The Death Penalty

6 Pages 1560 Words

THE DEATH PENALTY

Jarret McCluskey










English III
Mrs. Williams
April 8, 1993
McCluskey 1 The Death Penalty

There is no easy answer to the capital punishment issue. Most people feel very

strongly about it, even though their views differ considerably. This has been a

controversial issue for as long as capital punishment has been around.

The death penalty has been used through out history. Before societies were

organized, people would kill others for committing crimes. They decided who was

guilty and the punishment for most crimes was death. Many innocent people were

killed in this manner. Laws came about because these people made many errors in

judgment. They let their emotions decide who was guilty, not the facts (Flanders 4).

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Period the use of capital

punishment changed very little. Most forms were uncivilized and included great pain.

The idea seemed to be that not only should these people die, but that they should suffer

greatly while dying. The offenders were killed by various methods, such as burning at

the stake or being crushed by heavy stones (Flanders 5).

When Henry VIII was king, over 70,000 executions took place. In 1780, the

"bloody code" contained 350 capital crimes. They added to the number of crimes that

were punishable by death, but the number of executions was actually less. By the mid-

1800s, there were only four crimes that were punishable by death (Flanders 6).

One of the reasons given by the people who disapprove of capital punishment

is, there is no real evidence that the threat of capital punishment decreases violent

crime (Flanders 27). They also say that "if electrocution or lethal injection will deter

murder, then burning at the stake, drawing and quartering will be even more effe...