Social Justice
Unit 2: Capital Punishment
The Death Penalty
What is the purpose of this
topic?
The purpose of this topic is to:
1. Research the problem of capital
punishment, and
2. Discuss the issues that will come to
light as we begin to answer the
following question:
“Are you for or against the death
penalty?”
What other questions need to
be answered?
Is capital punishment a legal, moral or
religious issue?
Does capital punishment serve a
legitimate (deterrent) purpose?
Is the death penalty applied fairly
across (race, social, economic) classes?
Should the death penalty be
eliminated?
What is Capital Punishment?
The legal killing of one human being by
another human being
It is sanctioned by 37 of the 50 states,
the military, and the federal government
It is usually reserved for the crime of
murder
It is also referred to as the death
penalty
When did death penalty laws
first come about?
Death penalty laws date back to the
Eighteenth Century B.C.
King Hammaurabi of Babylon codified the
death penalty for 25 crimes
Death sentences were carried out by
crucifixion, drowning, beating, burning,
and impalement
What Country influenced the
death penalty in America?
Great Britain had the most influence on
the institution of the death penalty in
America
By the 1700’s, 222 crimes were
punishable by death in Great Britain
This number was lowered to about 100
crimes by the 1800’s
Execution was usually by hanging
When was the death penalty
first used in America?
In 1608, Captain George Kendall of the
Jamestown Colony of Virginia was
executed for being a spy for Spain
The New York Colony Instituted Duke’s
Laws in 1665
1. Offenses such as striking one’s
mother or father was punishable by
death
When did people first object
to the death penalty?
In 1767, Cesare Beccaria wrote an essay
on crime and punishment
He argued that there was no justification
for the state’s taking of a life
His essay had a strong impact throughout
the world
Did Beccaria’s essay lead to
any reforms in America?
Thomas Jefferson introduced legislation
to revise Virginia’s death penalty laws
He proposed that capital punishment be
limited to crimes of murder and treason
Jefferson’s proposed law was defeated
by a single vote.
In 1794, Pennsylvania limited the death
penalty to only 1st degree murder
Did any State eliminate the
death penalty?
In 1834, Pennsylvania became the 1st
state to move executions from public
view to correctional facilities
In 1846, Michigan became the 1st state
to abolish the death penalty except for
treason
A short time later, Rhode Island and
Wisconsin eliminated the death penalty
for all crimes
What method of execution was
used by the states?
Until the late 1800’s, most executions
were carried out by hanging
In 1888, New York introduced the 1st
electric chair
By the turn of the century, most of the
states with death penalty laws adopted
the use of the electric chair
Methods of execution
continued:
Today, most states with the death
penalty use lethal injection for
execution
Is capital punishment a
constitutional issue?
Capital punishment is a constitutional
issue and addressed in the “First Ten
Amendments” to the US Constitution
The Eighth Amendment states:
“Excessive bail shall not be required,
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishments inflicted.”
Who decides whether capital
punishment is constitutional?
The US Supreme Court has the final say
on capital punishment issues
In 1972, the US Supreme Court voided
death penalty statutes in 40 states and
commuted the sentences of 629 death
row inmates.
Capital punishment was suspended from
1973 to 1976
Supreme Court continued:
The Supreme Court, in the case of
Furman v Georgia, declared that state
statutes allowing juries too much
sentencing discretion was a violation
of the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and
unusual punishment” provision
Was capital punishment ever
reinstated?
States with the death penalty rewrote
their capital punishment laws
In 1976, in the case of Gregg v Georgia,
the Supreme Court ruled that the new
laws were constitutional as long as
aggravating and mitigating
circumstances were considered in
sentencing
What are aggravating and
mitigating circumstances?
Aggravating circumstances are those
factors that tend to make the crime
worse, such as a gruesome murder
Mitigating circumstances are those
factors that tend to make the crime less
severe, such as the defendant having a
clean record
Who decides whether someone
will get the death penalty?
In a trial by jury, the decision of life or
death is made by the jury at the
sentencing phase of a trial
The sentencing phase comes after a
defendant either pleads, or is found
guilty.
In a bench trial or trial w/o a jury, the
judge will make this decision
What is the role of a jury in a
criminal trial?
The role of the jury is to:
1. Listen to testimony
2. Weigh/consider evidence
3. Determine and decide the facts
4. Apply the law in a particular case
5. Render a verdict of guilty, or not
guilty based on the level of proof
required by law
What is the level of proof
needed to determine guilt?
A prosecutor must prove each element
of the crime committed to a standard of
proof called “beyond a reasonable
doubt”
This standard is equal to 99.9%
If the jury has any doubt that the
defendant committed the crime, they
must render a verdict of not guilty
Does the jury determine
innocence?
No, the jury is charged with the
responsibility to determine legal guilt
based on applicable laws
Just because a jury finds a defendant
not guilty, does not mean that that
defendant was morally innocent of
committing the crime
Does this mean that some
guilty people will go free?
Yes, guilty people go free and cannot be
tried for the same crime ever again.
This is called “double jeopardy”
Conversely, this also means that
innocent people can be found guilty
Innocent people are serving prison terms
- some are even on death row
Why does capital punishment
always seem to be in the news?
It is a hotly debated issue by many groups
Arguments for and against it are based
on:
1. Moral
2. Religious
3. Ethical, and
4. Legal Grounds
Are there other issues involved
in capital punishment?
Aside from possibly of sending innocent
people to death, the following are
interwoven and spark further debate:
1. Age of the defendant
2. Sex of the defendant
3. Race and ethnicity of the defendant
4. Defendant’s intelligence level
5. Method of execution
Has the US Supreme Court
ruled on any of these issues?
Yes. The US Supreme Court has very
recently decided cases involving:
1. The minimum age for the death
penalty
2. Level of intelligence needed to
distinguish right from wrong
What about the method of
execution?
Since 1977, 82% of the executions have
been by lethal injection
Lower Courts have already issued
decisions as to whether or not, lethal
injection constitutes “cruel and unusual
punishment”
This issue will mostly likely be decided
by the US Supreme Court
How many people were
executed in 2008?
37 persons in 9 states were executed
1. 18 in Texas
2. 4 in Virginia
3. 3 in Georgia and South Carolina
4. 2 in Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and
Oklahoma
5. 1 in Kentucky
What was breakdown of those
executed?
Of the 37 persons executed in 2008:
1. 20 were white (54%)
2. 17 were black (46%)
All 37 were males
Lethal injection was used in 36 cases
Electrocution was used in 1 case
What percent of death row
inmates are actually executed?
Between 1977 and 2004, 7187 people
were sentenced to death
13% were executed
4% died in prison
37% received other dispositions
46% remain on death row
How does the death penalty
breakdown by race?
Of persons under sentence of death in
2007:
1. 1804 were White (50%)
2. 1345 were Black (37%)
3. 362 were Hispanic (12%)
4. 26 American Indian (Less than 1%)
5. 35 Asian (Less than 1%)
Why have only 13% of death
row inmates been executed?
67% of capital punishment convictions
are eventually overturned on procedural
grounds
7% of those whose sentences were
overturned between 1973 and 1995
have been acquitted of the crime
10% were retried and re-sentenced to
death
What is the breakdown of
death row inmates by race?
Of those sentenced to death:
1. 56% were white
2. 42% were black
3. 02% were other races
Blacks make up 12% of the general
population
Blacks account for 34% of all those
executed since 1977
What is the class assignment?
To examine the problem of capital
punishment from the following
perspectives:
1. Religious Grounds
2. Legal Grounds
3. Moral Grounds
4. Ethical Grounds
What should I keep in mind?
You should evaluate the impact of the
following on capital punishment:
1. Age of the defendant
2. Sex of the defendant
3. Race and ethnicity of the defendant
4. Defendant’s intelligence level
5. Method of execution
What questions need to be
researched?
Is capital punishment a legal, moral or
religious issue? Explain.
Does capital punishment serve a
legitimate (deterrent) purpose? Explain.
Is the death penalty applied fairly across
(race, social, economic) classes? Explain.
What other questions need to
be answered?
Should the death penalty be eliminated?
Are there other alternatives?
- The State of New Jersey recently
abolished the death penalty.
When was it abolished in NJ?
What were the reasons for abolishing
the death penalty in NJ?