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POL 210
Final Project Milestone 1: Topic Proposal
Topic Proposal
The death penalty is a topic of politics in America and has been for decades upon decades. I want
to take a deeper look into this controversial issue that continues to be one of oldest debates in America. Is
the death penalties use of capital punishment a violation of human rights and the environment that death
row inmates must live in also violate these rights. Many questions and arguments surround the death
penalty debate, but I want to ask is that if death row inmates sit waiting to be executed, what is this
costing, how is the environment on death row effecting inmates and whether there is reason to abolish the
death penalty as it relates to civil rights and the Constitution? Is using capital punishment a just form of
punishment?
Since the death penalty was first put into effect, there have been two different groups viewpoints
that argue the death penalty. The anti-death penalty side and the pro-death penalty side. The eighth
amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment. Anti-death penalty
supporters see capital punishment as unconstitutional; that it violates a persons’ human rights as outline in
many amendments in the constitution. Where the pro-death penalty doesn’t, they believe that the
Constitution says that the death penalty is good. For centuries these two opposing sides have fought this
same battle, really with no conclusion.
Viewpoints: Anti- Death Penalty
Anti- death penalty supporters main arguments of “no death penalty” focuses on its inhumaneness, lack of
deterrent effect, continuing racial and economic biases, and that of irreversibility. Anti-groups have
argued that the death penalty goes against a persons’ rights as outlined in the Constitution and denies due
process of law. A group of anti- death penalty called the American Civil Liberties Union believes that use
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of capital punishment inherently violates many of the Constitutions amendments and equal protection
under the law. Violating the 5th and 14th amendment, that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and
or property without due process of law.” As well as the 8th amendment that prohibits “cruel and unusual
punishment.” (Death Penalty, n.d.). They also argue that the death penalty is not a viable form of crime
control and wastes valuable money and resources. Many believe race is a dominating factor in
determining who lives and who dies. (Death penalty, n.d.). Bringing politics into the argument by “flawed
executions”, meaning that an innocent person was convicted of a crime, sentenced to death and executed.
( Haines, 1992).
Pro-Death Penalty
Surprisingly, most Americans, quite reasonably support the death penalty in appropriate cases, and believe
that, despite its imperfections, it is Constitutional. There are, to be heartfelt arguments for people to be
against the death penalty, but not in the least are they religious, moral, or other reasons and beliefs.
(Stimson.2019). The Supreme Court has held up to the death penalty as being Constitutional. The 5th and
14th amendments carry express approval of the death penalty: “a person may not be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law.” (Sutimson,2019). Over half of the states (29) have the
death penalty on the books. Also, retribution, society's right to make moral judgment by imposing a
punishment or a criminal defendant befitting the crime they have committed. (Stimson,2019). Yes,
mistakes and wrongful convictions do occur, the criminal justice system is not perfect; error can happen
on both sides of the death penalty. The death penalty is not anymore unjust then sentencing a defendant
who is innocent to 4 life sentences, and they sit in prison for over half their life before being exonerated.
( Stimson, 2019).
Constitution Connections, Court Cases & Rulings
Looking at either side of the death penalty debate, the Constitution and four of its Amendments are at the
centrality of it. On the anti-death penalty side of things, say that the 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th amendments are a
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direct and intolerable violation and denial of the defendants' civil liberties. In 1972, the Supreme Court
reversed death sentences, declaring that under the then-existing laws, “the imposition and carrying out of
the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, violating the 8th and 14th amendments.”
(Furman v. Georgia 408 U.S. 238). The Court, concentrating its objections on the way the death penalty
laws had been applied, found the results so “harsh, freakish and arbitrary” as to be constitutionally
unacceptable. Making the nationwide impact of its decision unmistakable. (American Civil Liberties
Union,2022). 1960’s brought about change regarding the death penalty and began “fine tuning” the way
the death penalty was administered; hearing two cases in 1968, dealing with giving discretion to
prosecutor and the jury in capital cases. (Death penalty information center, 2022). First case was
U.S. v. Jackson (390 U.S. 570) where the court heard arguments regarding a provision of the federal
kidnapping statue requiring that the death penalty be imposed only upon recommendation of the jury.
(Death penalty information, 2022). The Court held that this practice was unconstitutional because it
encouraged defendants to waive their right to a jury trial, ensuring they wouldn’t receive the death
penalty. (Death penalty Information, 2022). The second case of 1968 was Witherspoon v. Illinois (391
U.S. 510). In this case the Supreme Court held that a potential juror’s mere reservations about the death
penalty were insufficient grounds to prevent them from serving on jury in a death penalty case. 1971
addressed jury problem s again with Crampton v. Ohio and McGautha v. California (consolidated under
402 U.S> 183). Defendants argued it was a 14th amendment right to due process for jurors to have
unreserved discretion in deciding whether a defendant should live or die. Due to the findings in Furman v.
Georgia (408 U.S. 238), that the specific death penalty statutes were unconstitutional, allowing the states
to rewrite their death penalty statutes to eliminate problems citied in Furman. (Death penalty information
center,2022). There is case after case that deals with something pertaining to the death penalty and there
is, I am sure more to come.
Scholarly Sources
When doing my initial research, I found that the scholarly sources did not give me the information that I
wanted per se, but there were a few that gave me a lot of data and numbers that will be very useful when
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writing the rest of my paper. The two scholarly sources that I used for this milestone are; the first is a
journal article written by Herb Haines and is found in a journal on Social Problems, published by Oxford
University Press in 1992 titled, Flawed Executions, the Anti-Death Penalty Movement, and the Policies of
Capital Punishment. The Death Penalty Information Center website was where my second scholarly
source was found. In a section about the History of the Death Penalty, Constitutionality of the Death
Penalty in America published in 2022. The article, Flawed Executions, has information on the periods of
history when capital punishment was accepted and the rulings and reasoning behind that. This article was
not viewed in its full content because I had to get permission to access it through our school's library. The
Death Penalty Information Center gives a great variety of information pertaining to the death penalty in its
entirety, from the early history to the most recent arguments and standing of the death penalty. The death
penalty and how it violates or doesn’t violate defendants' civil rights and liberties is a topic that has been
and will continue to be one of great controversy and the resources of information on anything that relates
to or around the death penalty is possibly endless.
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References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2022). The Case Against the Death Penalty. American Civil Liberties
Union. Retrieved November 6,2022, from https://www.aclu.org/other/case-against-the-
death penalty
Death Penalty Information Center. (2022). Constitutionality of the Death Penalty in America. Death
Penalty Information Center. Retrieved November 6,2022, from
https://deathpenaltyinfo.otg/facts and-research/history-of-the-death-penalty/constitutionality-of-
the-death-penalty-in-America
Haines, H. (1992). Flawed Executions, the Anti-Death Penalty Movement, and the Politics of Capital
Punishment. Social Problems,39(2),125-138. https://doi.org/10.2307/3097033
Stimson, C. (n.d.). The Death Penalty is Appropriate. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved November
5,2022, from https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice-/commentary/the-death-
penalty appropriate/
