Capital punishment is punishment by death for committing a crime. Capital punishment is often called the death penalty. It is most commonly used in convictions for murder. But it has also been used for such crimes as armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and treason. About 55 countries—including the United States and many African and Asian nations—use capital punishment. Canada, Australia, and most European and Latin American nations have abolished it.
Throughout history, governments have executed criminals by a variety of methods. These methods have included hanging, crucifixion, stoning, beheading, and poisoning. Since the 1600’s, shooting—often by firing squads—has been a common method of execution in many countries. Some countries execute criminals using electrocution or deadly gas. The most commonly used method in the United States is lethal injection. Lethal injection involves the use of drugs that stop the person’s breathing and heartbeat.
History of capital punishment.
Governments have used capital punishment since ancient times. In 399 B.C., the Greek philosopher Socrates was condemned to death. He was forced to drink hemlock, a poison the people of ancient Athens used for the death penalty. During the Middle Ages (about the A.D. 400’s through the 1400’s), thousands of people in Europe were executed for crimes against the state and the Christian church. Most were hanged or beheaded. During the French Revolution (1789-1799), the revolutionary government executed about 40,000 people. One method of execution in France was the guillotine, a beheading machine.
The use of capital punishment in many parts of the world declined during the 1900’s. Most of the United Kingdom suspended capital punishment for murder in 1965 and abolished it in 1969. Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, abolished the death penalty for murder several years later. By 1998, capital punishment had been banned in the entire United Kingdom for all crimes. Canada abolished the death penalty for murder in 1976 and for all crimes in 1998. By 1985, Australia had abolished capital punishment for all crimes.
About 140 nations have formally abolished capital punishment or stopped using it. Many less developed countries continue to use the death penalty. The United States is the only industrialized Western nation where executions still take place. In the United States, the death penalty may be given as a punishment under federal law, military law, or the laws of about half of the 50 states.
The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Furman v. Georgia (1972) greatly influenced the use of capital punishment in the United States. The court held that the death penalty, as it was delivered at the time, was “cruel and unusual punishment.” Therefore, the death penalty violated the 8th and 14th amendments to the Constitution. However, the court left open the possibility that the death penalty could be constitutional if it were conducted differently. The court stated that death penalty laws must be limited to certain crimes and applied according to fair standards. Following the decision, many states passed new laws to satisfy the court’s requirements.
In Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Supreme Court upheld the use of capital punishment for people sentenced under new laws in Florida, Georgia, and Texas. The court ruled that the death penalty itself and the standards developed by the states were constitutional. Later in the 1970’s, the court struck down laws that made the death penalty mandatory (required) for certain crimes. It also abolished the death penalty as a punishment for rape.
About 1,600 people have been executed in the United States since the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in 1976. More than 2,300 others are on death row. Death row is where people who have been sentenced to death await execution. Many prisoners on death row are waiting for the outcome of legal appeals.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide sentences in capital punishment cases in which there was a trial by jury. That same year, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute people who have an intellectual disability. However, the justices allowed the individual states to determine what degree of impairment would be considered intellectual disability. The state of Florida used an individual’s intelligence quotient (IQ) to determine whether an inmate could be executed. The Supreme Court in 2014 struck down Florida’s rule as too rigid. The ruling affected several other states that used similar cutoff points for determining mental disability in capital punishment cases. In 2005, the court banned the use of capital punishment in cases where the offender (person who broke the law) was under 18 years of age when the crime was committed.
Executions in the United States were suspended in late 2007, after the Supreme Court agreed to hear Baze v. Rees. This case examined Kentucky’s method of lethal injection after two death-row inmates claimed it posed unnecessary risk of pain and suffering. In early 2008, the court upheld Kentucky’s procedures, and executions resumed.
During the early 2000’s, a number of state governments also reconsidered their capital punishment systems. They were concerned about such issues as unfair use of the death penalty and flaws in execution procedures. It was found that some death row inmates were innocent or had been tried unfairly. In some cases, lethal injection caused a prolonged death or apparent suffering of the prisoner. Restrictions by the European Union and drug companies that did not want their products to be used for executions also created a shortage of the drugs used for lethal injection.
In light of such problems, some states suspended executions. Others brought back methods of execution that had been banned or fallen into disuse, such as the electric chair and the firing squad, as alternatives to lethal injection. A number of states abolished capital punishment altogether.
The debate over capital punishment.
People often disagree about whether capital punishment is a moral and effective way of dealing with crime. Many people oppose the death penalty because they believe it is cruel. They believe it is not consistent with the ideals of modern society. Critics also warn that innocent people could be executed if they are mistakenly convicted or unfairly sentenced. Most critics favor life imprisonment as an alternative to capital punishment.
Supporters of capital punishment believe that, in certain circumstances, a person who takes a human life deserves to lose his or her own life. Supporters also argue that the threat of capital punishment deters (discourages) people from committing serious crimes. However, studies have not consistently shown that the death penalty has a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.
