Capital punishment in the United States

Capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 38 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government. The overwhelming majority of executions are performed by the states; the federal government maintains the right to use capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) but does so infrequently. Each state practicing capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits, and crimes which qualify. The United States is second only to the People's Republic of China in the number of death sentences passed.

Controversy over use of death penalty

Various groups oppose or support the use of capital punishment. Amnesty International and the Roman Catholic Church oppose capital punishment on moral grounds, while the Innocence Project works to free wrongly convicted prisoners, including death row inmates, based on newly available DNA tests. Other groups, such as the Southern Baptists, law enforcement, and some victims rights groups support capital punishment. Death penalty supporters argue that opinion polls consistently show a majority of the public support the death penalty; opponents of the death penalty argue that the poll results depend on the wording of the question, and that when life imprisonment without parole and making restitution to the victim are offered as an alternative, a majority of the American public oppose the death penalty. (Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/execute.htm).

Related Topics:
Amnesty International - Roman Catholic Church - Innocence Project - Southern Baptist

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Religious groups are widely split on the issue of capital punishment, http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut7.htm generally with more conservative groups more likely to support it and more liberal groups more likely to oppose it.

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Debate over the death penalty centers around four issues: whether it is morally correct to kill; whether the death penalty serves as a deterrent; whether the penalty is being applied fairly across racial, social, and economic classes; and whether the irrevocability of the penalty is justified considering possible new evidence or future revelations of improper conduct by the state. It is also claimed that the financial costs of a complete death penalty case exceed the total costs of a lifetime of incarceration. Between 1976 and 2003, less than 2 percent of death row prisoners were exonerated, while others had their sentences reduced for other reasons. This amounted to 112 prisoners released.

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Since the death penalty was reinstated in Illinois in 1977, 12 men have been executed. During that same period, 13 innocent men were freed from death row. http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_2000/tows_past_20000928_e.jhtml This finding prompted the outgoing governor of Illinois, George H. Ryan, to commute all death penalties in his state in January 2003.

Related Topics:
George H. Ryan - January 2003

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