According to the affirmitive team, the death penalty is a contradiction of the constitution.

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According to the affirmitive team, the death penalty is a contradiction of the constitution.  In their plan they stated that they would like to enforce the 8th amendment, which states, “nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”  In the case of Furman Vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that capital punishment, as it was imposed, violated this amendment.  The court held that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment because it was not applied fairly and uniformly.  Many states then adopted new laws designed to meet the court’s objections.  The court has ruled that the death penalty may be imposed if certain standards are applied to guard against its arbitrary use.   Note that the court held capital punishment as cruel and unusual because of how it was applied, not because of the physical nature.  As states passed laws designed to meet the court’s objections, the court changed its ruling so that the death penalty may be imposed if certain standards are upheld.  Therefore, enforcing the 8th amendment, as the affirmitive states in their plan, would be enforcing modern capital punishment.   High standards in capital cases are continually upheld, as statistics prove.  According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, imposition of the death penalty is extraordinarily rare.  Since 1967, there has been one execution for every 16 hundred murders, or 0.06%.  There have been approximately 560 thousand murders and only 358 executions from 1967 to 1996.  The affirmitive states that they would like to abolish the 5th amendment, which states “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  So may I ask the affirmitive-“In the plan of your case outline, you stated the fact that you would abolish the 5th amendment.  Does abolishing the right of a person to due process of law and protection from accusations, in other words “innocent until indicted by a grand jury” really accomplish your theories.  I believe that that idea should be greatly reflected upon on your part.

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Another main point in the Affirmitive team’s plan was the manufacturing of baskets or boxes by prison inmates until a certain “debt” has been paid off.  Then they shall, according to the affirmitive’s case outline, continue to make items to pay off the government.  The first thought that came to my mind, and possibly many others was “how many boxes is your life worth?”  Although we cannot debate on opinions and morals, there are many debatable issues in this attempt of a plan.  First, the average unemployment rate in the United States is   5.3% according to the labor ...

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