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U.S. Supreme Court and the Death Penalty

f New York, favored restoring the death penalty but was pro-choice on abortion rights ("Up Again: Capital Punishment" 71). While many New Yorkers do not believe that restoring the death penalty will end crime, they also believe that the continuing ban on the death penalty is too much like the government is showing permissiveness on the subject of crime.

In the 18th century, relatively civilized nations were executing people for such misdemeanors as stealing a bolt of cloth. However, death penalty proponents do not want to go back to these barbaric times. According to a recent poll, there is a high degree of approval for capital punishment for at least certain crimes. At present, there are 36 states where capital punishment is legal for certain crimes ("Crime and Punishment 3). This approach, that of making capital punishment legal for certain crimes, is certainly a more sane and humane approach.

Indeed, there is a very good case for executing those who commit capital crimes irrespectively of the deterrent factor. When Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel, this was not really a signal to other anxious genociders to stop dreaming about becoming lord high executioners at a future Auschwitz. Eichmann's execution was carried out because he deserved to be so punished for his crimes ("Crime and Punishment" 3).

Retribution has, in fact, been the main argument in support of the death penalty. When a 1985 Gallup poll asked death penalty supporters to explain their position, 30 percent cited a desire for revenge and justice. Another 18 percent stated that murderers deserved punishment (Radelet 7).

The argument that the death penalty is superior to long imprisonment in its deterrent effect receives its strongest support from a study conducted by Issac Ehrlich. According to Ehrlich, each execution between 1933 and 1967 prevented approximately eight homicides (Radelet 7).

However, political scientist Walter Berns supports the...

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U.S. Supreme Court and the Death Penalty. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:37, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708483.html