The Death Penalty

The death penalty

1) The presentation of death penalty in the United state

First of alle I’m going to make a general presentation of death penalty in the united state beginning with the definition.

A- definition

Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder.

The methods of execution and the crimes subject to the penalty vary by jurisdiction and have varied widely through the years.

The most common method in recent decades has been lethal injection but it hasn’t always been like that.

B- The evolution of the death sentence rate

Indeed, to take the example of 2008, there were 37 executions in the United States. It is the lowest number since 1994 and that’s because of the lethal injection litigation which is now a resolved constitutional question.

The Baze V.Rees Supreme Course case is one example of this litigation

Indeed, in that case, the court agreed to hear the appeal of two men, Ralph Baze and Thomas Bowling, who were sentenced to death in Kentucky. The men argue that executing them by lethal injection would violate the 8th Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment because the chemicals used to kill them carried an unnecessary risk of inflicting pain during the process. The case had nationwide implications because the specific "cocktail" used for lethal injections in Kentucky is the same that all states use for lethal injection.

The Court heard oral arguments but rejected the challenge thereby upholding (soutenant ainsi) Kentucky's method of lethal injection by a vote of 7-2.

So In 2010, 12 states executed 46 inmates (44 by lethal injection, one by electric chair (in Virginia), and one by firing squad (in Utah)

The were 43 people executed in 2011 and finally 3 in this early 2012.

We can see on this graph that after a period of high number of execution from 1997 to 2002, less and less people are executed these past years.

C- The execution by state, a regional and local phenomenon

Now let’s pass on the execution by state. It Is clears viewing the maps that death penalty is a regional and local phenomenon. Over tree quarters of execution take place in the states of the former confederacy (including 35% of Texas alone) with their history of racial violence.

Indeed, As you can see on the map, Nowadays, the U.S. states that have fully abolished the death penalty are : Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa,
Maine, Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota
New Jersey New Mexico*, New York,
North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont,
West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia


* As for New mexico, Two inmates remain on death row after the abolition. They may been executed.

* However, In Illinois, where recent abolition legislation took effect on July the first of 2011, all former death row inmates have been moved to regular jail cells.

D- The evolution of the support of death sentence

To finish this part, I’ll explain the evolution of the support of death sentence. Indeed,

capital punishment has often been a contentious social issue in the United States. While historically, a large majority of the American public has favored it in cases of murder, the extent of this support has varied over time, and there has long been strong opposition from some sectors of the population.

Public support today is lower than it was in the 1980s and '90s (in 1994 it reached an all-time high of 80%). Indeed, a recent poll showed that 35% are against the death sentence, the highest percentage since 1972 (date where the supreme court considered death sentence inconstitutionelle after restabilising it in 1976).

A 2010 poll by Lake Research Partners found that a clear majority of voters would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder and

the most popular alternative to the death penalty is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus restitution.

This alternative not only costs much less than capital punishment, but also keeps the criminal in jail for the rest of his life - so he cannot return back to society. Restitution means that while the prisoner is in jail, he will be put to work - with all the money made going to the family of the victim.

Indeed, When asked, 77% of the public support and believe that the death penalty is good, according to recent polls.

However, when an alternative to the death penalty is presented, public support drops.

When the alternative "prison with no parole ever" is introduced, death penalty support drops further to only 49%.

And finally, when introduced to life in prison with no parole ever, plus restitution, death penalty support drops to its lowest, at 41% - becoming the minority to that alternative.

2) “The racial bias of the US death penalty”

So now let’s skip to part 2

From the days of slavery in which black people were considered property, through the years of lynching, arbitrary black code and Jim Crow laws, capital punishment has always been deeply affected by race. Unfortunately, the days of racial bias in the death penalty are not a remnant of the past.

For this part I took as a support the article of David A.Love that we have in our poly and the studies

...