Chapter 2 Outline

  • Capital Punishment in Antiquity
    • Capital punishment: Killing of someone by the common assent of his or her fellow group members for one reason or another
    • First death sentence in recorded history was in Egypt in the 16th Century BC where a nobleman was ordered to take his own life for being accused of magic
    • Public executions were meant as a deterrent and to strike terror in those witnessing them, but many enjoyed the acts. Many showed indifference to the spectacle
  • The History of the Death Penalty in America
    • Paradoxes: Death penalty is inflicted in private, but is meant to deter others from committing crimes. It is meant to be retributive, but is made to be as painless as possible
    • In colonial America, the death penalty was considered necessary since there were no prisons in the colonies, but was not regularly practiced as prisoners were needed to develop the colonies
    • First documented execution in America was in 1608 when George Kendall was executed for being a spy for the Spanish
    • Furman v. Georgia is arguably the most significant death penalty case to be decided by the United States Supreme Court
  • Pre-Modern Era/Pre-Furman 17th and 18th Centuries
    • Puritans brought the death penalty to America from England during the 17th century by executing Quaker missionaries who refused to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony
    • The average colony listed approximately 12 crimes eligible for the death penalty, whereas the English listed more than 200 crimes
  • Religion
    • Many people condemned to death were those who committed crimes that were seen to threaten religious order, such as witchcraft, idolatry, blasphemy, murder and adultery
    • Repentance for one’s sins was key to salvation and was paramount for authorities to save the souls of those condemned to die
    • Executions were viewed as religious occasions and served to reinforce community solidarity by purging evil from the community and celebrating the salvation of those executed
    • Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692; innocent people were executed for being accused of witchcraft
  • Deterrence
    • Deterrence is a key justification for the death penalty
    • Specific deterrence: A form of deterrence which assumes the effect of imposed punishment on the future behavior of the person being punished
    • General deterrence: Assumes the effect of punishment on those who have witnessed it, but not personally experienced it
    • In order for an execution to have the desired deterrent effect, it had to be both visible and well-advertised
    • Numerous offenders escaped while waiting for the execution by saying they needed more time for penitence which gave them more time to plan their escape
  • Retribution
    • Retribution: Innate desire to get even or to pay back the blameworthy for their actions
    • Code of Hammurabi: One of the first legal codes written in 1750 BC and is known for the phrase “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” which translates into the “law of retaliation”
    • Great Law: A law written by Quaker reformer William Penn in 1682 that restricted the death penalty to the crimes of homicide and treason
    • Cesare Beccaria: An Italian economist who wrote Essayon Crimes and Punishment in 1764 which had a significant influence on American punishment reformers and capital abolishment efforts
  • 19th Century/Abolitionist Movement
    • The 19th century marked the first legitimate movement towards abolition
    • Jury nullification: The inherent power of a jury to acquit a defendant by ignoring the law, even in cases with strong evidence to support a conviction
    • Edison used his influence to convince New York to use Westinghouse AC generators to execute capital offenders by electric chair
    • The first man to be executed by electric chair was William Kemmler in 1890. Headlines read that he had been “Westinghoused.”
  • 20th Century/Pre-Furman
    • At the turn of the century, abolishment of the death penalty gained more success; however, during the Great Depression, it lost ground because of the growing discontent with foreigners and the fear of an impending crime wave
    • A study done by Zimrig, Eigen & O’Malley (1976) found that when the victims were white, 65% of the defendants were sentenced to life in prison, whereas if the victims were black, only 25% of the defendants were sentenced to life
  • Furman v. Georgia (1972)
    • Furman v. Georgia: Arguably the most significant capital decision case to date. The case marked the first time in history that death penalty practice was found to violate the Eight Amendment’s “cruel and unusual” protection clause, and dramatically changed the way death cases are handled
    • Misconception about Furman is that the constitutionality of the death penalty itself was at issue, though this is not the case. The Court ruled that the heart of the problem lied with the imposition of the death penalty at sentencing, citing the process as arbitrary and capricious
    • Supreme Court placed a moratorium on capital punishment and 600 death row inmates received a sentence commutation to life imprisonment
    • Super due process: A term used to describe the many resources that capital defendants must have when the state/government seeks a sentence of death
  • Modern Era/Post-Furman
    • The General Accounting Office (GAO) found that in a high percentage of cases, the race of the victim influenced whether a defendant was charged with capital murder or received the death penalty
    • Defendants with white victims were much more likely to receive the death penalty than those with black victims
    • Currently, there are over 3,000 offenders on death row in the U.S.
    • Currently, 31 states have death penalty statutes and 19 do not
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