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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper contains a number of arguments against capital punishment. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA847cp.rtf
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is a significant life. Each convict had family that likely mourned at his passing. All 42 inmates were men and 14 of those men were black ("Capital Punishment Statistics"). This
is the state of capital punishment in America today, but the practice has a long history. The Black Act of 1723 authorized execution as the punishment for a wide range
of transgressions, inclusive of but not limited to making threats or even cutting down trees (Knoll 44). Clearly, capital punishment existed in the United States even in colonial times. Also,
traditionally, capital punishment would be meted out for a variety of reasons despite the fact that it seems to be the ultimate punishment. Even as late as the 1950s, rape
was construed as a capital crime in sixteen states, and burglary had been punishable by death in four (Kay 67). Historically, capital punishment is something that people did support,
but throughout the years, support waned along with different trends (Kay 67). In 1972, everything changed. Kay notes: " The trend peaked with the 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia,
which had the effect of striking down every capital-punishment law in the country, principally on the theory that the death penalty, as then applied, was arbitrary and capricious" (67). While
it seemed as if the death penalty was beginning to become less popular, this case merely altered the way that the punishment was meted out (Kay 67). It did not
actually see the death penalty eliminated. Capital punishment remains as a fixture in modern society that for which the rules are determined by state law. There have been theories of
punishment applied to the death penalty in order to rationalize its implementation. Three theories of punishment go to retribution, deterrence and social control. The death penalty does fill the need
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