Criminal Justice and Death Penalty

Capital punishment which has been called the "death penalty," is the pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government agency in response to a crime committed by a legally convicted person. In the United States the general feeling is greatly divided, and equally strong among in both supporters and protesters of the death penalty.

Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes that "The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment."

Arguing for capital punishment is the Clark County, Indiana Prosecuting Attorney Office which writes that "...there are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by committing murder with aggravating circumstances present. I believe life is sacred. It cheapens the life of an innocent murder victim to say that society has no right to keep the murderer from ever killing again. In my view, society has not only the right, but the duty to act in self defense to protect the innocent."

In 1972, the Supreme Court effectively nullified the death penalty, and converted the death sentences of hundreds of death row inmates to life in prison, and in 1976, another Supreme Court ruling found capital punishment to be Constitutional. So then from 1976 through June 3, 2009, only 1,167 people have been executed in the entire United States.

Per Amnesty International's 2008 death penalty report "at least 2,390 people were known to have been executed in 25 countries and at least 8,864 people were sentenced to death in 52 countries around the world:"

Arguments commonly made for supporting the death penalty are, to serve as example to other would-be criminals, to deter them from committing murder or terrorist acts, punish the criminal for his/her act, and to obtain retribution on behalf of the victim. Arguments commonly made to abolish the death penalty are, death constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment," which is prohibited by the 8th amendment to the US Constitution. Also,