Capital Punishment
For centuries capital punishment has been an acceptable form of punishment in the United States and throughout the world. In the past it was used as a punishment for a vast amount of different crimes. However, in recent years the death penalty is reserved for those criminals that commit the most horrific extreme crimes such as rape or murder. It is seen as the ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime. Many problematic issues come into play when deciding whether execution is an acceptable for of punishment, especially when regarding the execution of juveniles, the mentally retarded and people that are mentally insane. Recently, throughout the United States, execution has become a moral and ethical topic of debate concerning these issues. Some argue that juveniles, the mentally retarded and the mentally insane should be exempt from being sentenced to death. Others argue that they should be eligible for receiving the death penalty. I believe that under certain circumstances capital punishment should be an expectable form of punishment even when concerning juveniles, the mentally retarded and the mentally insane.
The American juvenile death penalty has been well argued issue for decades. The constitutionality of the penalty has been a main factor in this argument. In the past few decades the United States Supreme Court and the state courts have started to get involved. In the 1988 case of Thompson v. Oklahoma, the United State Supreme Court held that criminals of age 15 and younger at the time of their crimes are prohibited from the death penalty due to the Eight Amendment of the United States Constitution. Currently, there are 78 people on death row in the United States that where juveniles of ages 16 and 17 at the time there crimes. (Death Penalty Information Center) Since capital punishment was reinstated as a form of punishment in 1976, 22 juvenile offenders have been executed. There are currently 22 states that permit the execution of juvenile...
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