What are the arguements for and against the death penalty. examples Essay

What are the arguements for and against the death penalty. examples should be based on the USA - Essay Example In December of that year, Captain George Kendall was shot dead by firing squad in Jamestown, USA. He was executed on charges of creating discord and fostering mutiny. The second reported execution was that of Daniel Frank in the year 1622 in the Colony of Virginia on charges of theft. Thereafter the death penalty had become common in the criminal justice system of the United States2. Imposing death penalty on minors aged below eighteen years and its legality had been discussed in the case of Sanford v Kentucky. The jury in that case rejected the basic assumption that the death penalty could not be imposed on minors and juveniles, in conformity with the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments against juveniles. However, it was held that juvenile criminals, who were sixteen years or older, could be executed. The Court held that the death penalty could not be deemed to be cruel and unusual punishment. It also maintained that the founders of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution did not consider the death penalty to be cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Scalia based his ruling on the changing standards of decency. Taking this decision as a precedent, most states in the US had imposed the death penalty on juvenile delinquents who were sixteen years of age. Justice Brenan opposed this decision and argued that such juvenile executions were in the breach of evolving standards of humanity in the US3. The supporters of capital punishment have come up with two principal justifications for its continuance. First, the death penalty is essential for the safety of citizens; and secondly, there have been attempts to eliminate some of the more barbaric practices involved in such punishment. To this end, executions are being conducted in places, where the general public is not granted access. Moreover, governments have supplanted the conventional methods of causing death, like hanging, with neoteric