Capital Punishment

1
Capital Punishment

• By Jimmy Bennett, Matt Gaspari, Kerry Grady, and
  Matt Snyder

2
Goals of this Project

• Provide unbiased insight into the heated argument
  (differing opinions) surrounding the death
  penalty
• Portray the views of the Catholic Church on the
  death penalty throughout history
• Lay groundwork to educate the class about the
  death penalty, enabling them to formulate new
  ideas about this issue and see how it relates to
  this class

3
Ethical Questions Concerning Capital Punishment

• How does/can a state determine when to take a
  human life?
• What actions can society justify in taking to
  protect itself from harmful criminals?
• How does society determine which crimes are
  unforgivable?

4
What is Capital Punishment?

• execution of a convicted criminal by a governing
  body
• Prisoners sentenced to death are placed in a part
  of prison segregated from the rest (death row)
• Administered as a result to crimes governing
  bodies agree can only be punished fairly by death
• Methods include lethal injection (most common),
  electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad

5
History of the Death Penalty

• Death penalty goes back to Hammurabis Code (18th
  century B.C.)
• First British colonists in America brought death
  penalty
• Colonial America (Virginia) one could be
  executed for stealing food, killing livestock,
  and trading with Indians
• Also (New York) - attacking parents, denying
  Gods existence were grounds for death
• Currently criminals can only be killed on grounds
  of treason and murder

6
Early Attempts at Abolishment

• By the 1860s, resentment against the death
  penalty grew to please the growing outcry, by
  1863 nearly all mandatory capital punishment laws
  had been abolished
• In early 1900s, 6 states completely outlawed
  death penalty
• But growing problems led to fear, (socialism,
  Russian Revolution, WWI) and death penalty became
  more popular
• 1920s-1940s criminoligists decisively argued
  for death penalty along with Prohibition and
  Depression, many executions ensued

7
History of the Death Penalty

• After WWII, many nations stopped d.p. decline
  in U.S. in 1950s
• Interpretation of Constitution under review
  loose interpreters thought d.p. necessary
  (elastic clause) Supreme Court in 1958 case
  called for evolving sense of decency in maturing
  society
• Court practices called into question (handing
  judgment to jury) own views could decide case
  1972 S.C. ruled that d.p. resulted in arbitrary
  sentences suspended death penalty
• The Supreme Court reinstated the Death Penalty in
  the U.S. in 1978 after a 10 year hiatus
• In March the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against
  capital punishment used on criminals who were
  minors at the time they committed their crimes
  (releasing 72 from Death Row)

8
More History

• States started working to reestablish death
  penalty get rid of arbitrary rulings
  (unconstitutional view of d.p.)
• Reforms separating trial into two trials
  (finding guilty, then deciding fate) see if
  sentences are equal to other states
• Reforms led to S.C. reestablishing death penalty
  in 1977
• Since moratorium on d.p. there have been 121
  exonerations (criminals sentenced to death found
  innocent
• Currently 64 of nation supports d.p. (Gallup
  poll last year), and 50 support when option of
  life sentence w/o parole given

9
Court Cases

• Trop v. Dulles (1958) Supreme Court ruled that
  interpretation of Constitution called for
  evolving standard of decency that marked the
  progress of a maturing society (was not a death
  penalty case, but provided fuel for
  abolishionists fire in ending d.p.)
• U.S. v. Jackson (1968) S.C. ruled practice of
  handing fate of prisoner to jury unconstitutional
  b/c defendants could waive right to jury trial to
  avoid sentence
• Furman v. Georgia (1972) Furman argued that
  capital cases resulted in arbitrary sentences
  S.C. agreed, ruled in favor of abolishing d.p.
• Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, Proffitt v.
  Georgia all state cases dealing with reforms to
  system S.C. allowed states to begin sentencing
  again (1977)
• (1989) S.C. ruled that retardation only a
  factor in ruling
• Atkins v. Virginia (2002) unconstitutional to
  kill mentally retarted
• Ropert v. Simmons (2005) criminals who were
  minors at time of arrest cannot be killed

10
Capital Offences Around the World

• China has strike hard campaigns, where extreme
  measures (death) are used to crack down on
  problems like drugs and corruption in big
  business
• Middle East adultery, pedophilia,
  homosexuality, conversion to other religion,
  drinking alcohol, other sins associated w/
  religion criminals can be killed, tortured,
  etc. legally under Islamic code
• Germany was one of the 1st countries to end
  capital punishment in 1949 (currently only
  Belarus in Europe practices d.p.)

11
Current Situation in the U.S. states

• Capital punishment is legal in 38 American states
  Texas, California, and Florida have highest
  death row populations
• More than 3,500 offenders on death row in U.S.
• In Texas, 412 offenders are on death row, 349
  dead from 82-05 most in US
• It costs 61.58 a day per offender currently on
  Texas death row
• California spends 90 million per year on death
  penalty
• CA has 645 inmates on death row (executed 11
  since reinstatement of d.p.)

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Pro Death Penalty

• Some crimes are unforgivable
• If used, some people may feel that there will be
  potential deterrence from future crime (scare
  factor)
• If criminals are dead, no potential for escape
• Murder violates humanity once committed, the
  criminal ceases to be a rational human being
• Fulfillment of justice
• Support in Bible
• Self-defense

13
Con side

• Violates a criminals right to life
• Eye for an eye makes whole world blind
• Society has changed views on issues like slavery
  and torture should do same with death penalty
• Playing God (taking others lives) is immoral
• Criminals sometimes found innocent after
  sentenced to death when cases are reexamined
  (more than 23 since 1900)
• Murder (including self defense) is always wrong
• Death penalty sets bad example for society
• 3 Sellin studies showed that d.p. doesnt deter
  crime
• Can sentence to life in prison

14
Application in California

• a study conducted by the Santa Clara Law Review
  found that a defendant in CA who murders a white
  is
• 4 times more likely to be sentenced to death than
  those who kill Latinos
• 3 times more likely to be killed by the state
  than those who murder blacks
• There are more black and Latino murder victims
  than whites

15
Does Race Contribute to Death

• Eighty percent of the executions carried out in
  California (1990-99) were for the murders of
  white people when whites made up 28 of the
  homicide victims in CA
• Tests proven that death doesnt deter crimein
  some cases encourages it
• From 1995-2000. Federal Prosecutors sought the
  death penalty for 183 defendants, 74 were
  minorities
• Of the 21 people on federal death row, as of
  2001-JUN, 81 percent were black or Hispanic.

16
Vengeful v. Merciful God

• Genesis 96, Whoever sheds mans blood, shall
  die for his sin for God made man in his own
  image
• Mosaic Code in the Pentateuch (613 Israeli laws
  some punishable by death - Bible requires death
  penalty for many crimes
• And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has
  come before Me, for the earth is filled with
  violence through them and behold, I will destroy
  them..." (Gen. 612-13)

• Jesus preached in NT to turn the other cheek
  (Mt. 538-39)
• Saved Mary Magdalene from death by calling out
  others sins (John 87)
• forgive those who trespass against you (Mt.
  615)
• "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 2013)
• Paul wrote that judgment should be reserved for
  God bless the ones who harm you, their fate is
  not in your hands (Rom. 1214, 17, 19)

17
The Churchs Stance

• The Catholic Church has made it quite clear that
  they are against murder of any sort save
  extreme circumstances, a category they believe
  that capital punishment doesnt fall under
• Pope John Paul capital punishment leads to a
  culture of death
• Newly-elected Pope Benedict XVI played a lead
  role in developing the Catechism of the Catholic
  Church, which reflected a dramatic shift away
  from the Churchs acceptance of the death penalty
  during most of its 2,000-year history

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History of the Churchs position

• Early Church (first centuries A.D.) opposed death
  penalty
• Have not always opposed death penalty
• In 1980 Church declared opposition to c.p. b/c of
  improvements to retaining criminals in prison
  w/ those facilities, c.p. is unnecessary
• Consistent ethic of life major point of
  catechism of the Catholic Church all life
  should be respected and valued, and only taken
  under extreme circumstances since we have
  prisons, there should be no executions (if there
  were no places to keep criminals the church might
  classify d.p. as legal due to extreme
  circumstance

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More Reasons Behind Churchs Views

• Catholicism was founded upon the death of Christ
  why practice the same methods as those who
  killed our Creators son?
• God is the Lord of Life only He can judge who
  shall die and who shall live

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Restatement of Ethical Questions

• How does/can a state determine when to take a
  human life?
• What actions can society justify in taking to
  protect itself from harmful criminals?
• How does society determine which crimes are
  unforgivable?

21
Bibliography

• http//www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm
• http//teacher.deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/hi
  story/history-8.htm
• http//www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0
  195.asp
• http//www.religioustolerance.org/executd.htm
• http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm
• http//www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did54
  3scid45
• http//www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/lo
  cal/states/california/the_valley/12710933.htm
  (Santa Clara study)
• http//sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f/c/a/2005/
  09/22/BAGVCERSJ81.DTL
• http//www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Penalty