex: mental impairments, or deprived background, etc. The defendant has the opportunity if he loses his case to appeal to the U.S. Court of appeals, where his appeal will then be heard by a panel of three judges. These are just a few ways the Court system helps protect the rights of the accused. Without these aspect in a capital case it would be unfair to the defendant. I believe that the system is insufficient due to the statistic that since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.
         Although none of the five ways to execute a convicted criminal on death row are humane, death by lethal injection is the most appropriate. I believe lethal injection to be the best method because the person being executed is knocked out due to drugs and usually does not feel the pain of death. Hanging, electrocution, and the gas chamber are methods that should be considered "cruel and unusual" punishment by the Eighth Amendment. The description of pain the executed feels during the process of these methods is morally unethical and very disturbing. If they are to be sentenced to death they should at least be put to death in a humane way that shows respect for life. For example, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once offered the following description of an execution by electric chair : ... the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on his cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool. the body turns bright red as its temperature rises, and the prisoner's flesh swells and his skin stretches to the point of breaking. Sometimes the prisoner catches fire... Witnesses hear a loud and sustained sound like bacon frying, and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh permeates the chamber. (Echenbarger, 1994) That is a perfect example of "cruel and unusual" punishment and should be banned along with hanging and the gas chamber from methods of capital punishment.
     From looking at the state by state death penalty data, I was able to find out some pretty interesting statistics.  There is a much larger amount of men on death row then there are women.  The difference between the amount of caucasian to african americans being put to death is very small. There are more whites being sentenced to death than there are african americans. California, Texas, and Florida are three states that have the most inmates being sentenced to death. Those are three of the largest states in America so it is possible to say that states with higher populations have a larger number of men and women being sentenced to death. Also states in the south have higher totals of inmates on death row. There are no juvenile statistics as of 2005 because of Roper v. Simmons. In this case the Court ruled that the death penalty for those who had committed their crimes as minors was cruel and unusual punishment and hence barred by the Constitution.
           The information posted by the Death Penalty Information center provided further detail into studies of race, the type of method preferred by states, and executions by region. The information here changed the way I thought about the death penalty in my previous response due to the statistics that were given about race. In my previous response that website showing the state by state death penalty date made it seem as if there is overall racial equality in the justice system. But from viewing the data put out of by the D.P.I.C. it seems as if there is inequality when sentencing black and white people to capital punishment. A comprehensive study of the death penalty in North Carolina found that the odds of receiving a death sentence rose by 3.5 times among those defendants whose victims were white. Also a study in California found that those who killed whites were over 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks and over 4 times more likely than those who killed Latinos. Public opinion of the death penalty was at 65% in May 2006. (Down from 80% in 1994). The same poll given by the Gallup Group revealed that when respondents are given a choice of life without parole as an alternate sentencing option, more choose life without parole (48%) than the death penalty (47%). A 2009  by the DPIC showed that police chiefs ranked the death penalty last among ways to reduce violent crime. Also considered death penalty to be the least efficient use of taxpayers' money. Looking at all the information I would say that the DPIC believes that the justice system in America in terms of capital punishment is not efficient and is biased. They are against the death penalty. The statistics they show in their report is convincing and gives good reason to believe that the death penalty should not be permitted.

 

    

DEATH PENALTY

Clifford Boggess should not have been executed for his actions. After being on Death Row for so many years he became a changed man. A  who let his faith take over his life and helped him come to terms with what he had done. If the death penalty is used to make an example of criminals who have done wrong, is it better to kill them or let them stay in prison for the rest of their lives?  Clifford Boggess changed over the course of time. One of the benefits of putting criminals in prison is that they are able to think about their actions and feel true remorse. Being on Death Row for so long helped Boggess think clearly about his crime and really helped him sort his issues out.  Thats why I think it's better to keep these men in prison and give them time to think about their actions and forgive themselves.  After listening to the victims families response to Boggess death sentence, it  did not appear that they found justice in his death. One of the relatives of the men who died said that after all this time Boggess had come to his senses and changed himself. He wasn't being truly punished because he accepted his death. It wasnt teaching him a lesson. He was fully prepared to die and had no problem with it. This is why the death sentence serves no justice to the family members. It takes so long when you have a person on death row that if they arent immediately killed then its not like they are learning their lesson.  I believe that a life sentence in prison is just as effective and better than the death sentence. How do we teach society it is not ok to kill by putting someone to death?