The Argument of Capital Punishment

There not many issues in the criminal justice system that have caused more heated discussions and arguments as consistent and strong as that of the argument of capital punishment. There have been many religious arguments involved in both sides of the argument, citing both the need for justice and the sanctity of human life. This debate regarding the death penalty has become a complex issue in recent years with concerns as to the equality of the criminal justice system, the position of physicians in assisting in executions, and the likelihood of reform, improvement and rehabilitation amid individuals currently serving on death row.

The Supreme Court plans to preside over case arguments in a legal action confronting the practice of lethal injection, an additional method of the death penalty dispute is being thrust driven into nationwide public eye. The subject matter in the legal action, Baze v. Rees, is if lethal injection as presently implemented in the majority of the states relates to cruel and unusual punishment and therefore breaches the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court's decision may be extremely important and noteworthy since lethal injection is the technique of capital punishment implemented through the federal government and through all but one of the 37 states actively using the death penalty statutes.

When reviewing the Baze case, which will be debated in court proceedings on Jan. 7, 2008, the court has required states to postpone planned death penalty executions until a decision is passed through, most likely at some point in the delayed springtime or initial summertime.

This de facto moratorium on lethal injections has fortified death penalty adversaries, who anticipate that a triumph in t...

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...hing if their states' approaches of execution violate the Eighth Amendment. If the Supreme Court generates an extremely difficult standard, it could make it increasingly problematic – however not irresolvable - for states to use lethal injection in the future.

Works Cited

1 Jeffrey Fagan, "Death and Deterrence Redux: Science, Law and

Causal Reasoning on Capital Punishment." http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FaganDeterrence.pdf

2 Paul R. Zimmerman, "Estimates of the Deterrent Effect of the United States: 1978-2000.

3 "An Enduring Majority: Americans Continue to Support the Death Penalty."

4 "Religious Groups' Official Positions on Capital Punishment."

5 "Lethal Injection on Trial: An Analysis of the Arguments Before the Supreme Court in Baze v. Rees."

6 David Masci, "The Death Penalty in America” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/671/the-death-penalty-in-america