Issue of Cruel & Unusual Punishment
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In recent years, society has become more fearful of crime and more concerned that the criminal justice system does not deter violent crime as it should. Fear of crime is a driving force in elections and political battles. The desire of the people for tougher sentences can run afoul of the Constitution and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, among other provisions. The issue of cruel and unusual punishment is often argued with reference to the death penalty, but it has applications in other punitive situations. The concept of what does and does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment has evolved in decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court over the years, and the present state of the issue has developed from earlier views and cases. Yet, of equal importance is the issue of whether tougher punishment serves its intended purpose and contributes to a reduction in crime. It is assumed that it does, since this is the rationale for public cries to tougher sentencing, and an examination of the literature will illuminate whether there is support for this position or not. The issue is not new, and Americans have answered the question of whether harsh punishments curtail crime differently at different times in American history. Kermit L. Hall notes that for the first century after the adoption of Article VIII, the question of cruel and unusual punishment was a completely dead issue. During that time, the Supreme Court conceded that torture and punitive "atrocit
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of society that life is not precious and that some lives are simply not worthy saving. He knows that the opposition holds that society asserts a respect for life by having the death penalty, thus showing a respect for the life of the victim and demonstrating that disrespect of life by a criminal will be met with all the power of the state:
So both sides seek to show their respect for life, but they differ about the appropriate way of doing so. One side thinks that respect for life forbids the use of the death penalty, while the other believes that respect for life requires it (Nathanson 1).
Nathanson thus abandons this as a valuable argument because it can be argued either way with validity.
Of more importance is Nathanson's next point--deterrence, one of the more hotly argued issues surrounding the death penalty. Nathanson states,
One of the most powerful arguments made by death penalty supporters is based on the idea that the death penalty is a uniquely effective deterrent against murder (Nathanson 15).
Nathanson says most people begin with the confident belief that the idea that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder is a self-evident proposition, but he shows through the use of statistics that this is not the case
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Approximate Word count = 2249
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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