Capital punishment as an American Tradition

Capital punishment is imposed for any crime that is judged worthy to be punished by death. Such punishment has traditionally been reserved for the most serious of crimes. In the modern era, a death sentence is only carried out after a prisoner has exhausted a lengthy appeals process.

Although it is difficult to pinpoint with accuracy when capital punishment first appeared in history, the practice has always been a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Old Testament of the Bible contains numerous references to death as a punishment for various crimes. One of the most frequently cited is the "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" passage (Exodus 21:24). Death was also mandated for a variety of other circumstances. For instance, if an ox killed a man or woman and the ox's owner was aware of the animal's malicious tendencies both ox and owner were stoned to death (Exodus 21:29).

Intent was a crucial factor in the imposition of the death penalty in the Old Te

. . .
no clear relationship, one way or the other, between the level of use of capital punishment and felony crime rates" (p. 35). The proponents of capital punishment as deterrence fail to acknowledge the nature of murder as a crime. Too much rationality is attributed to the perpetrator. Most murders are committed in the heat of passion or under the influence of drugs. Under these conditions, the murderer is not capable of rational thought. On the other hand, when murder is premeditated, the perpetrator often fully expects to escape apprehension or, in cases of extreme passion, expects his or her own demise as a condition of the commission of the crime. An example is workplace violence, which has become increasingly prevalent in the United States. A disgruntled worker, commonly laid-off or recently fired, returns to the jobsite armed to the teeth. The murderer chooses his victims carefully, executes them swiftly, then more often than not either turns the weapon on himself or is killed by the police. If murders were commonly committed by people intent on repeat murders, capital punishment might be effective as a deterrent. Granted, the psychological effect of the death penalty on society can be viewed as beneficial. With
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Radelet Akers, Ronald Goldman, Eighth Amendment, Jersey Bienen, Nevertheless Americans, Shatz Rivkind, Supreme Court, Information Center, United Western, Testament Cities, death penalty, capital punishment, lethal injection, penalty information, supreme court, imposition death penalty, imposition death, death penalty information, information center 1998, capital offenses, gas chamber, center 1998, penalty information center, information center, belmont ca wadsworth,
Approximate Word count = 4274
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Capital punishment as an American Tradition