The Morality of Capital Punishment The issue of capital punishment is a hot topic in the United States today

The first 200 words of this essay...

Michelle Gladstone

PHL 312

Term Paper

11/22/04

The Morality of Capital Punishment

The issue of capital punishment is a hot topic in the United States today. The death penalty is so controversial because a great number of people differ on their opinions of whether it is wrong or right. Not only do people disagree about the righteousness of capital punishment, but many people have different arguments for why it is right or wrong. These complications make this topic a heavy one to analyze because it is highly controversial and so many people feel strongly about it.

The death penalty was declared to be cruel and unusual punishment by the Supreme Court in 1972. It was ruled unconstitutional and in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. However, in 1976 the Supreme Court reversed their decision deciding that the death penalty in fact, does not violate the Constitution and with new death penalty statutes put into place executions resumed in 1977. (Rachels, 231-232)

Capital punishment is an unfair, unjustified punishment and not an effective tool in deterring crime; therefore it is unethical and should be abolished.

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