Early days of capital punishment
George Kendall’s 1608 death by firing squad is the first court-ordered execution known to have been recorded. Because prisons were not in existence until the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, societies dealt with repeat offenders and those who posed a threat to public safety and social order by administering various forms of capital punishment. While early colonial laws did not mimic those of the extreme English laws where some 200 crimes qualified for the death penalty, the colonies believed that crimes such as murder, rape, sodomy, adultery, and some property crimes were worthy of death (Acker, 2003). In colonial times, racial discrimination was extremely prevalent. Black slaves were subject to execution for attempted murder and attempted rape, whereas a white individual might only be sentenced to three years in prison. The abolition of racial discrimination at sentencing first began with the northern states with the country’s preoccupation with the American Civil War, but the southern states would not follow suit for quite some time. Still, the execution of black defendants was severely disproportioned to their population. According to Banner (2002, p. 230), “The death penalty was a means of racial control”. Cruel & Unusual The ratification of the Eighth Amendment into the Bill of Rights in 1791 prohibited the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. …show more content…
No longer could offenders be tortured or subjected to otherwise barbaric treatments as punishment for their crime. Such unnecessary cruelties included “being disemboweled alive, burned alive, beheaded, or drawn and quartered” (Fleming, 1999, p. 720). However, the Eighth Amendment does not consider the administration of the death penalty for capital crimes to be a violation of an individual’s rights. While the Eighth Amendment protects against cruel and unusual punishment, it is important to consider the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that appear to support the death penalty. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment states that no individual shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Essentially, this means an accused individual could be found guilty after a fair, orderly, and just trial, be sentenced to death, and not have their Eighth Amendment rights violated. The Eighth Amendment, however, does prohibit the death penalty for the mentally deficient and defendants under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed underage. In Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to administer the death penalty for the kidnapping and rape of an adult woman, because the crime, while heinous in nature, did not fit the definition of a capital crime, thus calling it a cruel and unusual punishment. Despite the Coker v. Georgia (1977) ruling, Louisiana has passed a state law making it a capital offense to rape a child under the age of 12. There is no doubt that the harm inflicted upon a child when rape is involved is severe and lasting, leaving emotional and physical scars, especially since oftentimes the offender is a family member. However, administering the death penalty in this situation has proven to be difficult, citing the hurdles encountered in Coker v. Georgia (1977), because the victim did not die. Typically, most of society would consider the rape of a child worthy of the death penalty, but a legal defense team would struggle in justifying that the penalty is proportionate to the crime committed. According to West’s (2002) article, statistical data indicated that more than half of the violent crimes against children were 12 years of age or younger. Even so, since the passage of this amendment, West (2002, p. 158) says, “No offender has been sentenced to death for this offense”. Support/Opposition for death penalty Davidson (2015, p. 3) suggests opponents to the death penalty view capital punishment as a form of cruelty, calling the offender’s execution as “barbaric”, despite the virtual elimination of many of the archaic methods of execution, such as firing squad, hanging, and the gas chamber. Hurwitz (2008) explains that opponents also express their concern over the finality of capital punishment because it jeopardizes the possibility that an innocent person could be executed before they have the ability to appeal the sentence and be
George Kendall’s 1608 death by firing squad is the first court-ordered execution known to have been recorded. Because prisons were not in existence until the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, societies dealt with repeat offenders and those who posed a threat to public safety and social order by administering various forms of capital punishment. While early colonial laws did not mimic those of the extreme English laws where some 200 crimes qualified for the death penalty, the colonies believed that crimes such as murder, rape, sodomy, adultery, and some property crimes were worthy of death (Acker, 2003). In colonial times, racial discrimination was extremely prevalent. Black slaves were subject to execution for attempted murder and attempted rape, whereas a white individual might only be sentenced to three years in prison. The abolition of racial discrimination at sentencing first began with the northern states with the country’s preoccupation with the American Civil War, but the southern states would not follow suit for quite some time. Still, the execution of black defendants was severely disproportioned to their population. According to Banner (2002, p. 230), “The death penalty was a means of racial control”. Cruel & Unusual The ratification of the Eighth Amendment into the Bill of Rights in 1791 prohibited the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. …show more content…
No longer could offenders be tortured or subjected to otherwise barbaric treatments as punishment for their crime. Such unnecessary cruelties included “being disemboweled alive, burned alive, beheaded, or drawn and quartered” (Fleming, 1999, p. 720). However, the Eighth Amendment does not consider the administration of the death penalty for capital crimes to be a violation of an individual’s rights. While the Eighth Amendment protects against cruel and unusual punishment, it is important to consider the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that appear to support the death penalty. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment states that no individual shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Essentially, this means an accused individual could be found guilty after a fair, orderly, and just trial, be sentenced to death, and not have their Eighth Amendment rights violated. The Eighth Amendment, however, does prohibit the death penalty for the mentally deficient and defendants under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed underage. In Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to administer the death penalty for the kidnapping and rape of an adult woman, because the crime, while heinous in nature, did not fit the definition of a capital crime, thus calling it a cruel and unusual punishment. Despite the Coker v. Georgia (1977) ruling, Louisiana has passed a state law making it a capital offense to rape a child under the age of 12. There is no doubt that the harm inflicted upon a child when rape is involved is severe and lasting, leaving emotional and physical scars, especially since oftentimes the offender is a family member. However, administering the death penalty in this situation has proven to be difficult, citing the hurdles encountered in Coker v. Georgia (1977), because the victim did not die. Typically, most of society would consider the rape of a child worthy of the death penalty, but a legal defense team would struggle in justifying that the penalty is proportionate to the crime committed. According to West’s (2002) article, statistical data indicated that more than half of the violent crimes against children were 12 years of age or younger. Even so, since the passage of this amendment, West (2002, p. 158) says, “No offender has been sentenced to death for this offense”. Support/Opposition for death penalty Davidson (2015, p. 3) suggests opponents to the death penalty view capital punishment as a form of cruelty, calling the offender’s execution as “barbaric”, despite the virtual elimination of many of the archaic methods of execution, such as firing squad, hanging, and the gas chamber. Hurwitz (2008) explains that opponents also express their concern over the finality of capital punishment because it jeopardizes the possibility that an innocent person could be executed before they have the ability to appeal the sentence and be