Omar Bennett
The death penalty has been a contentious issue in the United States for decades, with ongoing debates about whether it violates the Constitution, specifically the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. While the Supreme Court has held that the death penalty is not inherently cruel and unusual, it has provided guidelines for its use, including the requirement for an individualized sentencing process. The Court has also excluded certain classes of people, such as juveniles and the intellectually disabled, from capital punishment. The death penalty remains a divisive topic, with some states retaining these laws despite a growing trend towards abolition.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Death penalty and the Constitution | The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment, but this does not categorically prohibit the death penalty. |
| The Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment and applies it to the states. | |
| The Fifth Amendment was also interpreted as permitting the death penalty. | |
| Supreme Court rulings | In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia, Jackson v. Georgia, and Branch v. Texas (collectively known as Furman v. Georgia). |
| In 1976, the Court confirmed that capital punishment was legal in the United States but under limited circumstances in a series of decisions called the Gregg cases. | |
| In 2008, the Supreme Court held that the death penalty was disproportionate in cases involving the rape of a child in Kennedy v. Louisiana. | |
| In Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Supreme Court held that a penalty must be proportional to the crime, otherwise, it violates the Eighth Amendment. | |
| In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Supreme Court decided that executing intellectually/developmentally disabled criminals violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. | |
| In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for all juvenile offenders. | |
| In Baze v. Rees (2008), the Supreme Court held that lethal injection does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. | |
| In Bobby v. Bies (2009), the Court held that states may conduct hearings to reconsider the mental capacity of death row inmates. |
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What You'll Learn
The Eighth Amendment
The interpretation of "cruel and unusual punishments" has evolved over time, and the Supreme Court has had to decide whether the Eighth Amendment bars or limits the use of the death penalty. In Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court determined that existing sentencing procedures in capital cases violated the Eighth Amendment because evidence showed that the death penalty was applied in discriminatory ways. The Court set the standard that a punishment would be "cruel and unusual" if it was too severe for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it offended society's sense of justice, or if it was not more effective than a less severe penalty.
In response, some states introduced sentencing guidelines for judges and juries to follow when deciding whether to impose the death penalty. These guidelines allowed for the introduction of aggravating and mitigating factors in determining sentencing. These guided discretion statutes were approved by the Supreme Court in 1976 in Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, and Proffitt v. Florida, collectively referred to as the Gregg decision. The Court held that the new death penalty statutes in these states were constitutional, thus reinstating the death penalty in those states. The Court also held that the death penalty itself was constitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
The Supreme Court has also weighed in on specific cases involving the death penalty. In Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the Court held that the death penalty was disproportionate in a case involving the rape of a child, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In McCleskey v. Kemp, the Court ruled against the defendant, who argued that Georgia's capital punishment system was tainted by racial bias and thus constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
The death penalty continues to be a controversial issue, with some arguing that it is a human rights violation and inconsistent with the principles established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The US has ratified the ICCPR, which calls for universal protections for people's right to life. However, the judiciary has justified the co-existence of the Eighth Amendment with the death penalty by focusing on the protections against cruel and unusual punishment on the method of execution rather than the execution itself.
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Cruel and unusual punishment
The Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution forbids "cruel and unusual punishment", but this does not categorically prohibit the death penalty. The federal government can still impose capital punishment, and some states have kept these laws, despite a growing trend towards abolition.
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment and applies it to the states. When reviewing an Eighth Amendment challenge, a court must decide whether a punishment is cruel or unusual according to evolving standards of decency in the community. They must consider objective factors that may show changes in social norms.
In 1972, the Supreme Court decided in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was an unconstitutional violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling found that the death penalty was applied in discriminatory ways, with defendants from minority populations or impoverished backgrounds receiving capital punishment disproportionately. This decision led to the commutation of the death sentences of 629 people nationwide.
However, in 1976, the Supreme Court confirmed in a series of decisions called the Gregg cases that capital punishment was legal in the United States, but under limited circumstances. The Gregg v. Georgia decision reversed the Furman ruling, determining that the revised sentencing procedures in capital cases did not violate the Eighth Amendment as they addressed the issue of discrimination. The Court also noted that the death penalty does not inherently violate the Constitution, emphasising its role in deterring crime and providing retribution.
The Supreme Court has handed down many decisions that define when and how the death penalty can be used. For example, in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the Supreme Court held that the death penalty was disproportionate in a case involving the rape of a child. In Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Supreme Court held that a penalty must be proportional to the crime; otherwise, it violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Supreme Court decided that executing intellectually or developmentally disabled criminals violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment as their cognitive disability lessens the severity of the crime.
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Discrimination and disproportionate sentencing
In the 1960s, the Supreme Court began scrutinising the death penalty, hearing cases that challenged the discretion given to prosecutors and juries in capital cases. In U.S. v. Jackson (1968), the Court ruled that requiring the death penalty to be imposed only upon the recommendation of a jury was unconstitutional as it encouraged defendants to waive their right to a jury trial. In Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968), the Court held that a potential juror's reservations about the death penalty were not sufficient grounds to prevent them from serving on a jury in a death penalty case.
The issue of arbitrary sentencing in capital cases was brought before the Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia (1972), which argued that capital sentencing resulted in arbitrary and capricious outcomes. The Furman decision set the standard that a punishment would be "cruel and unusual" if it was too severe for the crime, arbitrary, offended society's sense of justice, or was less effective than a less severe penalty. The Court determined that Georgia's death penalty statute, which gave juries complete sentencing discretion, could result in arbitrary sentencing.
In Batson v. Kentucky (1986), the Supreme Court held that a prosecutor who strikes a disproportionate number of jurors of the same race must provide race-neutral reasons for doing so. However, in McCleskey v. Kemp (1987), the Court held that a defendant challenging their death sentence as a violation of equal protection could not solely rely on evidence of systemic racial disparity in capital sentencing. Instead, they must prove that specific actors in their case, such as the prosecutor, judge, or jurors, intentionally discriminated against them based on race.
Despite these rulings, racial disparities persist in death penalty sentencing. Studies have found evidence of race-of-victim and race-of-defendant discrimination, with murderers of white victims more likely to receive the death penalty. In Georgia, people convicted of killing white victims are 17 times more likely to be executed than those convicted of killing Black victims. Additionally, people of colour are more likely to be excluded from jury service due to their race, leading to situations where the accused is the only person of colour in the courtroom.
The death penalty has also been criticised for disproportionately impacting defendants from minority populations or impoverished backgrounds. The system treats wealthy defendants better than poor defendants, resulting in a significant number of innocent people being sentenced to death. Official misconduct is more common in death penalty cases involving Black defendants, and harsher methods of execution have historically been reserved for people of colour, particularly slaves.
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Individualized sentencing
The Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution forbids "cruel and unusual punishment", but this does not categorically prohibit the death penalty. The federal government can still impose capital punishment, and some states have kept these laws. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment to the states. When reviewing an Eighth Amendment challenge, a court must decide whether a punishment is cruel or unusual according to evolving standards of decency in the community.
The debate over whether the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment dates back to the Founding Fathers. The interpretation of the Eighth Amendment has evolved over time, and the Supreme Court has played a significant role in shaping its understanding. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court began "fine-tuning" the way the death penalty was administered, hearing cases that dealt with the discretion given to prosecutors and juries in capital cases. The Court held that practices such as encouraging defendants to waive their right to a jury trial to avoid the death penalty were unconstitutional.
In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court determined that existing sentencing procedures in capital cases violated the Eighth Amendment because evidence showed that the death penalty was applied in discriminatory and arbitrary ways. This decision temporarily abolished the death penalty, commuting the capital sentences of 629 people nationwide. However, in 1976, the Court confirmed in the Gregg cases that capital punishment was legal under limited circumstances. The Court rejected automatic sentencing to death and emphasised that death sentences must be based on specific aggravating and mitigating factors.
To address the issues identified in Furman, Georgia and other states enacted reforms to provide greater individualized consideration of defendants and their circumstances during sentencing. These reforms included separate guilt and sentencing phases, the consideration of mitigating factors such as mental health, and mandatory appellate review processes for all death penalty cases.
In Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the Supreme Court held that the death penalty was disproportionate in cases involving the rape of a child. The Court found that only six states permitted execution in such cases, rendering the death penalty disproportionate according to national consensus. The Court emphasised that to impose a death sentence, the jury must be guided by the particular circumstances of the criminal, and the court must have conducted an individualized sentencing process.
In summary, while the death penalty itself has not been deemed unconstitutional, the Eighth Amendment requires that sentencing procedures in capital cases adhere to evolving standards of decency and provide individualized consideration of defendants and their circumstances. The Supreme Court has refined the application of the death penalty over time, ensuring that it is imposed in a manner consistent with constitutional principles.
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Capital punishment deterring crime
The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a topic of much debate, with some arguing that it is an effective deterrent to crime, while others claim that it is inhumane and unconstitutional. In the United States, the death penalty has been a common practice for much of its history, with many states and the federal government relying on it as a just punishment and deterrent for heinous crimes. However, the question of whether capital punishment is an effective deterrent to crime is a complex one, with no clear consensus.
Those who support the death penalty argue that it serves as the ultimate deterrent, bringing justice and restoring order in response to egregious crimes. They believe that the threat of capital punishment will prevent individuals from committing such crimes and ensure a safer society. Additionally, they claim that it provides retribution and closure for the victims and their loved ones. The Court has also upheld this notion, emphasizing the role of capital punishment in deterring crime and providing retribution.
On the other hand, opponents of the death penalty argue that there is no credible evidence that it is a more effective deterrent than long-term imprisonment. They claim that states with death penalty laws do not have lower crime or murder rates compared to states without such laws. For example, a study by Bailey and Peterson concluded that "Deterrence and capital punishment studies have yielded a fairly consistent pattern of non-deterrence." They found that the overall homicide rate was not influenced by capital punishment. This sentiment is echoed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which states that the abolition of capital punishment does not lead to significant changes in crime or murder rates.
Furthermore, a United Nations study concluded that the existing data shows no correlation between the existence of capital punishment and lower rates of capital crimes. This conclusion is supported by statistical evidence and years of research. Additionally, countries that have abolished the death penalty, such as Canada, have experienced a decrease in murder rates, indicating that capital punishment is not necessary for maintaining public safety.
While the debate surrounding capital punishment and its effectiveness as a deterrent continues, it is essential to consider the ethical, legal, and social implications of this form of punishment. The death penalty has been deemed cruel and unusual punishment by some, and there is a growing trend toward abolition, with 112 countries legally abolishing it. As such, the focus should be on exploring alternative approaches to deterring crime and achieving justice that align with evolving standards of decency and respect for human life.
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Frequently asked questions
The Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment, but this does not categorically prohibit the death penalty. The federal government can impose capital punishment, and some states have kept these laws.
The Supreme Court has defined "cruel and unusual" punishment as a penalty that is too severe for the crime, arbitrary, offensive to society's sense of justice, or less effective than a less severe penalty.
The Supreme Court has ruled that executing intellectually disabled criminals is cruel and unusual because their cognitive disability lessens the severity of the crime. The Court has also banned the death penalty for all juvenile offenders.
The death penalty was abolished in the 1970s but was reinstated shortly after. The Supreme Court determined that existing sentencing procedures in capital cases violated the Eighth Amendment because the death penalty was applied in discriminatory ways.
Those in favour of the death penalty argue that it serves the social purposes of retribution and deterrence. Opponents argue that it is a cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment, especially when applied arbitrarily.
