Salt Lake Community College

Ethics & Moral Problems

Philosophy 1120-004
Instructor: Alexander Izrailevsky
Individual Creative Paper
Written by: Lissann Lichtenstein
ePortfolio link: http://foreverlearning14.weebly.com/phil-1120.html

Early World History on Death Penalty

The first established death penalty laws were in 18th Century B.C.
Babylon with the code of King Hammaurabi. Codified the death penalty for
25 different crimes; murder not one of them

First historically recorded death sentence: 16th Century B.C. Egypt. The
wrongdoer, a member of nobility, was accused of magic, and ordered to take
his own life.

In the 14th Century BC, the Hittite Code also prescribed the death
penalty.

The 7th Century BC Draconian Code of Athens made death the penalty
for every crime committed.
Roman Death Penalty

5th century BC Rome, governed by the Law of the Twelve Tablets;

punishment for crimes such as the publication of libels and insulting songs,
the cutting or grazing of crops planted by a farmer, the burning [of] a house
or a stack of corn near a house, cheating by a patron of his client, perjury,
making disturbances at night in the city, willful murder of a freeman or a
parent, or theft by a slave. (DPIC)

Death penalty different for different classes; methods included

crucifixion, drowning at sea, burial alive, beating to death, and
impalement.

Parricides (murder of a parent): the condemned was submersed in

water in a sack, which also contained a dog, a rooster, a viper and an ape.

The most notorious death execution in BC: Socrates (399 BC; drank
poison made from hemlock for heresy and corruption of youth)

The most infamous execution of history occurred approximately 29 AD

with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ outside Jerusalem. Mosaic Law codified
many capital crimes. There is evidence that Jews used many different
techniques including stoning, hanging, beheading, crucifixion (copied from
the Romans), throwing the criminal from a rock, and sawing asunder.
Early American Death Penalty

Greatly influenced by Great Britain; The first recorded execution in the

new colonies: 1608, Jamestown colony, Virginia (Captain George Kendall in
the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a
spy for Spain.)

1612: Divine, Moral and Marital Laws (Virginia Governor Sir Thomas
Dale; provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing
grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians.)

1622: first legal execution of a criminal (Daniel Frank, occurred in

Virginia for the crime of theft.)

Laws regarding the death penalty varied between the colonies. (By
1776, most of the colonies had roughly comparable death statutes which
covered arson, piracy, treason, murder, sodomy, burglary, robbery, rape,
horse-stealing, slave rebellion, and often counterfeiting. Hanging was the
usual sentence.)

Lack of state penitentiaries meant there wasnt a suitable alternative

to capital punishment
Reforming the Death Penalty

Began between 1776-1800 (Thomas Jefferson and four others,

authorized to undertake a complete revision of Virginia's laws, proposed a
law that recommended the death penalty for only treason and murder. After
a stormy debate the legislature defeated the bill by one vote.)

Cesare Beccaria's 1767 essay, On Crimes and Punishment (had an

especially strong impact throughout the world. In the essay, Beccaria

theorized that there was no justification for the state's taking of a life. The
essay gave abolitionists an authoritative voice and renewed energy.)

Pennsylvania: first state to consider degrees of murder and in 1794,

they stated death penalty only for first degree murder

Early to mid-Nineteenth Century, reducing number of capital crimes

and increased building state penitentiaries (take them out of the public eye)

1830s: Sentencing discretion (in an effort to make the death penalty

more palatable to the public, some states began passing laws against
mandatory death sentencing instead enacting discretionary death penalty
statutes. This introduction of sentencing discretion in the capital process was
perceived as a victory for abolitionists because prior to the enactment of
these statutes, all states mandated the death penalty for anyone convicted
of a capital crime, regardless of circumstances.)

Electric Chair (The electric chair was introduced at the end of the
century. New York built the first electric chair in 1888, and in 1890 executed
William Kemmler.)

Early and Mid-Twentieth Century: beginning of Progressive Period of

reform

1907 - 1917, six states completely outlawed the death penalty and
three limited it to the rarely committed crimes of treason and first degree
murder of a law enforcement official. (Short-lived due to revolution; panic
about revolution in wake of Russian Revolution and the US entering WWI)

1924: cyanide gas introduced as method (Nevada sought a more

humane way of executing its inmates. Gee Jon was the first person executed
by lethal gas. The state tried to pump cyanide gas into Jon's cell while he
slept, but this proved impossible, and the gas chamber was constructed.)

The 1920s to the 1940s: a resurgence in the use of the death penalty
(writing of criminologists who argued the death penalty was necessary.
Suffering through Prohibition and the Great Depression at the time.)

1950s: public sentiment turning away from capital punishment. (Many

allied nations either abolished or limited the death penalty, and in the U.S.,
the number of executions dropped dramatically.)
Suspending and Reinstating Death Penalty

In the late 1960s, the Supreme Court began "fine tuning" the way the
death penalty was administered.

Furman v. Georgia (1972) (argued that capital cases resulted in

arbitrary and capricious sentencing; violation of the Eighth Amendment) (set
the standard that a punishment would be "cruel and unusual" if it was too
severe for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it offended society's sense of
justice, or it if was not more effective than a less severe penalty.)

Vote 5 to 4 that Georgias death penalty could result in arbitrary

sentencing

June 29, 1972: 40 state statutes were voided and commuted 629 death
row inmates, but the door was opened to states to rewrite statutes (lead by
Florida who rewrote their statues within 5 months of Furman)

Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, and Proffitt v. Florida (1976):

collectively established that the new statues were constitutional (sentencing
guidelines redone, 3 specific procedural reforms approved: Bifurcated trials
[separate deliberations for the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. Only
after the jury has determined that the defendant is guilty of capital murder
does it decide in a second trial whether the defendant should be sentenced
to death or given a lesser sentence of prison time], Automatic appellate
review of convictions and sentences, and Proportionality review [a practice
that helps the state to identify and eliminate sentencing disparities])

Many states based statues on these cases, though not required. On

January 17, 1977, with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah,
executions began again.
Important Supreme Court Cases

1879: Wilkerson v. Utah: Execution as prescribed by territorial or state

statute doesnt constitute cruel and unusual punishment

1947: Francis v. Resweber: Re-execution after a failed attempt doesnt

constitute double jeopardy

1972: Furman v. Georgia: Ruled on the requirement for a degree of

consistency in the application of the death penaly. Established four-year
moratorium on death penalty (1972-1976)

1976: Gregg v. Georgia: Reaffirmed the Supreme Court's acceptance of

the use of the death penalty in the United States.

1976: Woodson v. North Carolina: mandatory imposition of the death

penalty in first-degree murder cases violates 8th and 14th amendments.

1978: Lockett v. Ohio: sentencing authorities must have discretion to

consider all mitigating factors

2002: Ring v. Arizona: reaffirmed the right to trial by jury; they

determine if the factors are enough for the death penalty

2004: Tennard v. Dretke: all relevant mitigating factors must be

considered in penalty and trial phase of case, not just trial.

2008: Kennedy v. Louisiana: states cant impose the death penalty for
a where the victim wasnt killed.

Insanity

1986: Ford v. Wainwright (banned under 8th amendment)

1989: Perry v. Lynaugh (execution not a violation of the 8th

amendment)

2002: Atkins v. Virginia (execution of mentally retarded

defendants violates 8th amendment as cruel and unusual punishment)

Minors

1988: Thompson v. Oklahoma (those 15 and younger at time of

crime cant be executed under 8th amendment)

1989: Stanford v. Kentucky (8th amendment doesnt prohibit

death penalty for crimes committed at age 16-17)

2005: Roper v. Simmons (those 18 and under cant be executed;

considered cruel and unusual punishment)

(Wikipedia)
Death Penalty in the US

30 states allow the death penalty (Also the military and the federal
government)

Executions since 1976: 1,438 (1263 by Lethal Injection, 158 by

Electrocution, 11 by Gas Chamber, 3 by Hanging, 3 by Firing Squad)

1988: new federal death penalty statute instated (When the Supreme
Court struck down state death penalty statutes in Furman, the federal
death penalty statutes suffered from the same issues that the state
statutes did. As a result, death sentences under the old federal death
penalty statutes have not been upheld. In 1988, a new federal death
penalty statute was enacted for murder in the course of a drug-kingpin
conspiracy. The statute was modeled on the post-Gregg statutes that
the Supreme Court has approved.)

1994: Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (expanded

federal death penalty to 60 crimes, 3 of them not involving murder
[espionage, treason, drug trafficking in large amounts])

Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996(affects both

state and federal prisoners, restricts review in federal courts by
establishing tighter filing deadlines, limiting the opportunity for
evidentiary hearings, and ordinarily allowing only a single habeas
corpus filing in federal court.)

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2015

1. China (1,000s), 2. Iran (977+), 3. Pakistan (326), 4. Saudi Arabia (158+),
5. United States (28), 6. Iraq (26+); At least 25 countries were known to have
carried out judicial executions in 2015. At least 1,634 executions were

carried out in 2015, the highest number in 25 years. Beginning in 2009,

Amnesty International ceased to publish minimum figures for the use of the
death penalty in China, where such statistics are considered to be state
secrets. 89% of all recorded executions in 2015 took place in 3 countries:
Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. At least 1,998 people are known to have
been sentenced to death in 2015, a decrease compared to 2014.
Death Penalty in Utah

First state to resume executions after capital punishment

reinstatement in the US in 1976 with Gary Gilmore (firing squad Jan. 17,
1977)

7 executions since reinstatement (3 by firing squad, 4 by lethal

injection)

9 people currently on death row in the state

Method: Lethal Injection (Firing squad if L.I. is held unconstitutional,

and inmates who selected firing squad prior to 5/3/04; Only State to
have executed with firing squad in the modern era)

Death row is located in the state prison

Infamous case: Ronnie Lee Gardner (convicted of shooting and killing

Defense Attorney Michael Burdell during an April 2, 1985 attempted courthouse escape. He also wounded Bailiff Nick Kirk. Gardner previously had
been charged with killing Melvyn Otterstrom during a bar robbery.)
Bibliography:
Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
"List of United States Supreme Court Decisions on Capital
Punishment."Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web.
Reggio, Michael H. "History of the Death Penalty." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web.
18 Oct. 2016.