"Capital punishment also has been crucial in the processes of demonizing young, black males and using them in the pantheon of public enemies to replace the Soviet 'evil empire.'" (Sarat 18)
Actually, many countries have enacted anti-death penalty domestic laws that have contributed to an international law of human rights that categorically outlaws cruel and inhuman punishment. As the international concern for the removal of death penalty has increased, Islamic states that approve and practice capital punishment have been forced to respond with similar compelling concerns according to the tenets of Islamic law (Schabas, p
The most widely used argument against the death penalty is that the state if committing murder in violation of the mandate that, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). However, the words "to murder" are used 49 times in the Old Testament, always in reference to premeditated murder (Anderson)
Not only does the Bible contain many instances of capital punishment, in many cases, it prescribes how the death penalty should be carried out. For instance, if a man sleeps with both his mother and his daughter, he is to be burned, as is the same with witches (Croucher et al
For instance, nearly 74% of evangelical Protestants support the death penalty, while among those who do not claim a religious affiliation, only 58% support the death penalty (Ruby). New Mexico's recent decision to substitute life without parole was considered a major victory among death penalty abolitionists (Gramlich)
Regardless of the Biblically based arguments, there are still those who argue that capital punishment is unjust from a Christian perspective. For instance, Christians who accept humanistic and evolutionary concepts also argue for the loss of personal accountability for one's actions (Moyer)
Support for the death penalty differs among various denominations. For instance, nearly 74% of evangelical Protestants support the death penalty, while among those who do not claim a religious affiliation, only 58% support the death penalty (Ruby)
Many churches have issued official position statements regarding their position on the death penalty. The coalition to abolish the death penalty continues to gain wide support from a number of groups (Rust-Tierney)
One abolitionist, Steven Hawkins who was the director of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, said that "capital punishment devalues human life." (Liebson) Another argument against the death penalty is that it does not actually deter people from committing crimes of any sort
However, between the years of 1995 to 2000, executions rose, and murder rates dropped significantly. (Lowe) Those who believe the death penalty should be enforced also have an answer to the question of high costs of capital punishment
Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd point out that when states began in the 1960s to give juries authority to impose the death penalty, the process became completely arbitrary, influenced by the various biases of the jurors (Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd 2006). Research by Antonio has shown just how arbitrary juries are, proving that life and death decisions are often made by jurors based on such simple criteria as how emotionally engaged the jurors perceive the defendants as being (Antonio 2006)
But what happened to mentally retarded people sentenced to die before this nationwide protection was enacted? Quite certainly, some of them were executed. For example, in 1995 Texas executed Mario Marquez for rape and murder, even though the state agreed with defense assertions that Marquez was retarded (Bonner 2001)
In fact, we must concede that there is evidence that supports both of these arguments, but that evidence is hardly unassailable and is, in fact, quite weak. For example, death penalty proponents cite a 2005 Gallup survey that found that 65% of Americans support the death penalty, but it is worth noting that this figure represents a sharp decrease from the 80% supporting the death penalty in a 1983 poll (Callahan 2006)
S. Supreme Court overturned a death sentence because prosecutors obviously tried to exclude African-Americans from the jury and even asked different questions, depending on a potential juror's race (Chemerinsky 2006)
Still, numerous researchers have attempted to quantify whether capital punishment deters people from murdering. A particularly ambitious study by Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd looked at murder rates over 40 years in all 50 states, applying 96 regression models to find what the authors deemed a "robust" connection between the death penalty and reduced murder rates (Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd 2006)
Dr. Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical School, testified at the appeal that people being executed may not be deeply unconscious - or even unconscious at all - and that they may be experiencing intense pain that is being masked to observers by the paralyzing drug administered as the second step of the process (Dolan and Weinstein 2006)
One example is Kelsey Patterson, who was executed by Texas in 2004 despite being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, spending his life in and out of mental institutions, and insisting until his execution that he had a radio-controlled chip implanted in his body (Malone 2005). In 2002, Texas executed Monty Allen Delk, who believed he was the president of Kenya and a nuclear submarine commander from the Civil War, and whose insanity claims were backed by the chief prison mental health officer (Hawkins 2002)
Prisoners who can not take advantage of DNA testing have to hope for other miracles. One of those prisoners was Juan Melendez, who spent 18 years on Florida's death row before another person confessed to the crime (Johnson 2006)
Consider, for example, the case of Ricky Langley, who molested and killed a child in Louisiana in the early 1990s. The victim's mother wished to provide a victim impact statement saying that she was opposed to the death penalty and did not want Langley executed, and the prosecutor responded by appealing the judge's decision to let her speak (Lupo 2003)
and, as the debate continues, mentally ill people are executed. One example is Kelsey Patterson, who was executed by Texas in 2004 despite being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, spending his life in and out of mental institutions, and insisting until his execution that he had a radio-controlled chip implanted in his body (Malone 2005)