final daft paper

Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

LITERATURE REVIEW 4

Literature Review

Institutional Affiliation

Student’s name

Literature Review

Capital Punishment

There has been a lot of debate surrounding the topic of capital punishment and death penalty. The debate is mainly shaped by factors such as class, race, age, and gender. Before the year 2002, children under the age of 18 were also eligible for capital punishment. Any children who were accused of heinous crimes were tried the same way as adults and were subsequently punished like adults if found guilty of those crimes. It was only in 2005 that the Supreme Court through the case of Roper v. Simmons ruled that children under the age of 18 years could not face death penalty. The other category of persons who are not eligible for capital punishment are those proven to be mentally ill or retarded.

According to a Gallup Poll conducted in the United States in May 2005, 74% of the American Public support death penalty. Race has always been a big determinant in capital punishment. The other determining variables include gender, socio-economic class, and age. For race, black people are more likely to be sentenced to capital punishment compared to people from other races. This makes black people to be more opposed to capital punishment compared to other races. When it comes to gender, men are more likely to be sentenced to capital punishment compared to women. Age is also a variable in that people under the age of 60 are more likely to be sentenced to capital punishment compared to those who are above that age. In summary, the categories of people who were likely to be sentenced to capital punishment are the ones who are in opposition of the practice while those that are less likely to be sentenced to capital punishment are in favor of the practice.

Political perspective also plays an important role in determining one’s position in this matter. According to McRae (2017) “Conservatives, and political parties that are more conservative than their rivals, are more likely to support harsh sanctions” (McRae, 2017).

Race had also been a considered factor while passing out capital punishment. Even though this factor is on the basis of racial discrimination as found out by researchers at the University of Maryland in January, 2003 (Rubin A. 2016). The researchers gave the report that an individual is most likely to be charged with death penalty if they kill a white person. These events that were taking place in Maryland called for the residents of Maryland to tale action and approach their state legislators on the pending capital punishment (Goel R. K. 2019). The opposite of the issue is also true where an individual is less likely to face a death penalty if they murder a black person. The study found out that the odds of getting punished by death penalty are three times higher for defendants who kill white victims.

The Supreme Court of the united States came to the decision that race was in the forefront in passing out capital punishment in 1987 during the case of McCleskey V. Kemp. The court held that despite unrecognizing racial disparities as per the constitution where all the citizens are entitled to equal protection, intentional racial discrimination could be shown against the defendant (Wilson 2016).

In the debates and arguments against capital punishment, it was ruled out that death penalty to individuals who commit their crimes before they turn to legal age which in most countries is 18 years old was cruel and unusual punishment and therefore the constitution barres it. In 2005, the necessity of referring to, “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society according to J.J (Donohue 2016).” Was reaffirmed in order to make it is possible to identify the cruel crimes as well as those which are unusual as per the age of the defendant as per Moreland A.

The fight against capital punishment has been a long one as many claim its more of the ‘an eye for am eye’ argument with very little or no intentions of rehabilitation but to punish severely. Many have viewed capital punishment to be revenge rather than retribution as it is a moral dubious concept. “The anticipatory suffering of the criminal who may be kept on death row for a very long period renders the punishment to be even more severer an cruel (Seeds C. 2017). The issue on capital punishment has raised many questions over the recent years with some defending it while others against it. Many questions have been asked by researchers whether lesser punishment serve the same purpose as death penalties in capital crimes and whether the punishment is passed equal to all the members of the society with no discrimination to race, gender or ethnicity (Sarat A. 2018)

The controversy in capital punishment is very high and some even refer to it as the outright murder of an individual. The United States is one of the few countries that still practice this system of punishment in some of its states up to date (Wilson 2016). The researchers who stand for death penalty have linked it with being ethical and argued that people should face the capital punishment for committing capital crimes which are against the code of ethics and the society as well, death being listed top as an example (Kovarsky L. 2016). Some people also argue that death penalty is unethical and flaws in the judicial system may lead to having innocent people being executed. However, both sides of this arguments were assessed and it was decided that death penalty is ethical because it acts as a form of retribution for the victim of the crime and their close relatives. It also deters others who had intentions of committing similar crimes not to and generally reduces the chances of the criminal committing the similar crime (McRae D. 2017).

According to Seumas Miller a person is sentenced to a death penalty if they are convicted of a premeditated murder and if the loss of the victim can and will forever bring a negative impact to the lives of the immediate family members and friends as well (Seamus M. 2017)

It is yet to be determined whether death penalty has been effective or not. However, cases of crimes have been recorded to go down in parts where death penalty is used and on the contrary crimes have still been recorded to increase in areas where death penalty is still applied. This has made it hard to come to a common agreement whether the system is effective or not (Rule N. O. 2016)

REFERENCES

Donohue, J. J. (2016). Empirical analysis and the fate of capital punishment. Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Poly, 11, 51.

Goel, R. K., & Mazhar, U. (2019). Does capital punishment deter white‐collar crimes?. The World Economy, 42(6), 1873-1897.

Kovarsky, L. (2016). Muscle memory and the local concentration of capital punishment. Duke LJ, 66, 259.

McRae, D. (2017). Indonesian capital punishment from a comparative perspective. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, land-en volkenkunde/Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 173(1), 1-22.

Moreland, A., & Watson, D. (2016). Women’s representation and capital punishment. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 37(4), 490-513.

Rubin, A. T. (2016). Penal change as penal layering: A case study of proto-prison adoption and capital punishment reduction, 1785–1822. Punishment & Society, 18(4), 420-441.

Sarat, A. (2018). When the state kills: Capital punishment and the American condition. Princeton University Press.

Seeds, C. (2018). Disaggregating LWOP: Life without parole, capital punishment, and mass incarceration in Florida, 1972–1995. Law & Society Review, 52(1), 172-205.

Udoudom, M. D., Idagu, U. A., & Nwoye, L. (2018). Kantian and Utilitarian Ethics on Capital Punishment. Journal of Sustainable Society, 7(1), 5-11.

Wilson, J. P., & Rule, N. O. (2016). Hypothetical sentencing decisions are associated with actual capital punishment outcomes: The role of facial trustworthiness. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(4), 331-338.