The Debate Over Capital Punishment - 936 Words

The debate over capital punishment is in regards to whether the death penalty contradicts the Eighth Amendment. If the death penalty does contradict the Eight Amendment, then the State should not have the power to sentence criminals to death for capital crimes. However, if capital punishment is not against the Eighth Amendment, then the State has the right to sentence criminals to death. In this essay I will first summarize Justice Brennan’s argument on why the death penalty is beyond the power of the State to inflict. Then, I will explain and discuss each of Brennan’s premises. Finally, I will analyze each of Brennan’s faulty premises. If I can successfully prove that one of his premises is false, it will prove that his argument is unsound. Although Brennan’s conclusion follows with necessity from his premises, making his argument valid, his argument is unsound because his third premise is false. Below is Brennan’s argument in standard form: 1. If the death penalty is a severe and degrading punishment, is inflicted arbitrarily, is rejected by almost everyone is society, and is not more effective as any lesser punishment, then the death penalty is against the Eighth Amendment. 2. If the death penalty is against the Eighth Amendment, then the death penalty is beyond the power of the State to inflict. 3. The death penalty is a severe and degrading punishment, is inflicted arbitrarily, is rejected by almost everyone is society, and is not more effective than as any lesserShow MoreRelatedThe Debate Over Capital Punishment1183 Words   |  5 Pagesmorally just and constitutional. Those thinking it is cruel want capital punishment abolished. The others want to see it revised and maintained. Capital punishment is being sentenced to death and executed for committing various crimes. Usually, it is reserved for convicted murder cases, but had been used for others such as: armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and treason. Only about sixty countries still use capital punishment – the United States included. Canada, Australia, and most EuropeanRead MoreThe Debate Over Capital Punishment1599 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The Capital Punishment is a sure punishment. Sure punishment in the sense that the convicted never commits another crime, namely a homicide, again. People that oppose it support the argument that as human beings we shouldn’t take the responsibility of judging who should and shouldn’t die. That argument is backed by moral reasons, whether they are religious or simply ethical beliefs. Another argument against it is the fact that an offender facing the death penalty does not deter themRead MoreThe Debate over Capital Punishment Essay1025 Words   |  5 PagesThe Debate over Capital Punishment South Carolina, January 15, 1993. After wounding an Orangeburg, S.C. police officer with a misfired bullet, Thomas Treshawn Ivey, an Alabama prison escapee, proceeded to fired five more shots into the police officer from a handgun at close range after the wounded police office had reached for his gun. Ivey fled the scene but was quickly apprehended. This scenario is not to different from the horrible acts of violence that lead an offender to death row whereRead MoreThe Debate over Capital Punishment Essays2057 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction Death penalty or capital punishment is an issue which is quiet debatable. It is an issue that has divided the world socially and morally. There are both supporters as well as people who are against it. Due to human rights communities and lawmaker’s struggle much debate has been done on this issue. Capital punishment laws have been removed from most of the countries including Europe. However death penalty is legal in countries including some states of USA, China and also Arab countriesRead MoreEssay about The Debate Over Capital Punishment1141 Words   |  5 Pages The debate over capital punishment has been raging on for countless number of years. Capital punishment has been used for thousands of years due to the physiological fear it inflicts on the people who witness and learn about the death penalty. The use of this punishment has helped to reduce crime and alter the minds of future criminals to deter them against committing heinous crimes such as murder, treason, espiona ge, terrorism and in some cases aggravated kidnapping. Advocates say it deters crimeRead MoreCapital Punishment Essay667 Words   |  3 PagesAdvent Catholic Encyclopedia, Capital Punishment is the infliction by due legal process of the penalty of death as a punishment for crime. Capital Punishment, also known as, the Death Penalty has been around for centuries. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes (www.deathpenaltyinfo.org). Not only is Capital Punishment ancient, it is highly controversialRead MoreIs Capital Punishment Ever Justified?844 Words   |  4 PagesCapital punishment, better known as the death penalty, is the act of killing or executing a person who was found guilty of a serious crime, by the government. Capital punishment became widespread during the Middle Ages and was applied throughout Western Europe for more than t wo thousand years. Although, the call to abolish it started in the 18th century, some of the first countries being Venezuela in 1863, San Marino in 1865, and Costa Rica in 1877. Great Britain abolished the death penalty in 1965Read MoreDeath Penalty On Violent Criminals1520 Words   |  7 PagesBrandon Bechtel Miller English 1301 B5 28 November 2015 Death Penalty on Violent Criminals The Death penalty, known as capital punishment is when a criminal is executed by a governing authority. We (the United States) continue to allow the death penalty. Many countries make the death penalty illegal. Many discussions over this being legal, moral ethical, and economic ramifications of the death penalty are continuous across the world. Most of the nations have at one time made the death penaltyRead MoreCapital Punishment : An Effective Tool1493 Words   |  6 PagesCapital punishment has been a subject of public debate, since the time the practice of the death penalty was implemented into the legal system. With the number of historical occurrences, it was widely acknowledged that the administration of capital punishment remains to be an imperfect embodiment of governmental power. Many studies in the context of criminological analysis have provided statistics, although inconclusive, regarding capital punishment as an effective tool in terms of deterrence. ItRead MoreCapi tal Punishment : A Form Of Legal Punishment Essay1672 Words   |  7 PagesCapital punishment implies that the criminal is sentenced to death as a punishment for their crimes. Prima facie, it appears to be the most just punishment and solution to crimes that demand such severity of punishment in proportion to the offense. However, the reason why it is a moot point and a debatable issue is because ethicists see both sides of the story and there are numerous ethical issues involved with institutionalizing capital punishment. To understand the debate on capital punishment