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Kade Martin

Oberg

English 11

9 November 2015

The Unconstitutional Death Penalty

The death penalty in the United States is a widely discussed issue. It is said to be right

and wrong in many areas but still one solid fact can be said about it. The death penalty is

unconstitutional in a severe form. It disrespects this country and its constitution directly. People

dont understand how the death penalty affects the constitution but they need to be exposed to

how it hurts us as a nation.

The unconstitutionality of the death penalty is something not often thought about

although the death penalty falls under direct violation of the eighth amendment of the United

States Constitution. Amendment VIII prohibits the federal government from imposing cruel and

unusual punishments, including torture. (constitution.laws.com) The U.S. Supreme Court has

ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause also applies to the states.

One idea tied into this is torture. The unnecessary suffering of death row inmates.

Hangings dont always work, electric chairs malfunction, lethal injection can be administered

wrong. There are multiple accounts of these things happening and it is a direct violation of our

Constitutional amendments. Since 1982, forty six executions have been botched, causing

extreme torture to U.S. citizens.(Radelet, deathpenaltyinfo.org) Yet, neither the Supreme Court

nor the government does anything to put an end to this tyrannical behavior that takes the natural

born rights of U.S. people while also taking their lives.

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The death penalty is to be thought of as ethically right in some opinions; that is could be

used to scare people out of the act of killing or used as a form of justice to victims. Does the

death penalty deter crime? Studies conducted over the past five decades have shown the threat of

the death penalty had dropped the number of murders in the 1990s and 1980s significantly

although The committee concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on

homicide is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no

effect on homicide rates. (deathpenaltyinfo.org) Other studies have shown the same thing.

Violent crimes could possibly be prevented by disbanding the death penalty, although the

Supreme Court would not risk that chance.

The unconstitutionality of the death penalty is thought about often; whether its right or

wrong. Many opinions differ on the topic but almost all opinions can agree on the fact that the

death penalty takes away the American Peoples constitutional rights. Even though it could be

used to scare criminals away from murder or used to punish for justice, the fact of its

unconstitutionality cannot be argued against.

Works Cited

Radelet, Prof. Michael L. Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions Death

Penalty Information Center. July 24, 2014. Web.

Constitution to the United States of America Philadelphia Convention. September 17,

1787. Doc.

Von Drehle, David. Death Penalty Walking. TIME. January 2008. Web.
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