The Death Penalty: A Cruel Punishment

What was acceptable as punish custodyt during a meaner, rougher past may be unacceptable in a kinder, gentler mystify. As decree evolves, so does punishment; assign standards of decency require more humane forms of punishment.

As yet, American society has failed to attain sufficient standards of decency to require the abolition of the death penalty. On the other hand, it has evolved to the signalise where the Court has said that a venire is non everyowed absolute and unguided discretion in metropolis punishment cases, a situation which would result in " unaffixed" punishment. Thus, death penalty codifieds generally require that original exacerbating component part be found and that these aggravating circumstances be weighed against mitigating factors. The mitigating factors which are to be considered can non be limited by statute and the sentencing body which does the actual balancing must consider all of the mitigating circumstances presented to it.

The Court has decided that American society has evolved to the point that the execution of juveniles should only take place under the gravest of circumstances and that only those border on the age of majority should be sentenced to die. Historically, juveniles were not executed frequently in the American justice system. trance many were sentenced to die, many hardly a(prenominal)er were actually executed. The youngest somebody to be executed was ten years old, but the vast majority were at least fifteen years old at the period they pull their capital

Accordingly, the Court has indirectly established some guidelines for the execution of persons who committed capital crimes while juveniles. First, the defendant must have been at least 16 years old at the time he or she committed the nuisance. The Court has noted that execution individuals for crimes committed while they were 16 or 17 was not considered cruel or unusual at the time the news report of Rights was adopted and that there is no national consensus at the present time forbidding such executions. On the other hand, a majority of the Court has said that the execution of a person who was under the age of 16 at the time of the offense would offend the evolving civilized standards of decency.

crimes.

This trend towards executing only those near the age of majority accelerated in the last one-half of the Twentieth Century as the status of childhood gained change magnitude protection.

But what should adult society do when a few children don't "grow out of it?" What do we do with lever, who at 15 no longer takes other kids' toys but steals the cash from stratagem stores to buy adult toys? Since he is still impressionable he can probably be rehabilitated in special institutions, where he will be taught right from wrong by adults with mind-boggling degrees and titles. After being caught a few times, however, Jimmy no longer listens to these adults; he only learns that next time he better not be caught or else he may be spending even more time in these places. In fact, Jimmy has received some sort of distorted education. He has learned from the other juveniles in these facilities that dead men tell no tales. So the next time he knocks over a convenience store he makes certain that there are no witnesses left to identify him.

Jimmy has now committed that most serious of crimes, multiple murder. He has brought to an abrupt and violent end the lives of at least 2 people who did nothing more to him than be in a store while he robbed it. Many will deal that he can
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