History of Capital Punishment in the U.S.

When the Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty, it did so, in the opinion of Chief Justice Warren Burger, based on the doctrine that ôàdeath is differentö as a punishment, (Stevenson, 1996, p. 16). Along with this doctrine, a new legal framework emerged that equated to ôàguided discretion,ö meaning that in death penalty cases states had ôàan obligation to exercises a higher degree of care, review and scrutinyö when sentencing individuals to capital punishment, (Stevenson, 1996, p. 16).

Since the death penalty was reversed, its history has been controversial and complex in the U.S. Justice System. Many organizations opposed to capital punishment, like Amnesty International, view its use as cruel and unusual punishment. From that view, many opponents of capital punishment view it as unconstitutional while many others oppose it on religious grounds. The use of the death penalty has also created conflict, controversy and contradiction in the U.S. justice system. In fact, between the reauthorizatio

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e found ôàa pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty,ö (Dieter, 1994, p. 2). Some lawmakers have gone so far as to take a stand against the death penalty in their own states, in light of such biased application of capital-sentencing. One such politician is Illinois Governor George Ryan who commuted the of all death row inmates in the state to life sentences. Though a longtime advocate of capital punishment, exposure of its biased application caused Ryan to reverse his stance. New technologies continue to demonstrate the egregious errors in applying the death penalty in many cases, with DNA evidence clearing a number of prisoners condemned to death row. Such evidence has given even formerly strong proponents of the death penalty pause, showing what horrific errors result when applying capital-sentencing incorrectly. Of the 100 inmates cleared of crimes who were sentenced to capital punishment, 87 of them have been minorities, (Coker, 2003). Proponents of capital punishment continue to argue for its use and that it is applied without bias in the U.S. courts. These individuals argue that if a higher percentage of minorities are on death row than whites
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Approximate Word count = 1432
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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