The Death Penalty

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that opposition to the death penalty has focused (1)on the issue of the constitutionality by citing the Eighth Amendment's prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment to prove their claims, (2) the death penalty is ineffective in reducing incidents of violent crime and (3) it is prohibitively expensive. The author points out that the death penalty proponents believe (1) the death penalty is constitutional because it is specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights stating that the only constitutional prohibition against the death penalty is that it no person be deprived of life without due process of law (U.S. Const. Amend. V) and (2) the death penalty accomplishes legitimate goals, such as punishment and retribution, which cannot be accomplished by alternative sentences. The paper relates that the one thing that both sides agree upon is the fact that "death is different" (Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 at 305 (1976)): There is no appeal from the death penalty.

From the Paper:

"Death penalty proponents argue that those deficiencies have been remedied by recent Supreme Court decisions. In "Atkins v. Virginia", 536 U.S. 304 (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court determined that executing the mentally retarded is unconstitutional. However, opponents of the death penalty can point out the fact that many states have failed to comply with the Atkins decision. Even though there is evidence that many people currently on death row are mentally retarded, some states have failed to institute any way of determining whether or not inmates currently on death row are mentally retarded. The fact is that mild mental retardation may not be apparent to the casual observer, including trial judges."

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