The Death Penalty and Exucutions

Ever since the Gilmore case, the numbers of people sentenced to death as well as those actually executed have risen exponentially every year. In the few years following Gilmore's execution, only a handful of people were executed by the states. By 1987, 61 people were executed (Stack, 1987, p. 532). And by 1989, there were 106 executions carried out in the nation (Malcolm, 1989, p. A9). The number of state-sanctioned executions is expected to continue increasing at such a dramatic rate because of greater public acceptance of the death penalty and further court relaxations in the death penalty appeal process. An execution-a-day is a fair estimate for the early years of the 1990s. Clearly, government sanctioned executions once again is becoming a routine method of behavioral control in the United States.

The present study examines the question: Is capital punishment a reasonable and effective means of controlling human behavior in the United States? Specifically, this research analyzes: (1) whether the death penalty historically has been imposed in a fair and justifiable manner; (2

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e of treason based mostly on circumstantial evidence. Many scholars believe the Rosenberg's admittedly radical beliefs played the primary role in encouraging their prosecution by the state and in receiving the most severe penalty by the courts. Once the death penalty becomes an accepted form of punishment, the issue persists as to what constitutes a capital offense. The definition of capital offenses will always be in flux, depending on social needs and norms. It has historically been applied to a wide range of "crimes," including racial repression and political subversion. It cannot be determined with any degree of certainty how the death penalty may be applied in America's future. Wrongful Executions The human element in applying capital punishment raises the specter of wrongful executions. This is particularly problematic in any justification of the death penalty. Execution is permanent and irrevocable. If evidence of innocence later emerges, or societal norms evolve to no longer consider a certain offense to warrant execution, nothing can be done to remedy the situation. There is some evidence of wrongful applications of the death penalty - in history as well as today. Recently, a Florida judge discovered false
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Approximate Word count = 4730
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page)